The inflation numbers for the month of December are in, and Biden’s reckless spending just keeps coming back to bite him.
Which, of course, isn’t stopping the Biden White House from trying to spin the data as a victory for Biden and a strike against Republicans.
The statement the Biden White House released Thursday on the current state of inflation begins with the laughably misleading statement that “we ended 2023 with inflation down nearly two-thirds from its peak and core inflation at its lowest level since May 2021.”
According to President Biden (and pretty much no one else), “[d]espite what many forecasters were predicting a year ago, inflation is down while growth and the job market have remained strong.” The Biden administration further tried to gaslight the American people by claiming that his economy has created over 14 million jobs and that daily necessities like eggs, milk, and gas, are at the lowest prices they have been since May 2021.
Well, perhaps the prices of some consumer goods are not quite as bad as they’ve been at different spots in the past two years, but that doesn’t mean they’re affordable.
Contrary to Biden’s rose-colored perspective, Axios reported that, far from lowering overall, consumer prices actually rose more than expected in December.
According to Axios’ data, while prices are not quite as bad as they were at inflation’s peak in 2022, they are still significantly higher than at the beginning of the pandemic.
Over the month of December, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 per cent, in contrast to the 0.1 per cent increase seen in November, making the overall CPI in December 3.4 percent versus November’s 3.1 percent.
Axios concluded its report saying that “a complete return to normal — with mild price increases that defined pre-pandemic times — might not happen as quickly as policymakers would like.”
Have you felt the painful effects of inflation?
It’s clear from the data that Biden’s opening claim — that inflation is “down nearly two-thirds from its peak” is incredibly misleading. Inflation reached its peak in 2022 — of course today’s inflation is less that that, but if people are still struggling to afford basic necessities despite the overall reduction, that means inflation is still out of control.
The inflation accumulated during Biden’s tenure still has not been reversed. As Representative Randy Feenstra remided us on X (formerly Twitter):
Thanks to President Biden’s reckless spending policies, inflation refuses to quit.#IA04 families are paying more for gas, groceries, and housing because Democrats chose to waste trillions of dollars on liberal nonsense.#Bidenomics remains a failure.https://t.co/b9dNoahHlh
— Rep. Randy Feenstra (@RepFeenstra) January 11, 2024
But, according to our elderly commander-in-chief, none of these inconvenient statistics are his fault, and he has done nothing but good for the American people.
No, it’s not the government spending money like water that’s to blame for the crippling inflation plaguing Biden’s first term — no, it’s those pesky Republicans.
In his statement, Biden had the audacity to say that “extreme Republicans have no plan to lower costs for families — none. Their only plan is to hand out massive giveaways to the super wealthy and big corporations. They’ve locked arms with Big Pharma and Big Oil to try to stop us from lowering prescription drug costs and utility bills. They’re doing everything in their power to allow Big Banks to keep charging you steep hidden fees. And they still haven’t given up their fight to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. I will not let them.”
Is this before or after “extreme Republicans” drown bags of puppies or tie defenseless damsels to the train tracks?
Biden’s tactics here are embarrassingly transparent. He can’t possibly take any responsibility for the economical hardships his policies have caused, so he turns to his party’s favorite whipping boy to distract from his incompetence.
President Truman famously kept a sign on his desk that read “The Buck Stops Here,” which, per the National Parks Service, meant “he was ultimately responsible for the actions of his administration.”
Biden might want to take a few pointers from his predecessor. Blaming your political opponents for the disastrous consequences of your own policy is not just dishonest, it’s cowardly.
A good leader takes accountability for his actions — but, considering the leadership skills Biden has displayed during his political career, this nasty blame-shifting scheme is, sadly, neither out of character nor especially surprising.
Beginning an election year with clear and public evidence of your failings is not what most presidential candidates would prefer, and Biden, of course, is no exception.
After all, blame-shifting and demonizing your political opponents is all in a day’s work for the Biden administration.
