USA 2020 Elections: Thread

grarpamp grarpamp at gmail.com
Tue Dec 14 00:50:14 PST 2021


> Bidenomics, Democrats failed at maths,
> and Constitution class ...

Income taxes were never constitutional,
the government just voted itself more power.
Now people like Angry Joe Biden just rob you.
And arm twist their subservient fake news media
with propaganda items.


The High Price Of Bidenomics

https://spectator.org/the-high-price-of-bidenomics/
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-approval-poll-handling-inflation-two-three-americans-1658560
https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/1468064220843425796
https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator/consumer-price-index-1913-
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57673
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf
https://www.shadowstats.com/


Economic illiteracy at the White House is getting more and more expensive...

American humorist Edgar Wilson Nye famously observed, “Wagner’s music
is better than it sounds.” Recently, the White House and its numerous
allies in the “news” media have been telling an increasingly skeptical
electorate a similarly self-refuting tale about the Biden economy.
Typical of the stories that have appeared in major news outlets is
this howler from CNN’s Julian Zelizer, who insists that there is “a
huge disconnect between the economic data and the way voters are
feeling.” Anyone naïve enough to believe such balderdash will be
disabused of their illusions by reading Friday’s Bureau of Labor
Statistics report showing that the consumer price index (CPI) has
risen by 6.8 percent during the 12-month period ending in November.

This is the largest 12-month increase in the CPI since 1982, and it is
hitting Americans where it hurts most — the cost of energy, food, and
transportation. This suggests that there is indeed a “huge
disconnect,” but that it is between the fiscal fantasies of the Biden
administration and the financial realities faced by the voters.
Unfortunately for the White House, inflation isn’t as susceptible to
spin as are most issues debated inside the Beltway. Americans
encounter the truth every time they pay their heating bills, fill up
their gas tanks, and buy food. Friday’s report merely confirms what
they see in their daily lives. The worst news involves how much more
they now spend on energy than they paid last year:

    The energy index rose 33.3 percent over the past 12 months with
all major energy component indexes increasing sharply. The gasoline
index rose 58.1 percent over the last year, its largest 12-month
increase since the period ending April 1980. The index for natural gas
rose 25.1 percent over the last 12 months, and the electricity index
rose 6.5 percent.

The bad news on food prices was slightly less alarming:

    The food at home index rose 6.4 percent over the past 12 months,
the largest 12-month increase since the period ending December 2008.
The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 12.8 percent,
with the index for beef rising 20.9 percent. The index for dairy and
related products posted the smallest increase, rising 1.6 percent over
the last 12 months.

The price of everything else spiraled upward as well:

    The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.9 percent over
the past 12 months, its largest 12-month increase since the period
ending June 1991. The index for used cars and trucks rose 31.4 percent
over the last 12 months, and the index for new vehicles rose 11.1
percent. The shelter index rose 3.8 percent, the largest 12-month
increase since the period ending June 2007.

President Biden responded to this hair-raising report with a statement
that highlights his tenuous grasp on basic economics. He called on
Congress to “pass my Build Back Better plan, which lowers how much
families pay for health care, prescription drugs, child care, and
more.” In reality, of course, passage of BBB would increase
inflationary pressure throughout the economy. The nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office projects that BBB would, absent the fiscal
gimmickry inserted by the Democrats, “increase the deficit by $3
trillion over the 2022–2031 period.” Passing this awful bill in order
to reduce inflation would be roughly comparable to putting out a house
fire by spraying it with kerosene.

No one escapes Economics 101 without hearing inflation defined as “too
many dollars chasing too few goods.” BBB, if passed by Congress and
signed into law, will verify that old saw with a vengeance. It will
dump $3 trillion on a stagnant supply chain and drive the CPI into
double digits. If this seems implausible, don’t forget that the
inflation rate during former President Carter’s last year in office
was 13.5 percent. Ironically, there is considerable historical
evidence that, if the White House and Congress can resist yet another
federal spending spree, the pandemic itself may well slow inflation
down. A recent Commentary article points out a study of epidemics that
suggests they tend to be deflationary:

    Using data going back to the 14th century, covering six European
countries and 19 pandemics, the authors find that such events have
historically caused inflation to fall for more than a decade, on
average, yielding an inflation rate about ​​0.6 percentage points
lower than if the pandemic had not occurred. The more prolonged and
severe the outbreak, the more pronounced and persistent the negative
effects on trend inflation.

But can the Democrats control themselves? It’s concievable that
Friday’s report will be enough to convince moderates like Sen. Joe
Manchin (D-W.Va.) to vote against BBB. Manchin has long expressed
concerns about the bill’s potential inflationary effects, particularly
since last month’s unnerving CPI numbers were released: “By all
accounts, the threat posed by record inflation to the American people
is not ‘transitory’ and is instead getting worse. From the grocery
store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC
can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.”
Manchin is a slim reed to lean on, of course, but he isn’t the only
Democratic senator with qualms.

It has been widely reported that White House officials have been
briefing newsrooms in order to reshape the gloomy narrative that
dominates their coverage of the economy. This betrays a stunning level
of contempt for the voters — even by the cynical standards of the
Biden administration. The belief that an increase in media happy talk
will distract voters from steadily rising prices suggests that our
president and his advisors believe the electorate is made up of
idiots. But a new ABC/Ipsos poll indicates that 69 percent of
Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of inflation. The voters know
that Biden’s economic policies are as bad as they feel, and they’ll
say so at the ballot box in 2022 and 2024.


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