It's Joe Biden's Stupid Economy
Americans celebrated Labor Day this week. For most, it’s that one day of the year, when, at least in theory, the American worker is thanked for all his toil and trouble with a day off. Not everyone gets Labor Day off, and in the middle of Joe Biden’s presidency, not many can afford to take an extra day off. The further America has gotten into the Biden administration, the harder it has become to make ends meet for a lot of Americans. But it doesn’t stop Joe Biden from shuffling up to whatever mic is standing in front of him to whisper to the American people, as if we are children that, “Bidenomics,” is working. As the Biden administration attempts to continually gaslight the American people, let’s take a look at just exactly what we are dealing with this Labor Day 2023.
In June of 2022, inflation hit a 40-year high, reaching 9.1 percent. A trip to the grocery store or the gas pump is the quickest way to verify that fact, with prices rising 17 percent since Joe Biden took office. The Biden administration’s drunken sailor spending spree (no offense to drunken sailors), on the infrastructure bill and ironically the “Inflation Reduction Act,” amounted to around a whopping $6 trillion. The Fed continues to increase interest rates to keep up with inflation, and earlier this year, the United States' long-term credit rating was downgraded. When you drill right down to the everyday plight of average Americans, it doesn’t get much better. A recent report from CNBC said that 61 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Because of this, the nation’s credit card debt has reached $1 trillion, as Americans are turning to plastic to purchase, in some cases, necessities. Others are dipping into their savings.
If you own a small business, things are not looking any brighter either. Crucial provisions in the Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will expire in 2025. Add to that, the increasing costs of supplies, and more burdensome regulations. Labor Day is also likely to mean just that, more labor. Small business owners are doing all the work that they are unable to hire workers to do. That’s what happens when you pay people not to work and stay at home. The Biden administration also has no interest in easing the tax burden for you. If you didn’t already know that Joe Biden is lying when he says that the economy is improving, just look at the labor participation rate. It is the number of people who are actually in the workforce or are actively looking for work. That number is 2 million people lower than during the Trump administration. Joe Biden also loves to tout how many jobs he has “created.” The Biden administration is convinced that the American people are too dense to know the difference between “creating” and “recovering.” Joe Biden has not created anything. Almost 72 percent of job gains since Joe Biden became President, are jobs that were recovered after the pandemic. Before COVID-19, Donald Trump created roughly 6.7 million jobs, three million more than Joe Biden.
While Joe Biden spent his Labor Day in Philadelphia being “lunch bucket Joe” with the rank and file faithful, even union workers have seen their wage growth slow compared to those of non-union workers due to inflation. And wasn’t it Ol’ lunch bucket Joe that, on his very first day in office, canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, and along with it, hundreds of union jobs? Joe might be fooling some of the union guys some of the time, but during a recent appearance on CNN, UAW President Shawn Fain, in so many words, stated that union rank and file were not fooled by Democrats and Joe Biden and all of his talk of being the most pro-union President. He also talked about what it might take for a presidential candidate to get the union’s endorsement in 2024. Fain was specifically talking about guarantees for employees as automakers dive deeper into the electric vehicle market. Fain made it clear that union members see corporations getting a helping hand from the government, but silence when American workers want a piece of the pie.
Fain stated that endorsements are earned, and that, “we will make our endorsements when the time is right, and we feel like the candidates have shown and have delivered for our members’ needs and for the working class(‘s) needs.” Average Americans are not buying what the Biden administration is selling either. A recent Wall Street Journal poll showed that 63 percent of registered voters said the economy was “not so good,” or “poor.” When asked if things have gotten any better over the last two years, 58 percent said the economy has gotten worse. Fifty-four percent said their financial situation had gotten worse in the past year. Not good numbers entering the election cycle.
What else are Americans getting for their hard work this Labor Day? Well, more of it. More and more people are getting second or part-time jobs just to make ends meet. In April, MarketWatch reported that roughly 8,137,000 people, around 5.1 percent of the employed population, had a side gig. That’s up from close to 7.5 million the same time last year. The reasons ranged from wanting something to fall back on in case of a layoff, to just needing more income to make ends meet.
Former Bill Clinton advisor James Carville famously said in 1992, “It’s the economy stupid.” There will be no phrase truer than that during the 2024 election season. Americans are sure to vote with their pocketbooks, and likely will blame Joe Biden for that pocketbook being lighter.
All of this, in the most prosperous nation in the world. Welcome to Joe Biden’s America. Happy Labor Day.