The Biden administration would love to talk about anything else besides the economy and inflation. As expected, a brutal December Consumer Price Index report indicated that inflation grew at the fastest rate since 1982, topping out at 7% in 2021. From an economic policy standpoint, this is a disaster for the White House no matter how many times they try to blame private businesses or corporate greed for the problem.
The issue lies squarely with an administration in way over its head and pushing policies of reckless spending that contribute to an already-bad inflationary economic situation.
There’s no way to spin this in a positive way, Democrats will be buried in 2022 trying to defend this record:
Inflation plowed ahead at its fastest 12-month pace in nearly 40 years during December, according to a closely watched gauge the Labor Department released Wednesday.
The consumer price index, a gauge that measures costs across dozens of items, increased 7%, according to the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a monthly basis, CPI increased 0.5%.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting the measure to increase 7% on an annual basis and 0.4% from November.
The annual move was the fastest increase since June 1982.
As we reported months ago, White House economic advisors were caught off guard by rising inflation in November and confused as to whether it was transitory or would remain an ongoing problem. So far, the answer has been the latter but Biden’s economic team continues to double-down on the wrong strategy.
Even the Washington Post editorial board, a friendly media outlet to Biden, says his blame game is wearing thin:
President Biden is facing mounting criticism for inflation’s rise to its highest level since 1982. Unfortunately, the White House’s latest response is to blame greedy businesses.
Economists across the political spectrum are rightly calling out the White House for this foolishness. Even some within the White House are questioning this approach, The Post reports.
…
Mr. Biden grandly announced steps this month to crack down on the beef, poultry and pork industries for being too concentrated and using their power “to overcharge grocery stores and, ultimately, families.” The White House is also targeting other industries, including health care and technology, for more antitrust scrutiny.
There may be legitimate reasons to look carefully at these industries and how they operate, but pinning the current inflation problems on corporate greed is a flimsy argument that won’t stop Americans from beefing about inflation.
As we noted on Tuesday, some portions of Democrat-friendly media seem to be turning on the Biden administration’s inept failure to tackle the big issues facing the country. For the Washington Post to bash Biden’s inflation response speaks volumes as to how badly this White House is managing the economy.
The other response from the White House, aside from blaming corporate greed, is to try and convince Americans that inflation doesn’t matter because they have more money in their pockets to spend.
That argument is also bunk:
Breaking News: Inflation Erupting
Of course not news on Main Street and could someone tell the PR Department that the White House -2.4% real wages is the heartbreaking fact to acknowledge – more free money would be like throwing gasoline on this raging fire. pic.twitter.com/7SFLSu2mhF— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) January 12, 2022
The fact here is that inflation is eating discretionary spending, and many households continue to be bit by rising prices and now scarcity among essential food items. Prices across the board have skyrocketed under Biden’s presidency:
Inflation hit 7% in December. Here are key price hikes:
Gas 49.6%
Fuel oil 41
Used cars 37
Rental cars 36
Hotels 27.6
Utility gas 24
Steak 21.4
Beef 18.6
Bacon 18.6
Furniture 13.8
Tires 12.4
New cars 12
Eggs 11
Suits 11
Chicken 10
Fish 10
Ham 10
Restaurants 6.6
Rent (OER) 3.8— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) January 12, 2022
Meanwhile, the President spent time in Georgia on Tuesday calling most of the country racist for not nuking the filibuster and federalizing state and local elections. Voters aren’t buying it and neither are Senators in his own party. It’s a total and complete waste of time built on lies. This White House is broken, and the American people are suffering because of it.
Between inflation, empty grocery store shelves, and Covid now crippling the economy, Biden’s off to a great start in 2022. Democrats should be proud that at least there are no mean tweets anymore.
