Families Struggling With The Fallout Of Biden’s Inflationary Spending Have No Interest In His Dishonest Spin

Inflation Rose Again By 3% In June

“Data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that prices climbed 3 percent compared with last year … Additionally, a key measure of inflation that strips out more volatile categories such as food and energy rose 3.3 percent over the past 12 months …” (The Washington Post, 7/11/2024)

“[T]he costs of food, rent, health care and other necessities remain much higher than they were before the pandemic — a source of public discontent and a potential threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.” (The Associated Press, 7/11/2024)

·       “That has posed a political challenge for President Biden ahead of the election as consumers continue to struggle with high grocery bills. Compared to four years ago, grocery prices are up about 20 percent.” (“Food Inflation Saw A Slight Uptick In June.” The New York Times, 7/11/2024)

The Cumulative Effect Of Inflation Since President Biden Took Office Has Americans Paying Significantly Higher Prices For Food, Energy, Transportation, Housing, And More

Since President Biden took office, inflation has increased 20.1%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Grocery (food at home) prices have increased 21.3%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Prices for food away from home have increased 22.7%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Energy prices have increased 40%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Prices for fuel oil have increased 46.4%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Gasoline (all types) prices have increased 48.7%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Natural gas prices have increased 25.2%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Electricity prices have increased 31.6%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Rental prices for a primary residence have increased 21.5%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Prices for used cars and trucks have increased 21.34%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Prices for new vehicles have increased 19.2%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Furniture prices have increased 13.3%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Apparel prices have increased 11.7%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       Airline fares have increased 32%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

‘[F]ood Costs Have Spiked Over The Past Few Years And Have Not Fallen Overall’

“Food inflation accelerated slightly in June, offering little respite for households that have been strained by high grocery bills. Overall, food prices climbed 0.2 percent over the month, a slightly faster rate compared to May, when prices rose 0.1 percent. Grocery prices rose 0.1 percent after remaining flat the month before. The cost of dining out rose 0.4 percent for the second straight month.” (“Food Inflation Saw A Slight Uptick In June.” The New York Times, 7/11/2024)

·       “Egg prices, which began to surge in 2022 and have fluctuated since, rose 3.5 percent over the month.” (“Food Inflation Saw A Slight Uptick In June.” The New York Times, 7/11/2024)

·       “Food inflation also saw a slight uptick compared to a year earlier. Food prices were up 2.2 percent in the year through June, up from 2.1 percent in May.” (“Food Inflation Saw A Slight Uptick In June.” The New York Times, 7/11/2024)

“[F]ood costs have spiked over the past few years and have not fallen overall.” (“Food Inflation Saw A Slight Uptick In June.” The New York Times, 7/11/2024)

·       “Food prices are still up, on average, 21% from March 2021, when inflation started to surge…” (The Associated Press, 7/11/2024)

‘[H]ousing Costs Continue To Be A Major Driver Of Overall Inflation’

“[H]ousing costs continue to be a major driver of overall inflation, and have proven hard to tame since there aren’t enough homes available in America. Overall, shelter costs were up 5.2 percent over the year, and 0.2 percent over the month.” (The Washington Post, 7/11/2024)

·       “It has also been one of the most surprisingly sticky categories: Forecasters have been predicting that housing inflation would cool for more than a year now but have been persistently disappointed.” (The New York Times, 7/11/2024)

“High housing costs in particular have put a strain on lower-income and middle-class voters.” (“Debt-Burdened Americans Find No Reprieve Even As Inflation Cools,” Politico, 6/12/2024)

‘Buying A Home Is Out Of Reach For Many Renters And Homeowners Alike’ As ‘Home Prices Hit A Record High’

“Home prices rose in May to a new high, with low inventory continuing to spur bidding wars among home buyers in some markets. The national median existing-home price in May was $419,300, a record in data going back to 1999, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Prices aren’t adjusted for inflation. That was up 5.8% from a year earlier. Those high prices, paired with elevated mortgage rates, have limited the number of sales this spring—typically the busiest season for home buying…. In February 2020, just before the Covid pandemic, the median price of an existing home was $270,400.” (“Home Prices Hit a Record High,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/21/2024)

“Buying a home is out of reach for many renters and homeowners alike. The mortgage payment for a buyer of a median-price home has more than doubled since before the pandemic, [NAR’s chief economist Lawrence] Yun said.” (“Home Prices Hit a Record High,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/21/2024)

“The least affordable home-sales market in decades is compelling more renters to stay put. Large apartment owners say fewer renters are moving out to buy homes than ever before, put off by record home prices, limited inventory and higher mortgage rates.” (“Rent Hikes Loom, Posing Threat to Inflation Fight,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/18/2024)

High Mortgage Rates, The Result Of High Inflation, Have Combined With Low Housing Supply To Keep Housing Prices High, Making Home Ownership Unaffordable

“In late February 2022, just before the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates, the average mortgage rate was 3.89%, according to Freddie Mac. This week, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.87%.” (“Home Prices Hit a Record High,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/21/2024)

“Sales of existing homes in the US fell for a third straight month in May while prices set another record, underscoring persistent affordability challenges that hobbled the important spring selling season. Contract closings decreased 0.7% from a month earlier to a 4.11 million annualized rate … according to National Association of Realtors data …” (“US Existing-Home Sales Fall a Third Month as Prices Set a Record,” Bloomberg News, 6/21/2024)

·       “Even though demand is low, home prices are still rising because high mortgage rates are deterring potential sellers from listing their homes, keeping the supply of homes on the market lower than normal. Sales of high-price homes are also rising faster than sales of midprice or affordable homes, pushing up the median price.” (“Home Prices Hit a Record High,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/21/2024)

Working Families Still Struggle Every Day To Afford Food And Rent, Thanks To ‘Bidenomics’

“Michelle Brady, 53, a local school district worker who lives with her husband in Cartersville, Ga., said they have tried to eat fewer meals each day and buy more store brand items to deal with high grocery costs. She said the cost of meat has particularly strained their budget, and prices for chuck roast and steak have become ‘out of this world.’ Although she said she received two one-time bonuses over the past few years, those increases have not been enough to keep up with the rate of inflation. ‘We’re having to watch how much we buy,’ Ms. Brady said. ‘Things are not the same.’” (“Food Inflation Saw A Slight Uptick In June.” The New York Times, 7/11/2024)

“A jump in her rent at the start of this year delivered a painful blow to Deborah Stettler’s finances. Stettler, a 51-year old resident of Quincy, Massachusetts, said her rent soared in January from $1,500 a month to $2,000.” (The Associated Press, 7/11/2024)

·       “A single mother with a 16-year old son, Stettler is also still struggling with the sharp run-up in food prices over the past three years. She gets about half her family’s food from a local food pantry. For the rest, she looks for sales at grocery stores. Stettler landed a new job about nine months ago, in children’s services, after having worked before then at a YMCA branch. ‘Rent has gone up, food has gone up, the pay doesn’t go up,’ she said. ‘I’m still going to the food pantry for food help, because by the time you pay all your bills, you don’t really have a lot of money left for food.’” (The Associated Press, 7/11/2024)

“Lashonda Barber, an airport worker in Charlotte, N.C., is among those feeling the pinch. She will spend her summer on planes, but she won’t be leaving the airport for vacation. Ms. Barber, 42, makes $19 per hour, 40 hours per week, driving a trash truck that cleans up after international flights. It is a difficult position: The tarmac is sweltering in the Southern summer sun; the rubbish bags are heavy. And while it’s poised to be a busy summer, Ms. Barber’s job is increasingly failing to pay the bills. Both prices and her home taxes are up notably, but she is making just $1 an hour more than she was when she started the gig five years ago…. ‘I don’t take personal trips,’ Ms. Barber said, explaining that it had been several years since she had taken a family vacation, and that when she did, she drove.” (“America’s Divided Summer Economy Is Coming to an Airport or Hotel Near You,” The New York Times, 7/03/2024)

‘[T]hings Are Getting Noticeably Worse For Those With Lower Incomes’

“[T]hings are getting noticeably worse for those with lower incomes. That’s a troubling trend at any time, but particularly in an election year. And the Fed is signaling that relief for those debt-burdened Americans isn’t imminent.” (“Debt-Burdened Americans Find No Reprieve Even As Inflation Cools,” Politico, 6/12/2024)

“That news comes as people who max out their credit cards are increasingly having difficulty paying off their debt, according to a New York Fed report on the first quarter of the year. ‘About a third of balances associated with maxed-out borrowers have gone delinquent in the last year, compared to less than a quarter of balances per year before the pandemic,’ researchers said in a recent blog post.” (“Debt-Burdened Americans Find No Reprieve Even As Inflation Cools,” Politico, 6/12/2024)

“Beth Ann Bovino, chief economist at U.S. Bank, said households on average spend about 10 percent of their income on debt payments — but that for lower-income people, it’s more than 20 percent. ‘Lower-income households felt the pain from the disease, which was higher inflation. And now they feel the pain from the cure, which is higher borrowing costs,’ Bovino said.” (“Debt-Burdened Americans Find No Reprieve Even As Inflation Cools,” Politico, 6/12/2024)

“Americans have given President Joe Biden low marks on his performance when it comes to the economy. Inflation and the economy’s general health remain top priorities for many voters, and Biden’s approval rating among those with household incomes of less than $75,000 stood at just 31 percent as of last month, according to Reuters.” (“Debt-Burdened Americans Find No Reprieve Even As Inflation Cools,” Politico, 6/12/2024)

And President Biden Has Nothing To Offer Voters Other Than Outright Lies About Inflation And Nonsensical Boasts About His Disastrous Economic Policies

Biden Claimed Inflation Was ‘Down In The Twos Now’ But Inflation Has Not Been Below 3% Since Democrats Passed Biden’s First Spending Spree Of Over $1 Trillion

PRESIDENT BIDEN: “[I]nflation is on the way down…. Inflation is down in the twos now, and we’re going to move in the direction of being able to take the pressure off of ordinary folks who are — everything from their rent to their mortgage payments to the things that — to the price of eggs to — as I said, to the price of bacon.” (Remarks by President Biden at a Campaign Reception, McLean, VA, 7/02/2024)

THE FACTS: Year over year inflation has not been below 3% since March 2021. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 7/11/2024)

·       “Fed policymakers target inflation at 2% annually…” (CNBC, 7/11/2024)

March 2021 was the very same month Democrats passed their first partisan big spending bill, Biden’s so-called “American Rescue Plan”. (H.R.1319, 117^th Congress)

“Economists largely agree that the pandemic stimulus and other spending bills Mr. Biden signed over the past two years have added to inflation …” (“An Inflation-Driven Midterm Will Not Change Biden’s Economic Focus,” The New York Times, 11/10/2022)

·       “Many economists have suggested that President Joe Biden’s stimulus package in March 2021 intensified the inflation surge.” (The Associated Press, 7/12/2023)

·       STEVEN RATTNER, Former Obama Administration Counselor to the Treasury Secretary: “The original sin was the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed in March [2021]. The bill — almost completely unfunded — sought to counter the effects of the Covid pandemic by focusing on demand-side stimulus rather than on investment. That has contributed materially to today’s inflation levels.” (Steven Rattner, Op-Ed, “I Warned the Democrats About Inflation,” The New York Times, 11/16/2021)

·       FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY LARRY SUMMERS: “I’m not sure that we would have the inflation if there had never been a pandemic and, even if there had been a pandemic, without the overwhelming stimulus that was applied well into recovery — during 2021.” (“Summers Says Pandemic Only Partly To Blame For Record Inflation,” The Harvard Gazette, 2/04/2022)

·       “‘The United States has had much more inflation than almost any other advanced economy in the world,’ said Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard University and former Obama administration economic adviser, who used comparable methodologies to look across areas and concluded that U.S. price increases have been consistently faster. The difference, he said, comes because ‘the United States’ stimulus is in a category of its own.’” (“Rapid Inflation Fuels Debate Over What’s to Blame: Pandemic or Policy,” The New York Times, 1/22/2022)

·       THE WASHINGTON POST’s FACT CHECKER: “[I]t’s generally believed that some inflation can be attributed to [Biden’s] covid relief bill.” (“Fact-Checking Biden’s Claims As He Seeks To Save His Candidacy,” The Washington Post, 7/10/2024)

Biden Claimed ‘One Thing [He’s] Proudest Of’ Was His Economic Plan, But His 2021 Spending Spree ‘Has Fueled Discontent Among Voters’ Because It Juiced Inflation

BIDEN: “One thing I’m proudest of is, remember when my economic plan was put forward? A lot of the mainstream economists said, ‘This is not gonna work.’ Guess what? … I’ve made great progress, and that’s what I plan on doin’.” (ABC News, 7/05/2024)

“The American Rescue Plan, which the Biden administration created and Democrats passed in March 2021, has fueled discontent among voters … Some Americans blame the law, which included direct checks to individuals, for helping to fuel rapid inflation.” (“Biden’s Stimulus Juiced the Economy, but Its Political Effects Are Muddled,” The New York Times, 6/18/2024)

·       “Often, [polls] indicate that only relatively small slices of the electorate believe Mr. Biden’s policies have helped them or their family financially.” (“Biden’s Stimulus Juiced the Economy, but Its Political Effects Are Muddled,” The New York Times, 6/18/2024)

·       “But Mr. Biden’s team also believed the law would be a clear political win for the president. That has not been the case, in part because economic research has blamed its spending at least in small part for the inflation surge that began in 2021.” (“Biden’s Stimulus Juiced the Economy, but Its Political Effects Are Muddled,” The New York Times, 6/18/2024)

·       “The largest estimate, from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, finds that stimulus measures signed by Mr. Biden and by Mr. Trump in 2020 contributed as many as three percentage points to an inflation rate that hit 9 percent in 2022. Other estimates are more modest.” (“Biden’s Stimulus Juiced the Economy, but Its Political Effects Are Muddled,” The New York Times, 6/18/2024)

And Voters Continue To Tell Pollsters How Much They Dislike Biden’s Economic Policies, And Especially His Handling Of Inflation

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “Moreover, there is little sign that Biden has persuaded voters that he’s the better economic steward.” (“Biden Bleeds Democratic Support, Undermining Case to Take on Trump,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/05/2024)

·       “By 28 percentage points, more people disapprove than approve of Biden’s handling of inflation—a weaker showing than the 23-point gap in February. By 22 points, more people disapprove than approve of his handling of the economy, also a weaker showing than in the prior survey.” (“Biden Bleeds Democratic Support, Undermining Case to Take on Trump,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/05/2024)

THE WASHINGTON POST: “Biden's approval rating still deeply underwater” (“Most Democrats Want Biden To Drop Out, But Overall Race Is Static, Poll Finds,” The Washington Post, 7/11/2024)

·       “The survey finds little change in Biden’s job approval, with 57 percent disapproving, identical to the percentage in an April ABC-Ipsos poll.” (“Most Democrats Want Biden To Drop Out, But Overall Race Is Static, Poll Finds,” The Washington Post, 7/11/2024)

MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY: “Currently, 46% of Americans say they are struggling to remain where they are financially. In polls conducted between 2022 and 2023, this number ranged between 37% and 44%. In prior polls from 2017 to 2021, this sentiment was much lower at 20% to 29%.” (“Struggling or Stable? Economic Outlook Focused on High Prices,” Monmouth University, 6/19/2024)

·       “Those who are more likely to feel they are struggling include Republicans (54%) and independents (49%), those who earn less than $50,000 a year (56%) and between $50,000 and $100,000 (47%), and those who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, or of another race (53%). Among non-Hispanic whites, those without a college degree (48%) are much more likely than college graduates (29%) to say they are struggling.” (“Struggling or Stable? Economic Outlook Focused on High Prices,” Monmouth University, 6/19/2024)

·       “When asked about the federal government’s impact on their top family concern, 47% say recent government actions have hurt them, 40% say there has been no impact, and just 13% say government actions have actually helped them.” (“Struggling or Stable? Economic Outlook Focused on High Prices,” Monmouth University, 6/19/2024)

“‘Even with a declining inflation rate, prices continue to be much higher than they were four years ago. That’s the metric that has really mattered to many Americans over the past two years. Economic concerns may not be the top motivating factor for all voters but it defines the contours of this year’s election,’ said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.” (“Struggling or Stable? Economic Outlook Focused on High Prices,” Monmouth University, 6/19/2024)