Words matter. I'm not suggesting that the policies of the Biden administration
caused inflation. I'm stating the policies of the Biden adminstration contributed to and/or exacerbated inflation. And when I write inflation, I'm not limiting myself to the standard exclusive definition of inflation.
When Biden took office he promised to be "transformative." After the Trump drama all of us had fatigue. We wanted a calming Uncle Joe to serve as a bridge to the next, younger, competent moderate president. Instead, on the heels of the Summer of Love, we got a Joe Biden that was co-opted by the Progressive Left. I saw it the moment he promised equal pay for the USWNT without bothering to look into the matter and recognizing that they had bargained for the pay they received pursuant to the CBA. Harris did the same declaring cops murderers in the Breonna Taylor matter, which was a pure rush to judgement without the benefit of facts and evidence. A deporable virtue signal that a prosecutor should know better. But I DIGRESS
.
In keeping with this desire to be transformative, Biden took office and instituted sweeping policy changes. Let's first look at stimulus. He extended stimulus payments. He extended unemployment checks. He converted child tax credits to monthly checks. He stayed foreclosures. And he stayed evictions. The latter continued after caving to the whim of Cori Bush and the squad. The context of all of this mailbox money was draconian local business closings and lockdowns as well as school closures. People were home receiving money in the mail and a stay on their bills so what did they do: they ordered shit. Not services. Goods. Products. All of this cash put a strangehold on supply chains and overheated the economy exacerbating inflation and causing steep price increases. The timing of same is reflected in the data charts for inflation. When Biden took office it was 1.4% . After the stimulus it jumped to a 40 year high. That's not a coincidence. See Fed findings in the Vox citation as well as the Economist set forth below. Remember, words matter. We're not saying he
caused inflation we're saying he
contributed/exacerbated same. As much as 3 points.
But was it a minor contributor, or a major factor in the US’s inflation woes?
www.vox.com
The main effect of the president’s economic policies has been to boost prices
www.economist.com
Next let's look at gas. Day one he waged war on big oil.
@MyTeamIsOnTheFloor posted a thread "let's track gas prices." It was like betting on the sun one day rising again. Same drill. We're not saying he's the sole cause in the increase in gas prices, just that his policies contributed to same. See below. And before being dismissive given the source the actions can be independently verified.
Pres. Biden's "whole-of-government" climate policies are energy prices.
www.westernenergyalliance.org
Lastly let's look at the border. Biden reversed Title 42, cut funding for the wall, reversed asylum agreements with three countries, and reversed Remain in Mexico. What's more he feigned as though there was little he could do until election year when he intimated that he could unilaterally close the border. Set forth below are crossings:
What's most damning to me is not that this was a failure of policy, but rather the pretense that any of this was intended to be responsive to the pandemic or to ameliorate a one-time emergent situation. It wasn't. This was aspirational policy in the guise of pandemic relief. The espoused position of this administration is to be transformative, to engender cradle to grave benefits in keeping with the expansion of the social safety net. Had the administration stated that they flooded the economy with stimulus to stave off a recession, recognizing and understanding that they were taking risk with prices and counting on The Fed to temper same, it would be one thing, but that's not reality. Reality is that this is an administration that is tantamount to running for student council on a no homework and free pizza platform. They pander to the minorities and underclass desirous of achieving equity of outcome not opportunity. And in so doing they lie through their teeth. They tweet that Trump wants a national ban on abortion. Not true. They lie that inflation was 9 percent upon taking office. Not true it was 1.4%. They lie that Republicans are responsible for the border because they didn't adopt their shitty bill that would codify absurd numbers ignoring the actions they took that gave rise to a marked increase in illegal crossings. They're more worried about semantics and how we classify people than results.
It's illusory to believe that this administration and Harris have the moral high ground on Trump. On every major issue facing America they have lied and continued to lie. We have two parties that are just lying through their teeth. So the decision is whether you want the policies we saw under Trump or do we want a government that endeavors to create equity of outcomes and will pursue policies that further same. It's as simple as that in my view.
Okay my friend. I'm growing bored of the board and the endless loop nature of same. You are a gentleman so for you I took the time. The choice is between a lying unscrupulous businessman and tv personality or a lying politician who is by no means some Frankenstein amalgamation of Learned Hand and Winston Churchill. She's politician meets influencer who missed her window.
www.pewresearch.org
