"When Joe Biden took office, inflation was at just 1.4%," tweets @HouseGOP. "Since Joe Biden took office, inflation has risen by 17.2%."
FACTS.
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) January 14, 2024
When Joe Biden took office, inflation was at just 1.4%.
Since Joe Biden took office, inflation has risen by 17.2%.
Inflation is the measure of price increases of goods and services in an economy on an annual basis. The Consumer Price Index, a figure published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that measures inflation, was 3.4 percent as of December 2023 from December 2022. That CPI measurement indicates that the same goods and services are priced 3.4 percent more expensively than they were a year ago. The Federal Reserve has consistently stated that its goal for inflation is 2 percent. There have been 34 CPI figures published, on a monthly basis, since President Joe Biden assumed office. Of those 34, 8 were 8 percent or higher, 12 (a full year) were 7 percent or higher, 17 were 6 percent or higher, 23 were 5 percent or higher, 26 were 4 percent or higher, and only one of those recordings was below 3 percent.
There truly are not enough negative adjectives in a dictionary to describe the high inflation that has occurred since President Biden took office, and the problem of it has persisted because of failed economic policies. Democrats, who have wielded most legislative ability in the federal government over the past two and a half years, have not attempted to apply working solutions to remedy what is an economic disaster. If high inflation is too much money chasing too few goods and services, then it stands to reason that cutting spending would be a solution. But Democrats have sought to spend more. They could have cut taxes to reduce the financial burden on everyone (consumers, employees, and employers), but they have continued to push tax increases. There is also the regulatory environment to consider as a contributing factor to inflation. If a business has to allocate more money, more time, more manpower, and more resources to comply with federal regulations, some of which are highly questionable at the very mildest description, that business will be left with less money, less time, less resources, and less hiring ability. The inevitable result will be fewer jobs, fewer goods produced or services offered, and reduced quality goods and services.
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Democrats seem in love with the idea of redistribution. Beyond safety nets for those who very much need help, they have banged the drum of taking from the wealthiest in a confiscatory manner and redistributing it to those who are not considered to be wealthy. But that is not investment. It may be psychologically soothing to think of giving the wealth of some to others, but that is not a serious and long-term solution. A major problem is that Democrats seem to approach all societal issues through the lens of government.
Democrats would have been better served by using their political capital to cut wasteful federal government spending, to reduce taxes across the board, and to eliminate regulatory red-tape. Innovators, inventors, entrepreneurs, business owners, and all who keep the U.S. economy going are most free to create and produce when government is least involved in the creation and production.
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