The country is not embracing Bidenomics, in fact, most Americans are disgusted by the socialist economic policies of this administration.
A new CNN poll indicates that just 37% of Americans give President Joe Biden a positive approval rating for his handling of the economy. For inflation, his approval rating slips to only 30%.
Democrats and media cheerleaders are perplexed about why Americans are unhappy about the economy. They claim the economy has stabilized and the inflation rate has been significantly lowered since the record was established in 2022.
Incredibly, some Democrats believe that Americans are not aware of the true successes of the Biden administration, while others claim that Biden does not boast enough of his accomplishments. What baloney! There are no significant economic accomplishments of this administration and Americans are very aware of the damage that Biden and his policies have caused.
In 2023, grocery prices increased 5.8%, which is why 71% of Americans are changing their spending habits according to the CNN poll. Although the national average price for a gallon of gasoline has fallen from the all-time high of $5.02 in June of 2022, there is still pain at the pump for Americans.
When President Donald Trump left office in January of 2021, the nation average price for a gallon of gasoline was only $2.38per gallon. Today, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $3.83, an increase of 61% since the last day of the Trump administration. No wonder 48% of the CNN poll respondents indicated that they drive significantly less today and 50%have either cancelled or changed their vacation plans.
While the overall inflation rate cooled to 3% in June, it is still significantly higher than the 1.4% level at the end of the Trump administration. In January of 2021, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation grew by an astounding 6.3%. Today, the Biden administration is celebrating a growth rate of only 2.4% in the last quarter.
Thus, the economy is significantly weaker today than it was on the day that President Trump left office. The CNN poll verifies this bleak reality, as 51% of those surveyed believe the economy is declining and will become worse, compared to only 20%who believe the economy is improving.
Americans are seriously worried about their economic well being and for good reason. For 26 straight months, until last June, the salary increases of Americans were outpaced by inflation, so “real wages” declined.
To survive, Americans were forced to dip into their savings accounts or charge more on their credit cards. As noted by Economics Professor William Ferguson of Grinnell College in Iowa, “The big problem for most consumers is when wage increases do not keep pace with inflation, then we lose real purchasing power, and that’s actually what hurts people.”
Obviously, Bidenomics is seriously hurting Americans in the wallet. This is why 44% of those participating in the CNN poll, rated the economy as the top issue facing the country. No other issue came close or topped 10% in the poll.
While Biden proclaims his policies are “building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” the truth is that Americans of all income levels are being squeezed. At the bottom, 37.9 million Americans are facing poverty and over 582,000are actually homeless. Both figures will increase as millions of illegal immigrants continue to enter our country.
For young couples trying to buy a home and enjoy the American dream, the Biden economy has created a nightmare. When Trump left office, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was only 2.7%. Today, the national average for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 7.4%, an increase of 4.7 percentage points.
Not only do these hikes make it harder for Americans to purchase a home, but it also increases the mortgage and credit card payments for Americans. With such high interest rates and persistent inflation, it is not surprising that 71% of Americans in the CNN poll stated that the country was “doing poorly.”
The pain of Bidenomics will not be subsidizing anytime soon. The Federal Reserve has been dramatically increasing interest rates to tackle inflation. While inflation has lowered, it is not at the target level of 2%, so more interest rate hikes could be coming.
Rather than increase the pain on millions of Americans by jacking up interest rates, a better way to reduce inflation would be to decrease the federal government’s deficit spending. Under President Biden, the national debt has skyrocketed to $32.7 trillion, an increase of approximately $5 trillion since the beginning of his term.
This debt creates a tremendous burden on our country, averaging $253,000 per taxpayer. Our unsustainable debt levels factored into the decision last week by Fitch Ratings to lower the credit rating for the United States from AAA to AA+. The United States also lost the AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s in 2011.
While Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the decision “puzzling,” it should not have surprised any American. In announcing the decision, Fitch Ratings noted that “there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters.” As noted by Maya Macguineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “We are clearly on an unsustainable fiscal path.”
Instead of heeding warning signs, the Biden administration is charging full steam ahead with their reckless policies, including an embrace of “green energy.” This has led to higher utility costs and gasoline prices for Americans and the United States becoming energy dependent on foreign nations once again.
This administration declared war on the oil and gas industry and has embraced every “green energy” goal possible. Due to their attack on fossil fuels, there will be higher prices for appliances and gasoline at a time when Americans are struggling.
Bidenomics is a disaster and needs to be thrown on the ash-heap of history in 2024.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America's Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-11 a.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com