After several days of watching the Biden White House tout its mind-blowing "zero percent inflation" talking point amid 8.5 percent inflation – with the inflation-caused cost of feeding one's family at the highest level in America since 1979 – I started thinking about the string of audacious spin this crew has attempted. Biden campaigned (or barely campaigned, really) as someone who would restore truth-telling to the Oval Office. His team's track record on that score has been abysmal. Consider a small sample of examples, highlighted in this tweet:
$1.9 trillion in new spending costs $0
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) August 11, 2022
The border is secure
Republicans are the real police defunders
Two consecutive quarters of economic contraction isn’t a recession
“Inflation Reduction” Act
8.5% inflation = 0%
Real wages -3% = “wages up”
Serial Gaslighters.
(1) They actually claimed that roughly $5 trillion in new "Build Back Better" spending (not $1.9 trillion) would cost "zero dollars." This, after they assured Americans, wrongly, that their so-called rescue plan would not fuel inflation.
(2) Biden administration officials routinely assert that the border is closed and secure. Illegal border crossings have spiked to record highs, with millions of encounters since Biden took office. "Known got-aways" on this president's watch are on track to hit one million in the coming months.
(3) Democrats are the party of defunding the police, which was a popular mantra on the left back in 2020. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris indulged the madness, endorsing "redirecting" police funds, and encouraging donations to bail rioters out of jail, respectively. When the political winds shifted, the administration landed on the imbecilic talking point that actually, it's the Republicans who want to defund the police.
(4) The tax-and-spend bomb known as the so-called "Inflation Reduction Act" is such a misnomer that even Bernie Sanders isn't having it. And almost nobody believes it:
YouGov poll: Do you think that this $369 billion climate and energy bill will increase or decrease inflation?
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) August 10, 2022
Increase 42%
Decrease 13%
Increase/Decrease by Party:
Democrats: 14/25
Republicans: 72/2
Independents: 41/7
August 7-9 / 1,500 Adults https://t.co/k4Hr0A0Cmk pic.twitter.com/eucRKorsXs
(5) The longstanding definition of a recession doesn't apply to them, they've explained.
(6) The triumphant "zero percent inflation" claim, amid brutal and sustained inflation that they denied would happen at all, then shrugged off as "transitory," is quite a thing to behold. Fuel prices and (relatedly) airfares are down, thanks to decreased demand, which isn't typically a great economic sign. Experts believe gas prices will climb again this fall. But terribly elevated core inflation is virtually flat, and costs of food, rent and electricity are still climbing even higher.
(7) White House Chief of Staff boasted that wages are increasing. About that:
I have a lot of tolerance for politicos spinning data. It’s their job.
— Oren Cass (@oren_cass) August 10, 2022
But saying “wages up” shows a heckuva disdain for the reality facing working families these days.
“Real average hourly earnings decreased 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, from July 2021 to July 2022.” -BLS https://t.co/ziwYM3OUEp
I'll add three more to the list:
(8) Nearly a year ago, amid deadly chaos, the president declared our disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, marred by leaving thousands of Americans and allies (and tens of billions in military equipment) behind, an "extraordinary success." He also stated that Al Qaeda is "gone" from the country, which is obviously untrue.
(9) The White House and Senate Democrats insist that the doubling of the IRS – including hiring 87,000 new agents and auditors and infusing a stunning $80 billion into the agency – will not impact anyone earning less than $400,000 annually. This is totally false, per nonpartisan experts, and on top of that, all 50 Senate Democrats voted against and defeated an amendment to their bill that would have given this promise teeth in the law.
(10) The Biden White House claimed that there was "no vaccine available" when the president took office. In fact, three COVID vaccines were developed under the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed. Biden himself was vaccinated before taking the oath of office. By his inauguration day, tens of millions of doses had been administered, overwhelmingly to the most vulnerable Americans.
Serial. Gaslighters.
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