As a reminder, Joe Biden personally made inflation more severe and longer-lasting than it needed to be, needlessly harming American families and businesses across many painful months. Prices are still heading up, even as the rate of increase has subsided. Virtually everything costs more than it did a few short years ago, and prices remain substantially higher across multiple categories. They aren't coming down. In short, Biden's inflation is still squeezing Americans. Biden was not the sole cause of this phenomenon, of course, but his foolish and destructive policies exacerbated it. He ignored warnings from even left-leaning economists over the inflationary impact massive new spending programs would have, pushing forward with them anyway. He and his party rammed through trillions in wasteful spending, in party-line votes, further overheating the economy. One of the ways some companies have tried to combat these effects without dramatically raising prices was to offer less of their products (fewer potato chips in the bag, etc), resulting in 'shrinkflation.' And Grandpa Joe wants you to know he's hopping mad about it. Writer Megan McArdle has the proper response to this posturing:
Just a thought, instead of yelling at companies for coping with inflation by shrinking portions instead of raising prices, what if you hadn’t touched off a massive inflation with an unnecessary relief bill, passed as vaccines were already ending the pandemic? https://t.co/mI11XToa70
— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) February 12, 2024
Another relevant reminder here is that Biden and his party also railroaded through something they called the "Inflation Reduction Act," which was actually a climate change spending bill. It was obvious at the time that its goal wasn't reducing inflation, as even Bernie Sanders pointed out on the Senate floor. After all the "investments" were made, Biden eventually admitted the legislation was really about something else, and he wished he'd named it differently. He made this observation not as a statement of any real remorse; he made it as a pander to the environmentalist 'green new deal' crowd, seeking political credit for pursuing their agenda. He might as well have said, 'look, gang, we couldn't be honest about its name because otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get you what you want.' And now here's Biden playing a faux-outraged faux populist, performatively upset with companies for adjusting to the consequences of his failed policies. This is frustrating to watch, of course, but it's also not working. Biden is deep underwater on the economy, and voters strongly favor Trump on the issue. The spin is failing as badly as the policies. Meanwhile, a few more Biden-related observations:
(1) If the Special Counsel's characterizations of Biden's diminished faculties and faulty memory are false, why won't Team Biden agree to the release of transcripts and videos of the interviews in question? Very plausible answers below:
This is the story, right here.
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) February 12, 2024
If the Special Counsel is wrong, the transcripts will prove it.
The White House knows for a fact that Hur was simply telling the truth.
In fact... They are mad precisely because he told the truth. https://t.co/hN7oYttB9p
86% pic.twitter.com/6J8N6sY9e6
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 11, 2024
(2) This seems rather problematic, especially from a man who promised Trump-weary voters that he would restore 'norms:'
President Norms & Co are making it publicly known that they’re displeased that their AG didn’t censor the newly-released special counsel report — and that their DOJ hasn’t moved faster in its investigation & prosecution of Biden’s likely election opponent: https://t.co/zPXckUbQJy
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 10, 2024
Joe Biden has told aides and outside advisers that Attorney General Merrick Garland did not do enough to rein in a special counsel report stating that the president had diminished mental faculties, according to two people close to the president, as White House frustration with the head of the Justice Department grows...they put part of the blame on Garland, who they say should have demanded edits to Hur’s report, including around the descriptions of Biden’s faltering memory...In White House meetings, aides have questioned why Garland felt the need to appoint a special counsel in the first place, though Biden has publicly said he supported the decision...While Biden himself has not weighed in on Garland’s future, most of the president’s senior advisers do not believe that the attorney general would remain in his post for a possible second term, according to the two people. “This has been building for a while,” said one of those people. “No one is happy”...In recent weeks, President Biden has grumbled to aides and advisers that had Garland moved sooner in his investigation into former President Donald Trump’s election interference, a trial may already be underway or even have concluded, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss private matters. That trial still could take place before the election and much of the delay is owed not to Garland but to deliberate resistance put up by the former president and his team.
POTUS is reportedly angry that his political appointee didn't censor the supposedly 'independent' Special Counsel in order to protect him politically, and is frustrated that his political appointee hasn't sufficiently fast-tracked the prosecution of his leading electoral opponent. The president's team is already telegraphing retaliation against the political appointee. The Politico story is a scandal. I'll also note that Biden -- in defending his serial and unlawful (regardless of the senility-influenced charging decision) mishandling of classified materia -- is also commenting publicly and in detail about the criminal prosecution his Justice Department is actively pursuing against his likely opponent. Highly inappropriate.
(3) Administrations of both political parties have identified Chinese-owned TikTok as a national security threat, both in terms of data breaches and surveillance, and in terms of propaganda power. Despite barring government workers from downloading TikTok onto official devices, and threatening a wider ban, the boss has proudly announced that his campaign is now on the platform:
2022: FBI Director says TikTok is a National Security threat
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) February 12, 2024
Tonight: Biden campaign joins TikTok pic.twitter.com/JpClR9m4CG
https://t.co/bW6bw3Vstj pic.twitter.com/Jxn8fz2aZV
— Vanessa (@Nessakins_) February 12, 2024
As I've posited elsewhere, if Democrats are going to go full steam ahead on this platform, does it make sense for Republicans to stand 'on principle' and cede this major information/entertainment/narrative battlefield entirely to the other side?
(4) I'll leave you with three revealing insights into how many fellow Democrats currently view the president's strength and standing:
James Carville on Biden skipping Super Bowl interview: "It's the biggest television audience, not even close...That's kind of a sign that the staff or yourself doesn't have much confidence in you. There's no other way to read this."
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) February 11, 2024
Begging Biden to stay out https://t.co/NTn57QMLpr
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 12, 2024
Biden deputy campaign manager pointing out the pro-Trump bias of the…New York Times. https://t.co/NMWu5UaSVz
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) February 11, 2024
It's safe to say that when Democrats are whining about media bias "against" them, especially at the New York Times for crying out loud, things aren't looking so hot.
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