President Joe Biden is just weeks away from the end of his term, and one of the key aspects of his legacy is undeniable inflation.
Biden has fought inflation from the beginning, but critics say he has helped fuel inflation by trillions of dollars in deficit spending during his four years in office. Federal debt spending is partially offset by printing money, which increases inflation.
Biden boasted of lowering the inflation rate from about 9% at the start of his term to about 2.5% now.
A slowdown in the inflation rate does not mean that prices have fallen. In fact, it continues to rise, albeit more slowly than at the beginning of his term.
The federal government released its key inflation figures on Friday. personal consumption expenditure It rose 2.4% last month, slightly lower than expected.
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But overall, prices are up more than 20% since Biden took office.
According to the federal government CPI Inflation Calculator $100 in January 2021, when Biden took office, has the same purchasing power as $120 as of November this year. This means that $100 will go up a lot more in 2021 than it does now.
In fact, food prices have risen faster than overall inflation, rising more than 22% since Biden took office.
These high prices have given Republicans plenty of fodder to attack the sitting president.
“The Biden-Harris administration’s parting gift to the American people is as welcome as a lump of coal at Christmas,” Jason Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement Friday. “The family was shocked when prices surged 20% under President Biden, making it impossible to afford living expenses. “The American people are preparing for the election of President Trump and a return to a strong, prosperous economy that creates good-paying jobs.”
Polling data shows that despite some positive economic indicators this year (relatively low unemployment), Americans still have a poor view of the economy. That’s at least one undeniable reason why grocery costs, especially, have skyrocketed since Biden took office.
After the November election, polls showed voters were cited. higher price It was a major consideration in voting.
According to a May opinion poll this year, Americans’ trust in Biden’s economic management has reached a ‘historic low’.
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Obama’s trust rating has been at least 50% every year except once (42% in 2014). Biden fared much worse, with confidence in managing the economy falling sharply from 57% to 40% in 2022 amid rapid inflation, and has remained below 40% since then. Only Bush had less trust from Americans than Biden last year. By the end of his second term amid the Great Recession, only 34% of Americans expressed confidence in his economic abilities.
Gasoline prices have also surged during Biden’s term, surpassing the historic national average of $5 a gallon, in part because Biden has emptied most of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
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When Biden took office, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline was about $2.39 per gallon.
Currently, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is approximately $3 per gallon. AAA.
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