OPINION:
President Biden and his water carriers in the press and the political world want the American public to believe that inflation is good for the economy, good for ye olde pocketbook, good for the administration’s friends and foes alike because, well, gosh darn it, everyone is helped when prices soar.
Don’t get the logic? Don’t worry. There is none.
That’s just the Democrat way: Spin, spin, lie, deceive, duck and dodge — and repeat until critics go away.
“The faster than expected increase in some of those prices is actually a good sign in the sense that it’s a sign that the economy is recovering faster than a lot of people expected,” Biden’s National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti said in May. That was when the Consumer Price Index had jumped by 4.2%, the biggest hike in more than 12 years.
With Friday’s dismal numbers, it’s more of the same.
The annual inflation rate, just out, at 6.8%, is the highest seen in decades. Consumer prices, the Wall Street Journal reported, rose by 0.8% in just a month’s time. It’s a 39-year high, Fox News reported. Once again, cue Jimmy Carter jokes.
What’s not funny is the response from this White House.
“Biden Team Seeks to Downplay Inflation Data,” Bloomberg wrote.
In the lead-up to this most recent Consumer Price Index report, Biden’s economic adviser, Brian Deese, went on the offensive. His claim? It’s all good. Nothing to see here, folks. Go home.
Go home while you still have a home to go to, is more like it.
“[This report is] backward looking,” Deese said.
This report fails to include the “recent price movements” in gasoline, which has gone down, and in shipping costs, which have also gone down, he said.
“These declines are delivering most importantly some benefit to consumers on a go-forward basis that won’t be reflected in [this report,” Deese said.
And then he went on to point out how average household incomes for Americans have increased over the last few months, due in large part to tax credits, higher wages and government stimulus handouts.
And then he went on to explain how Consumer Price Index reports don’t include the full picture of the economy.
And then he went on to explain how the coronavirus pandemic had contributed to Americans’ reluctance to spend — which, in turn, had contributed to the dismal Consumer Price Index numbers.
And then he went on to assure that “the consensus” of the “estimates” of “outside experts continue to forecast and predict that price increases will moderate going into 2022” — whatever that means. Whatever that’s worth. After all, according to this White House and this White House’s water carriers: Inflation is good. So why the need to assure that prices will “moderate” in 2022?
“Inflation Is Good for You,” The Intercept wrote in early November.
“Inflation: It might actually be good for the economy,” Fortune wrote in July.
“Why inflation can actually be good for everyday Americans,” CNN wrote this December.
It’s the running theme of this White House: Inflation is good for you. Except, of course, when it’s not. And it’s not good for you when polls show that Americans are increasingly worried about the economy and that Democrats are increasingly losing support of the voting base.
“Poll: One-third of Americans see inflation and bills as their top concern,” USA Today just wrote.
“AP-NORC Poll: Income is up, but Americans focus on inflation,” The Associated Press just wrote.
Yes. That’s because no matter how Democrats try to dodge, the fact is, rising wages have been completely wiped out by rising inflation.
Try as Democrats will to sell the myth, Americans who pump gas aren’t buying the lie — Americans who buy food aren’t swallowing the deception. Team Biden can’t fool citizens into seeing money in their wallets that just isn’t there.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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