OPINION:
President Biden’s effort to “build back better” has degenerated into “build back poorer” for the American people and “build back broke” for the American government.
With gasoline prices setting new record highs every week, the American people are becoming poorer.
With the high cost of diesel fuel (up 70% over the last year) raising the cost of every product delivered to stores by truck, the American people are becoming poorer.
With the high cost of petroleum being translated into higher prices for fertilizer and other products necessary to modern farming, the price of food is skyrocketing and leaving the American people poorer.
When families this summer cannot afford to go on vacations, the hotels, restaurants and recreation sites will lose customers and income, which will make them poorer.
As the Republican National Committee has reported, Mr. Biden is delivering the “Great American Pay Cut.” The RNC’s Tommy Pigott wrote: “The Great American Pay Cut continues, as wage growth of 5.2% over the last year came nowhere close to April’s consumer price hike of 8.3%.”
“That means ‘real wages continue to decline’ as the economic fire alarm blares for American families. As noted by CNBC’s Rick Santelli, there are major ‘canaries in the coal mine’ warning that things are going to get a lot worse. Among the bad news: It was the weakest jobs growth in 12 months and American families now have an average of $9,000 less in savings than last year.”
And this is not merely partisan talking points. The Biden administration’s extensive failures are being detailed in the pages of The New York Times: “Seventy percent of [infant] formula products nationwide were listed as out-of-stock for the week ending May 21, according to the retail software company Datasembly. That is an increase from 45% for the week that ended May 8, and 31% earlier, in April.”
“According to Datasembly, almost 75% of the baby formula supply is out of stock in Atlanta; 80% in Des Moines; and 90% in Houston. Consumers are having better luck in Indianapolis, where only 48% of formula is listed as out-of-stock, and Chicago, where the figure is only 57%.”
“A spokeswoman for Datasembly said that its analysis shows that ‘out-of-stock percentage for baby formula continues to worsen.’”
The scarcity of baby formula is making life more difficult, and its sky-rocketing prices are leaving parents poorer. Adding insult to injury, searching for stores that have baby formula is forcing parents to buy more gasoline just to get a necessity of life for their infant children.
The Democrats’ determination to undermine police and release criminals without bail has led to increased robberies and carjackings. This has made life poorer and more dangerous for law-abiding Americans.
Inflation, in general, is worsening — and it is solely an American phenomenon. As Dave Winston and Myra Miller pointed out in The Winston Group’s June 1 newsletter, the American inflation rate is vastly greater than the worldwide inflation.
In fact, The Winston Group noted, “The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco March economic letter (‘Why Is U.S. Inflation Higher than in Other Countries?’) highlights that the U.S. has significantly outpaced inflation in other countries starting in 2021 after the American Rescue Plan was passed.”
Winston Group pointed out that even the left-leaning Vox website acknowledged the gap. According to Vox: “The U.S. did a lot more stimulus than these other countries, and now it’s seeing a lot more core inflation. And the stimulus that most stands out is Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan — because it was enacted after more than $3 trillion had already been spent to stimulate the economy under Trump, with one big chunk of that being approved just three months prior.”
The inflation alone would make Americans poorer. The failure of the Biden administration to solve the logistics supply chain problems is also making life more difficult and expensive.
The Biden administration has been consistently behind the curve on almost every major problem, and infant formula has been no exception. The president claims he only learned about it in April even though the industry warned about it in February.
Faced with the crisis of Americans becoming poorer and supply chains breaking down, the Biden administration offers no hope of a better future. As The Wall Street Journal reported: “President Biden warned there was little the administration can do in the short term to lower high energy and food prices as the White House struggles to contain the fallout of sky-high inflation.”
“Soaring prices have become a major liability for the president and Democratic Party as they seek to bolster their standing with voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.”
“‘There’s a lot going on right now, but the idea we’re going to be able to, you know, click a switch, bring down the cost of gasoline, is not likely in the near term, nor is it with regard to food,’ Mr. Biden said Wednesday.”
So, the Biden administration’s support for Big Government socialism means it will build back making Americans poorer — and running up so much debt it will leave the government broke.
Poorer Americans in a broke country: This is the burden Democrats will carry into the fall election.
• For more commentary from Newt, visit Gingrich360.com.
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