OPINION:
Poker players confident in their cards will often “throw all their chips on the table,” risking all their money on a single hand. President Biden’s reelection campaign has made a similar determination.
By branding the nation’s economic conditions as “Bidenomics,” the president is gambling that Americans see the economy with the same rose-colored glasses as the White House. It seems a risky bet that may never pay off.
From the White House’s perspective, America has survived the shutdowns and is on the economic rebound. The government-imposed shutdowns of the nation, largely promoted by liberal governors, were nothing more than the equivalent of throwing a monkey wrench into the economy’s gears. The country’s unemployment rate, which hovered around 3.5% just before the pandemic, skyrocketed to 13% and is now back under 4%.
The president is actively taking credit, claiming that 13 million jobs have been created since he took office. The stock market has held its own, and many corporate profits have navigated the shutdowns and rebounded. The president is also touting his government’s massive spending on the green economy and enacting an infrastructure bill that he believes will create jobs.
The American people, however, seem to believe things aren’t going as swimmingly as the president does.
At a time when economy is top election issue for voters, Mr. Biden’s approval rating for handling the economy is at an all-time low.
Recent polls by both ABC and NBC News report that 44% of Americans are worse off financially under the Biden presidency, the lowest rating since 1986. A leading driver of the dissatisfaction is inflation, driven by considerable boosts in government spending on COVID-19 and the identical bills that the president touts as his successes. Unfortunately for the president, things will probably get worse before they get better.
After four years of the federal government reducing regulations on business, cutting taxes, and creating an economic environment that fosters economic growth, Mr. Biden has driven the ship in the other direction. The number of new regulations the administration has added to the economy are to blame.
According to the Foundation for Government Accountability, Mr. Biden has added over $300 billion in regulatory costs in his administration’s first two years — more than the first half of any other presidential administration in history. These overzealous edicts might make the progressive bureaucrats in the administration feel as if they’re taking care of the little guy, but in reality, it’s causing irreversible pain to the average Jane and Joe on Main Street.
A classic example is a new proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to impose a price cap on credit card late fees. This rule is a solution in search of a problem.
Credit card late fees are already capped at $41. Reducing the cap to one-fifth of that will bankrupt tens of thousands of local, community banks — helping Wall Street banks limit their consumption while wiping out credit to low-income consumers and mom-and-pop businesses, among other significant, and in many cases, irreversible negative consequences. The Small Business Administration recently made this point clear, stating in a letter to the CFPB that “a reduction in fees may result in banks or credit unions extending credit to fewer borrowers or reducing credit to existing or future borrowers.”
This move by the CFPB is a telling sign of the broader trend under the Biden administration: excessive government intervention in markets.
The administration’s Federal Trade Commission even recently went so far as to repeal the consumer welfare standard — the long-standing governing principle stating that the commission would not intervene in the affairs of private businesses unless they raised prices, reduced marketplace competition, or took other actions to harm consumers.
Rescinding this standard is allowing the White House to slowly reshape the American economy into a socialist wonderland like Sweden, where businesses are penalized for being successful, but it’s increasing unemployment while inflating the prices that Americans pay at the grocery store and doctor’s office at the same time.
National Bureau of Economic Research economist Casey Mulligan has stated that the rules established by the Biden administration through the end of 2022 imposed nearly $10,000 in costs per household. These costs are borne by the American people.
Given these facts, is it any wonder why voters aren’t happy?
The president’s branding of Bidenomics is an assertive display of confidence in his economic approach, but the reality for everyday Americans suggests a more complex and harmful narrative.
Just as in poker, where bluffing can sometimes lead to significant losses, Mr. Biden’s gamble with the economy is a high-stakes game where the nation’s future is on the line.
And make no mistake about it: The voters are watching.
• Michael Glassner is the former chief operating officer of the 2020 Trump campaign and deputy campaign manager of the 2016 Trump campaign.
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