Rep. Jodey Arrington issues reminders on the effects of Bidenomics

NEWS AND OPINION:

The Conference Board has released its monthly Consumer Confidence Index for August. It rose from 101.9 in July to 103.3 this month.

“While the Conference Board’s report showed a slight improvement in consumer confidence, overall markets remain weak and Americans are worried about the health of the labor market,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

The Texas Republican has more to say, however.

“Families are paying over $17,000 more annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed before Biden-Harris took office. Their bank accounts have been wiped out, with the savings rate dropping from 7.7% right before the pandemic to 3.4% under Kamalanomics,” Mr. Arrington said.

“Unemployment has risen for four straight months, and recent revisions show the job market is markedly weaker than previously reported. Consumer interest rates stand at a 23-year high. It’s hard to fathom how hardworking American families can survive another four years of the Biden-Harris failed economic agenda,” he concluded.

THE 10 WORST

The aforementioned Rep. Jodey Arrington has also cited “Ten of the Worst Policies” that have emerged from the administration of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Here they are, verbatim from the source:

1. Proposes largest tax increase in history ($4.9 trillion).

2. Calls for an unprecedented $86.6 trillion in spending over 10 years.

3. Generates the largest debt in American history by 2034 ($52.7 trillion).

4. [The debt] results in $12.2 trillion interest payments, $2.5 trillion more than the entire defense budget.

5. Restores partisan changes to the Child Tax Credit by removing work requirements, turning it into an unconditional cash grant costing over $310 billion.

6. Provides $104 billion in mandatory funding to the IRS over the budget window to further monitor American taxpayers.

7. Spends $90 billion on taxpayer-funded free community college, on top of the $132 billion already spent forgiving student loans.

8. Fails to secure the border by underinvesting and maintaining status quo policies like “catch and release.” Illegal immigration currently costs taxpayers a net of at least $150.7 billion.

9. Permanently expands inflationary Obamacare subsidies, including for some of the nation’s richest Americans, costing taxpayers $350 billion.

10. Undercuts domestic energy independence by imposing $120 billion in new taxes on American energy producers.

Find the House Budget Committee at budget.house.gov, a site that includes an outreach to “fiscal whistleblowers.”

FOXIFIED

Fox News has made its mark this month. It has been the most watched network in the entire cable realm this month, besting its news and non-news competition alike, according to Nielsen.

The network has drawn an average of 2.3 million prime-time viewers so far in August, compared with MSNBC with an average of 1.8 million and CNN with an average of 1.1 million. This marks the 42nd consecutive month that Fox News has led the competition in audience response, according to Nielsen.

During the Democratic National Convention, Fox News averaged 4.5 million prime-time viewers, MSNBC drew 3.2 million and CNN had 2.3 million.

“The Five” had the largest audience, a daily average of 3.3 million viewers, followed by “Jesse Watters Primetime” (3 million viewers), “Hannity” (2.6 million), “Gutfeld” (2.5 million) and “The Ingraham Angle” (2.4 million)

The aforementioned “Gutfeld” drew a larger audience than such major-network competitors as “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and “After Midnight” on CBS, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers.”

TRACKING THE TURNAROUNDS

“If she’s elected president, Kamala Harris pledges to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the wall along the southern border — a project she once opposed and called ‘un-American’ during the Trump administration,” Axios said in a report released Wednesday.

It drew some reaction.

“How much longer will the mainstream media allow Kamala Harris to hide and use staff to speak on her behalf? It’s Day 37 of ZERO interviews and Kamala’s anonymous campaign sources are now claiming she supports President Trump’s border wall — this is a preposterous and false claim,” said Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump/Vance campaign, in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“Kamala’s record proves she is pro-open border. She called the wall ’un-American,’ a ’waste of taxpayer money,’ ’medieval,’ and said it isn’t going to ’stop’ illegal immigration. As a senator, Kamala tried to block President Trump’s construction of the border wall. As Border Czar, Kamala Harris halted construction of the border wall. Kamala’s actions speak much louder than the words of the anonymous staff she is cowering behind,” Ms. Leavitt said.

A REAGAN MOMENT

Opening Saturday: An exhibit titled “The Pope and the President: Bringing Hope to the World” debuts at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum and Library in Simi Valley, California.

It explores the “profound relationship” between President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II and their combined efforts “to combat communism and promote global freedom,” the organization said.

The exhibit will feature overview panels dedicated to a different chapter of John Paul’s life, as well as several other objects, such as souvenirs from their 1984 meeting in Alaska, gifts from the pope to the Reagans including an ivory Madonna and blessed medallion; a certificate granting a papal blessing to Reagan and his family; and a Bible given to Reagan by the pontiff.

The 1998 Cadillac De Ville Parade Phaeton “Popemobile” — built for John Paul — will also be on display. Find the always interesting Reagan Library site at ReaganFoundation.org.

POLL DU JOUR

• 28% of U.S. adults feel fear when they think about the 2024 presidential election.

• 22% feel excitement about the election.

• 12% feel joy and happiness.

• 9% feel anger.

• 7% feel sadness.

• 7% feel pride.

• 15% don’t know how they feel.

SOURCE: Florida Atlantic University and Public Opinion Research Lab/Mainstream Research USA poll of 929 registered U.S. voters conducted online and by phone Aug. 23-25. Respondents were given a list of feelings to consider.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.