{"id":1500284,"date":"2022-06-01T17:29:39","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T21:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1500284"},"modified":"2022-06-01T17:29:56","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T21:29:56","slug":"yes-biden-deserves-the-blame-for-inflation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yes-biden-deserves-the-blame-for-inflation\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Biden Deserves The Blame For Inflation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fyes-biden-deserves-the-blame-for-inflation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1500284&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-01-at-3.25.05-PM-1024x574-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Joe Biden has written an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/my-plan-for-fighting-inflation-joe-biden-gas-prices-economy-unemployment-jobs-covid-11653940654?mod=opinion_lead_pos5\">op-ed<\/a> for The Wall Street Journal detailing his plan to fight inflation.<\/p>\n<p>Well, perhaps the word \u201cdetailing\u201d is too generous. The preponderance of the column features Biden taking credit for economic growth that can be attributed to the reopening of the economy that was shuttered by the governing class during Covid. Biden, of course, not only championed those closings, but was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/states\/florida\/story\/2021\/08\/03\/desantis-blames-media-for-hysteria-over-covid-surge-1389404\">critical<\/a>\u00a0of Republican governors who opened their states before he deemed it appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>But with midterms approaching, there\u2019s been a concerted effort underway to exonerate the president, and thus Democrats, of any culpability for rising prices. Biden sycophant \u201cMorning Joe,\u201d for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeNBC\/status\/1531997277228871681\">contends<\/a> that anyone who blames the president for more than a \u201cpassing impact\u201d on inflation is a \u201clying hack or an ignorant rube.\u201d One wonders if that group includes former Obama adviser Steve Rattner, who <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/watch-obama-adviser-says-were-all-paying-the-price-for-bidenflation\/\">argues<\/a> that inflation has been driven by government putting \u201ctoo much money in people\u2019s pockets?\u201d Or Obama\u2019s one-time Director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers, who had been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/us-policy\/2021\/03\/29\/summers-biden-economy-inflation\/\">warning<\/a> for more than a year that cash infusions would exacerbate inflation? Or Jeff Bezos, who correctly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/jeff-bezos-joe-biden-inflation-tweet\/\">pointed out<\/a> that the \u201cadministration tried hard to inject even more stimulus into an already over-heated, inflationary economy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even if we were to concede that there is no good way to quantify exactly how much recent spending helped propel inflation \u2014 which is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.frbsf.org\/economic-research\/publications\/economic-letter\/2022\/march\/why-is-us-inflation-higher-than-in-other-countries\/\">outpacing<\/a> other Western nations \u2014 it\u2019s clear that the Biden administration completely mismanaged what should have been a slam-dunk recovery.<\/p>\n<p>The Fed\u2019s easy monetary policy may not be the president\u2019s fault, but what about Washington\u2019s showering the economy with cash during a recovering economy? Democrats threw $2 trillion in \u201cstimulus\u201d into the economy and continued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/you-should-definitely-get-a-job\/\">expanding<\/a> the terms of unemployment benefits (even as the job market was recovering). All of this after the $3 trillion bipartisan \u201cCovid relief\u201d bill had passed. <\/p>\n<p>With an assist from some Republicans, Democrats then okayed another trillion-plus-dollar infrastructure bill. The president says that \u201ctackling inflation\u201d is his top domestic priority, but for more than a year most of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/12\/30\/congress-news-democrats-to-take-up-build-back-better-fed-picks-in-2022.html\">efforts<\/a>, witnessed in the near-constant media coverage, were used to try and pass progressive reforms. It was Republicans \u2014 with help of two often-vilified, moderate Democrats \u2014 who stood in the way of Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crfb.org\/blogs\/permanent-build-back-better-act-could-cost-48-trillion\">pushing<\/a> through another nearly $5 trillion in social spending. The president still wants more \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/03\/03\/1084162255\/biden-wants-more-covid-relief-funds-the-gop-wants-to-know-where-previous-relief-\">relief<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden can blame Putin for creating disruptions in the energy market, but price spikes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2022\/03\/bidens-cynical-attempt-to-blame-putin-for-inflation\/\">predate<\/a> Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. And surely one of the jobs of the president is to put the United States in a stronger position for economic shocks. Instead, Biden signed a slew of executive orders pausing government leases on public lands, shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline, and stymieing drilling in the Gulf of Mexico over concocted \u201csocial cost of carbon\u201d externalities. Despite the (extra) uncertainty that came with a post-pandemic economy, all of this was done in the first weeks of his administration.<\/p>\n<p>Biden is now calling these energy spikes, embedded in essentially all economic activity, a needed \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/05\/24\/biden-promises-to-transition-america-back-to-the-1870s\/\">transition<\/a>.\u201d Virtually every action Biden has taken is conceived to make fossil fuels more expensive. That\u2019s the president\u2019s fault. Concerns over the availability of future energy production are baked into today\u2019s prices.<\/p>\n<p>As a political matter, Democrats, obsessed with the idea of historic expansion of the welfare state, spent a year dismissing and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/liberals-mock-criticize-family-featured-cnn-concerned-about-rising-cost-of-milk\">mocking<\/a> apprehensions over spiking prices. \u201cThere\u2019s nobody suggesting there\u2019s unchecked inflation on the way \u2014 no serious economist,\u201d Biden famously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2021\/07\/19\/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-economy-3\/#:~:text=THE%20PRESIDENT%3A%20Yeah.,month%20%E2%80%94%20even%20down%20this%20month.\">claimed<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>As prices spiked and poll numbers dropped, Biden officials began to cynically use rising prices as a justification for more spending. Biden and his National Economic Council Director Brian Deese <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/top-biden-economic-adviser\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued<\/a>\u00a0that Build Back Better \u2014 which you might recall costs \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/09\/27\/joe-biden-slammed-for-build-back-better-price-claim-lie\/\">zero<\/a>\u201d dollars \u2014 would help combat inflation.\u00a0The entire administration <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tomselliott\/status\/1457815262036643845\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pushed the notion<\/a>\u00a0that the best prescription for alleviating inflation was more spending. Even today, as the president is poised to \u201cforgive\u201d student loans, pumping hundreds of billions into the economy to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2022\/05\/31\/not-too-late-student-loans-00036005\">bail out<\/a> rich kids, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBSNews\/status\/1531718047903399937\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Deese<\/a> maintains the impact \u201con inflation, in the near term, is likely to be quite small.\u201d Sure.<\/p>\n<p>In any event, I assume Ron Klain isn\u2019t laughing off inflation as a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/biden-chief-of-staff-ron-klain-demolished-endorsing-tweet-inflation-high-class-problem\">high class problem<\/a>\u201d anymore.<\/p>\n<p>So, while it\u2019s true that inflation is a complex, multifaceted problem that isn\u2019t entirely any person\u2019s or administration\u2019s or event\u2019s fault, it is\u00a0fair to say that the Biden administration, from top to bottom, was as wrong as an administration could be on the issue. They ignored it. They weren\u2019t prepared. They exacerbated it. They tried to appropriate it for ideological reasons.\u00a0At the very least,\u00a0Biden deserves a lot more credit for inflation than he does economic growth. If you\u2019re going to take credit for the latter, you deserve blame for the former.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books\u2014the most recent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Eurotrash-America-Reject-Failed-Continent\/dp\/0063066017\/\">Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent<\/a>. His work has appeared in National Review, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reason, New York Post, and numerous other publications. Follow him on Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidharsanyi\/\">@davidharsanyi<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Biden has written an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal detailing his plan to fight inflation. Well, perhaps the word \u201cdetailing\u201d is too generous. The preponderance of the column<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1500284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1500284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1500284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1500284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1500284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}