“Inflation is the bane of our existence,” President Biden lamented last week to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Unfortunately, he was referring to inflation’s effect on presidential approval ratings, not the plight of average Americans brutalized to pay for gas and groceries.
The president’s speech Tuesday to the AFL-CIO was another Team Biden pity party that hard facts were not permitted to interrupt.
CLAIM: Biden boasted that he “put America in a position to tackle the worldwide problem that’s worse everywhere but here: inflation.”
REALITY: Were Biden’s speechwriters using “Common Core” math that makes all bad numbers vanish? Inflation is 8.6% in America and 5.4% in South Korea, 5.1% in Australia, 6.8% in Canada.
CLAIM: Biden continued blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for price hikes here in America.
REALITY: National Public Radio reported earlier this year that “between 2019 and 2021, the US saw one of the biggest inflation-rate increases in the world, behind only Brazil and Turkey.” Inflation had increased fourfold under Biden — reaching 7% — before Russia invaded Ukraine. Wholesale price inflation last month was almost 11% — signaling worse times ahead for US consumers.
CLAIM: Biden on Wednesday accused US oil companies of making excessive profits. He ordered them to “take immediate actions to increase the supply” of gasoline and diesel fuels.
REALITY: Biden’s own policies have disrupted energy markets. The American Petroleum Institute issued a list of 10 steps Biden could take to reduce supply disruptions, including ending obstruction of permitting on natural gas projects, lifting development restrictions on federal lands and waters and ending Trump-era steel tariffs.
CLAIM: Biden apparently thinks that public raving can restore confidence in his leadership. He literally screamed at the AFL-CIO audience: “I don’t want to hear any more of these lies about reckless spending. We’re changing people’s lives!”
REALITY: Federal Reserve analysts estimated that Biden’s deluge of handouts added 3% to the inflation rate by late last year. The Federal Reserve has boosted the money supply by 40% since the start of the pandemic, helping fuel price surges across the board.