By the Republican National Committee

PRICES ARE HIGHER UNDER BIDEN, AND AMERICANS KNOW IT

• The latest Consumer Price Index data shows year-over-year inflation increased last month to 3.4 percent – twice the rate compared to when Biden took office and higher than expected.
  • Core consumer prices – stripping out food and energy – rose by 3.9 percent, also above expectations.
• Prices have risen by 17.3 percent since Biden took office – with Americans still reeling from the lasting effects of inflation.
  • On a year-over-year basis, inflation under Biden has averaged 5.7 percent – more than double the level of inflation seen under any of the last four presidents.
  • Food prices are up 20.2 percent, rent is up 19 percent, and electricity is up 25 percent since Biden took office.
• With persistent inflation having eaten away at wage gains, more and more Americans are struggling financially.
  • Bidenflation outpaced wages for a majority of Biden’s presidency – year-over-year real average hourly earnings were negative for 25 months and real average weekly earnings were negative for 26 months.
• Real wages remain lower than when Biden first took office.
  • Inflation-adjusted average hourly wages were $11.39 when Biden took office and are now $11.10 – the BLS adjusts to 1982-1984 dollars – meaning Americans have seen a 2.5 percent pay cut under Biden.

AMERICANS’ FINANCES ARE BEING DECIMATED

• Americans are suffering from the lasting effects of Biden’s historic inflation, with many struggling to pay their debts, save for retirement, or afford rent.
  • 62 percent of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck, including more than half earning over $100,000 per year.
  • The number of 401(k) participants dipping into their retirement accounts early increased 27 percent in 2023.
• An increasing number of Americans are turning to food banks to cope with rising expenses.
  • 60 percent of Americans are currently struggling to pay for their groceries. 
• The personal savings rate was 4.1 percent in November, well below a decades-long average of roughly 8.9 percent.
• Bidenomics has cost the middle class $2.4 trillion since March 2022.
  • The average middle-class household has lost over $33,000 in real wealth in just the past year.
• Americans are increasingly borrowing to cover daily expenses, finding their regular income is no longer enough to make ends meet.
  • Credit card debt recently surpassed $1 trillion for the first time ever – with the average credit card balance now more than $6,000, the highest in ten years.
  • Household debt continues to increase, now at $17.29 trillion.
• During the holiday season, consumer borrowing spiked by $23.75 billion and outstanding credit balances soared to $5 trillion for the first time on record. 
  • Only half of credit card holders believe they can pay off their December credit card balance in full.
• During 2023, roughly a third of Americans said they had to cut back or skip necessary expenses at least once to pay for utilities.

THE COST OF LIVING IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY UNAFFORDABLE

• U.S. average gas prices currently sit at $3.08 per gallon, which is 70 cents per gallon higher than when Biden became president.
  • Under Biden, the price of a gallon of gas has been above $3 for 974 days in a row.
• Congress’s Joint Economic Committee estimates that families have lost over $19,800 paying for the increased cost of living under Bidenomics.
  • Bidenflation cost the average American family $940 in November alone.
• JPMorgan analysts predict that by mid-2024, 99 percent of Americans will have less money than before the pandemic.
• The Fed has hiked interest rates 11 times since March 2022 – now at their highest level in 22 years – making it harder for families to buy a home, finance a car, pay off debt, and perform various other financial transactions.
  • Biden’s favorite economist – Moody’s Mark Zandi – said that purchasing a home or a car right now is “completely unaffordable for the typical American household.”
• Homeownership has been deemed “unaffordable” in 99 percent of the country.
  • To afford a median-priced home in the country, Americans need to make close to $100,000 a year, which is up from $75,500 in 2022.

• In 2023, over half of home buyers put down less than the standard 20 percent down payment amidst higher interest rates and inflated home prices.
• 58 percent of recent home buyers report overpaying for their home while 56 percent of home buyers felt “they were in over their heads financially since finalizing their home purchase.”

• Renting is only getting more difficult for Americans as rental costs continue to surge while wages remain stagnant – with low-to-moderate income renter households getting hit the hardest.
  • This is now “one of the least-affordable rental markets ever.”

• According to the latest Census data, U.S. inflation-adjusted household income fell last year by the most in over a decade.
  • Median household income has fallen for two straight years under Biden and remains below pre-pandemic levels.

AMERICANS ARE NOT HAPPY WITH BIDEN’S ECONOMY

• American families are seeing higher prices for virtually everything, and they know exactly who to blame: Biden and Democrats.
• Just 14 percent of voters say they have been helped by Biden’s economic policies, and 78 percent say the economy is in bad shape, according to a Fox News survey.
• 81 percent of Americans’ finances have not improved in the past year, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.
• 68 percent of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of inflation, according to a Monmouth University poll.
• 59 percent of Americans believe the U.S. economy is on the wrong track and almost half say their personal financial situation is worsening, according to a recent Harvard CAPS-Harris poll.
• Biden’s overall approval is the worst of any modern-day president seeking reelection at the same point, according to Gallup.

DEMOCRATS’ RESONSE TO THE INFLATION CRISIS BIDEN CREATED: MORE INFLATIONARY SPENDING

• As working-class families struggle to make ends meet thanks to inflation, voters know Democrats are to blame for rising prices.
• In 2021, Biden and Democrats passed their inflation-fueling $1.9 trillion “stimulus,” which even liberal economists admit fueled inflation.  
• In August, every single Democrat voted to pass the Bidenflation Scam, which experts say will worsen inflation and raise taxes on working-class Americans.
  • Studies from the Tax Foundation, Penn Wharton Budget Model, Moody’s, and the Congressional Budget Office all found that the bill will either make inflation worse or do basically nothing to bring down inflation.
  • The Tax Foundation concluded that the Bidenflation Scam Act will “worsen inflation especially in the first four” years.
• In March, Biden unveiled his budget for FY 2024: a $6.9 trillion spending spree chock full of wasteful spending and higher taxes.

REPUBLICAN-LED STATES ARE DRIVING JOB GROWTH

• Biden deserves no credit for jobs that have been created – he paid Americans not to work for months and stifled economic growth.
• Republican-led states are the ones creating jobs and leading economic growth.
• The latest state jobs report shows that eight of the top 10 states for jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic are led by Republican governors, and all 10 states have Republican-controlled legislatures.
  • Out of the top eight states with the lowest unemployment rates, seven are led by Republican governors.
• The latest report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis found that seven of the top 10 states with the highest real GDP growth in the third quarter of 2023 have Republican governors.
  • Eight of the top 10 states with the largest increases in personal income in the third quarter of 2023 are led by Republicans.

  Originally posted here.