By the Republican National Committee

EVERYTHING COSTS MORE THANKS TO BIDEN

• The latest Consumer Price Index data shows year-over-year inflation increased in April by 3.4 percent – twice the rate compared to when Biden took office.
  •  Inflation has been at or above 3 percent for 37 straight months, well above the Fed’s average target of 2 percent.
  • Core consumer prices – stripping out food and energy – rose by 3.6 percent.
• Prices have risen by 19.9 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 5.5 percent – more than double the level of inflation seen under any of the last four presidents.
  • Groceries are up 21.3 percent, rent is up 20.8 percent, and electricity is up 28.5 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 – both year-over-year real average hourly earnings and real average weekly earnings were negative for 25 months.
• Real wages remain lower than when Biden first took office.
  • Inflation-adjusted average weekly earnings were $397.90 when Biden took office and are now $380.56 – the BLS adjusts to 1982-1984 dollars – meaning Americans have seen a 4.4 percent pay cut under Biden.
    • Under President Trump, real average weekly wages rose 8.2 percent.

THE COST OF LIVING IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY UNAFFORDABLE

• Hardworking Americans are struggling to survive financially as Bidenomics continues to drain the wallets of families and businesses across the country.
• Bidenomics has cost the middle class $2.4 trillion since March 2022.
  • In the last year, the average middle-class household has lost over $33,000 in real wealth.
• Americans have now lost over $4,170 paying higher energy costs since Biden took office.
  • U.S. average gas prices currently sit at $3.61 per gallon, which is over $1.20 higher from when Biden became president.
  • Under Biden, the price of a gallon of gas has been above $3 for 1,100 days in a row.
  • Energy prices have soared almost 30 percent under Biden, 13 times faster than the previous seven years.
• 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.
  • With persistent inflation, interest rates are unlikely to fall this year.
  • Americans need a six-figure salary to afford a typical home in nearly half of U.S. states.
  • To afford a median-priced home of $402,343, Americans would need an annual income of $110,871, a nearly 50 percent increase over the last four years.
  • In some states, the income needed to afford a typical home has increased by over 65 percent since the beginning of 2020.
  • After massive rental inflation, rents are stuck at persistently unaffordable prices and a record share of renters are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
    • In several metro areas, households need to make well over $100,000 to avoid becoming cost-burdened – spending more than 30 percent of a household’s income on rent.
  • 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.”

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.
  • 3.2 percent of all outstanding debt is now in some stage of delinquency, the highest level since the end of 2020.
    • The credit card delinquency rate has doubled in the past two years and is now at its highest point in more than a decade.
    • The percentage of credit card balances in serious delinquency has increased to its highest level since 2012.
  • For the lower 80 percent of American households, liquid assets have dropped below pre-pandemic levels and Americans are quickly depleting any savings accumulated during the pandemic, with only 20 percent of households above board.
  • More than half of Americans are concerned they cannot achieve financial security in retirement.
  • More Americans, 65 percent, report living paycheck-to-paycheck in 2024 than in 2023, with most citing inflation as the cause.
  • 66 percent of Americans worry about covering one month of expenses if they lose their job.
  • Nearly half of Americans consider themselves “broke.”
• To make matters worse, more Americans are taking on additional debt just to cover daily expenses, finding their regular income is no longer enough to make ends meet.
  • Total household debt has risen to an all-time high of $17.69 trillion.
  • Credit card debt is at $1.12 trillion, nearly a record high, while a quarter of Americans are putting less money towards paying down their debts.
    • Credit card balances have increased 45 percent over the past three years.
  • Bank of America reported the amount of debt unlikely to be recovered rose to $1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024, while JPMorgan Chase said its charge-offs nearly doubled to $2 billion.
• The personal savings rate was 3.2 percent in March, well below a decades-long average of roughly 8.9 percent.

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.
• A majority of Americans rate the economy as poor, according to a New York Times poll.
• Only 38 percent of voters rate the Biden economy as good, compared to 65 percent under President Trump, according to CBS News.
• More voters currently view Trump as better for the economy than Biden, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
• 61 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Biden is handling inflation and 54 percent disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.
• 58 percent of Americans believe the economy is on the wrong track, 57 percent think the economy is weak, and 48 percent say their current personal economic situation is getting worse, according to a Harvard-Harris poll.
• Fewer than four in 10 registered voters say Biden deserves to be reelected, according to Gallup.

DEMOCRATS’ RESPONSE 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 2022, 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.
• Biden recently unveiled his FY 2025 budget – a $7.3 trillion spending spree chock full of wasteful spending and the largest tax hike in history.

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 12 of the top 15 states for jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic began are led by Republican governors, and 14 of the states have Republican-controlled legislatures.
  • Out of the top 16 states with the lowest unemployment rates, 11 are led by Republican governors.
  • Mississippi, a Republican-controlled state, has been the only state to reach a new record low unemployment rate in 2024.
• The latest report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis found that nine of the top 10 states with the highest real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2023 have Republican governors.
  • The top 10 states with the largest increases in personal income in the fourth quarter of 2023 are all led by Republicans.

  Originally posted here.