The Patriot Post® · RNC: Prices Under Biden Are Too High

By the Republican National Committee

PRICES ARE UP 20 PERCENT UNDER BIDEN

• The latest Consumer Price Index data shows year-over-year inflation increased in June by 3 percent – twice the rate compared to when Biden took office. 
  • Inflation has been at or above 3 percent for 39 straight months, the longest period of high inflation since the late 1980s/early 1990s and well above the Fed’s average target of 2 percent.
  • Core consumer prices – stripping out food and energy – rose by 3.3 percent.
• Prices have risen by 20.1 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 5.4 percent – roughly double the level of inflation seen under any of the last four presidents.
  • Groceries are up 21.3 percent, rent is up 21.5 percent, and electricity is up 31.6 percent since Biden took office.
  • Car insurance has increased 52.9 percent under Biden – stinging the 92 percent of American households that own at least one car.
• 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 $383.49 – the BLS adjusts to 1982-1984 dollars – meaning Americans have seen a 3.6 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 at least $2.4 trillion since March 2022, with the average middle-class household losing at least $33,000 in real wealth.
• Americans have now lost over $4,435 paying higher energy costs since Biden took office.
  • U.S. average gas prices currently sit at $3.54 per gallon, which is over $1 higher from when Biden became president.
  • Under Biden, the price of a gallon of gas has been above $3 for 1,156 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.
  • In some states, the income needed to afford a typical home has increased by over 65 percent since the beginning of 2020.
  • Several U.S. cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, are rated “impossibly unaffordable” while more are “seriously” or “severely” unaffordable.
  • According to Zillow, Americans now need a 35 percent down payment to comfortably afford a median-priced home, compared with no down payment when interest rates were favorable just a few years ago.
    • In some areas, including California, homebuyers need an 80 percent down payment to make monthly mortgage payments manageable.
• 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.
  • The average household makes $11,000 less than what is needed to rent a median price apartment, with the median price jumping 23 percent since 2019. 
• 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.”  
• The cumulative effects of these interest rate increases are squeezing Americans’ finances, punishing low-income and younger Americans.

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. 
• Nearly half of Americans are struggling to stay where they are financially, the highest percentage since Biden took office and far higher than under Trump’s presidency.
• 65 percent of middle-class Americans report struggling financially and expect to struggle financially for the rest of their lives.
• Only 37 percent of Americans believe they will reach a salary to feel financially comfortable.
• 66 percent of Americans worry about covering one month of expenses if they lose their job.
• Nearly two-thirds of consumers report living paycheck-to-paycheck, up 8 points from last year.
• 47 percent of Americans say regular monthly expenses are too high for them to put money away.
  • The personal savings rate was 3.9 percentin May, well below a decades long average of roughly 8.9 percent.
• Americans are increasingly borrowing to cover daily expenses, finding their regular income is no longer enough to make ends meet. 
• Household debt is at a record $17.69 trillion while credit debt has exceeded $1 trillion.
  • Americans are increasingly relying on credit cards to help maintain their spending, and those who weren’t able to make ends meet “are just digging themselves a deeper and deeper hole with the higher interest rates.”
  • One in five credit card users have maxed out their borrowing.
  • Seriously overdue credit card debt is at its highest level in more than a decade.
  • Americans are also increasingly racking up “phantom debt” through “Buy Now, Pay Later” platforms, with 43 percent of BNPL users behind on payments.

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.
• 59 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Biden is handling inflation and 51 percent disapprove of Biden’s handling of jobs and the economy, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.
• 62 percent of Americans believe the economy is on the wrong track, 64 percent think the economy is weak, and 52 percent say their current personal economic situation is getting worse, according to a Harvard-Harris poll.
• Americans trust President Trump to handle the economy and inflation over Biden by a 14-point margin, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll.
• Confidence in Biden’s economic stewardship is among the lowest Gallup has measured for any president since 2001.

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 warned would 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.
• Since then, Democrats have refused to back down from their extravagant spending even as numerous reports warn about the inflationary impact.
  • Biden has repeatedly sought to forgive student loans despite its impact on inflation.
  • Biden is now touting handouts for new homebuyers that will only increase the cost of housing.
• Biden’s proposed $7.3 trillion FY 2025 budget is 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.
  • Five states have yet to fully recover jobs lost from the pandemic – three of which have Democrat governors and one of which only recently flipped Republican.
• Out of the top 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates, eight are led by Republican governors.
  • Of the six states with the highest unemployment rates, five are led by Democrat governors.

  Originally posted here.