Staff Reports
Last week was a rough go for President Biden. The Special Counsel Report, coupled with his not-so-great reaction to it, and some fresh polling data revealing that most folks see him as too old for the job, sent the Biden team into a tailspin. Now, folks won’t hold it against Biden for slowing down a bit due to his age, but it’s definitely going to influence a lot of voters’ opinion of his ability to keep going for another term. And where people will really go after Biden is for all the policy failures that are making their lives tougher and putting our country in jeopardy.
On Tuesday, the president and his crew got hit with a double whammy in the “making lives harder” department. The inflation report for January came in hotter than expected, with real wages taking a hit as well. This is especially bad news considering folks are still fuming about the consistently high prices.
Spiral: Bad News for Biden on Inflation, as Illegal Crossings on His Watch Hit Grim, Shocking Milestone
— Carter Giraffe (@CarterGiraffe62) February 14, 2024
Inflation busted expectations in January, thanks to a jump in grocery and housing costs. The Consumer Price Index, which tracks the price of everyday goods like gas, groceries, and rent, shot up 0.3% in January from the previous month. Prices soared 3.1% from the same time last year, and these numbers topped the forecasted 0.2% monthly increase and 2.9% annual rise. The report also showed that inflation is reluctant to slow down, with core prices (which don’t include the more unstable measures of food and energy) climbing 0.4% – the biggest monthly jump since April 2023. They rose 3.9% over the year. Housing costs were the main driving force behind the surge in inflation last month, as rent costs climbed 0.6% for the month and 6.1% from the same time last year. Soaring rents are a big worry because higher housing costs hit household budgets the hardest. Other price hikes in January included a 0.4% increase in food prices, a reminder of inflation for many Americans. Grocery costs also rose 0.4% last month and are 1.2% higher than last year.
Prices are still climbing, and are substantially higher than when Biden took office. Biden’s sunny side up spin is colliding head-on with unpleasant realities: prices have shot up 17.9% since Biden took office, and real wages are down 2.1%. And food prices have soared 21%, rent costs rose 19.4%, and electricity prices are up a staggering 28.6% under his watch. So much for his promises to lower costs.
But let’s not pretend that Biden’s the lone ranger in this inflation mess. His foolish and destructive policies have only made things worse. He ignored warnings from even left-leaning economists about the inflationary impact of mammoth spending programs, and plowed ahead with them anyway. He and his party shoved through trillions in spendthrift spending, which just cranked up the heat on the economy even more. And let’s not forget the “shrinkflation” nonsense – offering less of their products without lowering the prices – a direct result of Biden’s actions.
And if that wasn’t enough, there’s another problem where the president is seriously lagging – the border. Instead of dribbling out the monthly encounter stats weeks late and on a Friday, the administration seemed oddly eager to release the January numbers in a more timely manner. Could it be their attempt to spin some “progress” as another Mayorkas impeachment vote hung over their heads (and is now done and dusted)? Encounters were indeed down sharply from December, which was the all-time worst month on record. But the ‘improved’ January encounters set a record of their own. January 2024 posted the highest number of encounters for any January on record. And the overall monthly number of 242,587 encounters included other incidents elsewhere, including a hike in illegal immigration from the north. The administration loves to yak about ‘seasonality’ when it suits them – but this season, they’ve racked up the worst January numbers ever.
And let’s not forget the record-breaking illegal crossings on Biden’s watch, now topping 9 million. Yet, the Homeland Security Secretary has been impeached by the House. Whether he’s actually committed an impeachable crime is up for debate, but his shocking neglect of duty is crystal clear. Don’t you feel comfy knowing the supposed “adults in the room” are back in control?
