Bidenomics Numbers Don't Add Up as Sleepy Joe Bursts Into Tirade at IRA Event

President Joe Biden spiraled swiftly from a celebratory tone to an angry outburst at a festive event at the White House on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of signing into federal law the Inflation Reduction Act.

It it all started with POTUS touting the bill as having achieved what it was intended to, namely, reduce inflation, saying that, "When the Inflation Reduction Act was passed a year ago today inflation was at 8.3%... It’s now down to 3.2%, and it’s going to go lower." He then reiterated pledges of job growth stemming from the law, claiming it was "one of the biggest drivers of job and economic growth this country has ever seen.” Biden also pointed to slashed US reliance on other countries for materials, adding that, “We are building here and sending over there.”

But then his tone began to change, as he began to lambaste those he referred to as "our friends on the other side of the aisle."

Suddenly elevating his voice to a tone of outright anger, he proceeded to yell:

And while Joe Biden finally wrapped up his speech on a different note, saying, "I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future," both sobering figures and dismal poll results paint a quite different picture.

Firstly, the drop in inflation that Biden was so hyped up about. Let’s face it, the IRA was never really so much about inflation as about political branding ahead of a looming reelection bid.

However, after the IRA was passed by the US Congress, it triggered backlash in Europe over the extensive subsidies. America's allies in Europe, including French President Emmanuel Macron, were also incensed as they accused the US of unfair practices.

Both Biden’s critics and economists share the opinion that the current decrease in the inflation rate the president’s team has been bragging about should be attributed to the Federal Reserve’s policy of interest rate hikes, besides other factors. Benchmark interest rates have been jacked up aggressively by the Fed to a 22-year high in a bid to fight persistently high inflation. The latter hit 40-year highs of more than nine percent a year in June 2022. Since March 2022, the Fed has hiked rates by 525 basis points from a previous 25. Its next decision on interest rates is on September 20. Furthermore, as per economists, oil and gasoline prices climbing down from last year’s peak numbers, along with finally "ensnared" post-pandemic supply chain issues, helped the slight drop-off in inflation numbers.

Nevertheless, the Consumer Price Index released this month revealed that inflation rose 3.2 percent in July compared to 2022. There was also a 0.2 percent increase in the price of consumer goods as of June.

During his trip to Philadelphia on July 20, 2023, Joe Biden touted his "Bidenomics" plan (a term perceived as a repudiation of the Ronald Reagan-era trickle down "Reaganomics" policies in the 1980s) as aimed to "strengthen the middle class." Biden claimed the US had "the highest economic growth among the world’s leading economies since the pandemic" and that his government had created 13 million new jobs, despite inflation soaring and recession looming as a result of its sanctions on Russia, and vast military aid to fuel the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.

Economic pundits have told Sputnik that America's economic growth was slow and bleak, and food inflation is up 5.7 percent from a year ago. When it comes to the US gross domestic product (GDP), last year it grew only one percent, December to December, as per economists. In addition, the US national debt has grown to $34 trillion and higher, with Joe Biden's spending spree helping drive prices up by more than 16 percent in the months since he took office, as per US reports.

Joe Biden’s celebratory stance is hardly called for when other unresolved problems continue to pile up, his Republican critics point out. The US southern border remains crisis-gripped, with thousands of migrants continuing to enter the country illegally. Biden himself quietly admitted the border situation would be "chaotic for a while" ahead of Title 42’s expiration in May.

The Trump-era public health emergency order had allowed the US government to turn away illegal immigrants at the border to prevent the spread of COVID-19. An all-time record number of migrants has arrived at the US southern border under the Biden administration, hitting two consecutive records in 2021 and 2022, exceeding 2.3 million people. In fiscal year 2023, the US authorities said they had encountered more than 1.2 million migrants.

Among Biden's other failed pledges that the GOP points out is unsuccessful efforts to enact significant firearms legislation amid spiraling crime and mass shootings. The United States has witnessed an alarming surge in mass killings from January to June of 2023, setting a record of 28 incidents with total 140 casualties, according to an AP analysis. A general increase in gun violence has been on the rise, with another report by the Gun Violence Archives database stating that the country has experienced 377 mass shootings since the beginning of this year.

However, more aggressive gun-control measures, such as a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, coupled with universal background checks, failed to be implemented.

Voters are not giving Joe Biden much credit, as things stand, according to polls. 58% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy, and 55% disapprove of his foreign policy approach, according to a Quinnipiac Poll published Wednesday.

A significant majority of respondents, 71%, rated the US economy as either “not so good” or “poor,” the poll found. More than half of Americans believe the economy is getting worse, while only 20% believe it is improving, the poll said.

A majority of Americans, 51%, also disapprove of Biden’s handling of the conflict in Ukraine, the poll indicated. Approximately one-third of respondents believe the US is doing too much to help Ukraine, whereas 21% think the US should do more, per the survey.