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I hope you saw my latest weekly column.



ROGER WICKER: Tax-and-Spend Policies Hold Us Back
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As President Biden reflects on his administration’s record, his White House
spokesmen are working overtime to rehabilitate his economic message. They have
seized the term “Bidenomics” and are attempting to define it in a positive
light.

He will struggle to find an audience who agrees. Six in ten Americans
disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy. His policies have raised
prices and restrained growth, but he would have the nation believe otherwise.
Like the fabled Rumpelstiltskin, he hopes to spin straw into gold and persuade
the American people that his misguided agenda has actually been good for their
pocketbooks.


Bidenomics Drags On the Economy


When he took office, the president inherited an economy making a strong
recovery from the pandemic. He promptly poured cold water on that progress with
a $1.9 trillion partisan spending bill. On cue, inflation soared and wage gains
evaporated. His policies incentivized Americans to stay home, delaying full
recovery. Congressional Democrats even used obscure Senate rules to pass the
absurdly-named “Inflation Reduction Act.” It did not ease the pain. Instead,
inflation ultimately peaked at 9 percent.

Last year’s midterms brought a Republican majority to the House of
Representatives. This has blocked further spending sprees. But last month, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that Americans still bear the effects of
the president’s inflation.

Since the start of this administration, the price of regular purchases has
risen sharply. A gallon of gas is $1.20 more expensive, rent is up 15 percent,
and grocery bills are 20 percent higher. Big-ticket items also pack more punch.
Furniture is 19 percent costlier. Airfare is significantly more expensive (49
percent). New vehicles cost 20 percent more, which drives up the price of used
vehicles, too (33 percent). Higher interest rates are making it harder for
Americans to own a home. In the week of July 13th, average mortgage rates
ticked up from 6.81 percent to 6.96 percent.

These price increases have a snowball effect. Little by little, they have
eroded household wealth. Americans are saving half as much as they were before
the pandemic and are now saddled with record credit card debt. This hits
lower-income workers the hardest, hampering their ability to build savings.
Like many of the president’s missteps, this economic pain was self-inflicted.


American Workers Move to Red States


By resisting the urge to spend, the president could have nurtured an economy
that was already poised to emerge out of lockdown. He could have actually built
back better by encouraging Americans to get back to work. Meanwhile, in states
across the country, Republicans are providing a glimpse of what the Biden
administration could have achieved nationwide.

Conservative leaders have lowered taxes and reformed permitting, making their
states more affordable for residents and job creators. Consequently, Americans
are leaving California and New York and heading south. Mississippi’s pro-growth
policies are proving this by attracting investment and stimulating the entire
market. Last year, the state drew $6 billion in new capital. And since 2019,
per capita income for Mississippians has risen by nearly $8,700.

Instead of bringing these policies to the nation, President Biden led us into
the worst inflation since the Carter administration. And by embracing the
“Bidenomics” label, he exposes himself to the same criticism Ronald Reagan
leveled at Jimmy Carter. In a moment that may have changed the course of the
1980 presidential race, then-candidate Reagan asked the American people, “Are
you better off today than you were four years ago?” Many Americans today are
asking the same question.


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Senator Roger Wicker

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