OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
As the White House continues to tout the economy under President Joe Biden’s policies, collectively known as “Bidenomics,” a new survey is likely to provide Republicans with more political ammunition against him and Democrats in general heading into next year’s elections.
“As of November 2023, 62% of consumers relied on their next paycheck to cover their monthly financial outflows, the PYMNTS and LendingClub survey said. These consumers also own nearly 60% of the credit cards in the U.S. Moreover, 80% of paycheck-to-paycheck consumers own at least two credit cards on average,” Fox Business reported on Friday.
“The report also said that paycheck-to-paycheck cardholders are more than twice as likely as those not living paycheck-to-paycheck to carry a credit card balance over to the following month. Close to one-third said they reached their credit card limit, an average of $9,200, at least occasionally in the last year,” the outlet reported, citing the data.
U.S. consumers have accumulated an additional $48 billion in credit card debt during the third quarter of 2023, bringing the total owed to $1.08 trillion, as noted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in a recent analysis of household debt.
While Biden has been touting his “Bidenomics” plans and insisting that his economic policies have made the lives of Americans better, what they are telling pollsters is that his policies caused them to spend less this Christmas season and, in many cases, had them working more hours or working another job simply to afford the holidays.
In the survey, Empower’s 2023 holiday spending report, a whopping 74 percent of the 1,000 people polled said that inflation has caused them to spend less this holiday season, and 31 percent said they are working more hours to afford it, Fox Business reported separately.
“The survey shows that over a third (34%) are trimming their budgets in favor of saving this year, while others are cutting back on buying gifts or non-essential expenses like dining out to stay on track,” Empower representative Courtney Burrell said to Fox Business.
“How you allocate your holiday budget will depend on what’s most important to you – this year, you may prioritize travel to visit family that you typically only see during the holidays over decorations or cut back on social commitments in order to give yourself a larger budget for holiday gifts,” she said.
“Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they plan to spend less than $250 on gifts this year, and more than one in 10 told Empower they are budgeting more than $1,000,” the report said.
Still, numbers show that people are spending this holiday season as shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend broke records, and holiday shopping in general is expected to break records.
“However, the spending spree comes as U.S. consumers are already carrying record levels of credit card debt, and some experts are concerned a potential crisis is brewing as the balances rack up, and more people find themselves unable to pay them back – especially at today’s high interest rates,” Fox Business reported.
In October, a more devastating report on the economy came for the president.
A poll showed that only 39 percent of voters in four key swing states—Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina—have confidence in the president’s ability to handle the economy, RealClearPolitics reported.
Steve Cortes, the chairman and founder of the League of American Workers, said in a column posted to the site that the reason 77 percent of the voters surveyed said that the nation is on the wrong track is because of the economy.
Of the 39 percent that had a favorable opinion of the president’s handling of the economy, a mere 9 percent said they gave him “strong approval.”
“So, despite the propaganda of media apologists and cherry-picking of a small set of data points that appear temporarily uplifting, voters clearly understand their tough economic slog and place blame squarely upon Biden and his allies,” the author said.