OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden and, by default the Democratic Party he presides over, is getting the lion’s share of the blame for the country’s worsening inflation.
Just weeks out from the November midterm elections, according to a new survey from CBS News, Republicans are likely to retake control of at least the House as a majority of respondents put the blame for higher prices on Biden.
“The CBS/YouGov Battleground Tracker poll surveyed 2068 registered voters between October 12th and 14th, asking a number of questions about the upcoming elections, the overall state of the economy, and whether or not they were satisfied with the direction the country was heading,” The Daily Wire reported, citing the outlet’s survey data.
A new CBS News poll shows Republicans are still favored to capture the House, with an estimated 224-seat majority. Democrats had been narrowing the gap, but that momentum has stalled. @debraalfarone is in Washington with details. pic.twitter.com/cTeZ3fntvA
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 16, 2022
“The worst news for Democrats came from the questions about the economy, as 65% of those polled said that they felt like the United States economy was getting worse compared to only 15% who believed it was getting better. Another 20% said that the economy was staying the same,” The Daily Wire added.
Gas prices have begun rising again in many parts of the country, and that’s not helping Democrats or Biden, either, as 63 percent of those surveyed said they are seeing increases again, while just 13 percent said fuel prices were falling where they live. In August, by comparison, 53 percent said prices were tumbling and just 16 percent said they were rising.
Democrats were also getting most of the blame. The survey found that nearly half — 48 percent — said Democrats and Democratic policies were to blame for the inflationary economy, while fewer than one-third, or 29 percent, said Dem policies were helping. Meanwhile, more than two thirds, or 68 percent, said Biden could be doing more to combat inflation while just 29 percent said he was already doing what he could.
GOP operative Nathan Brand tweeted out some of the survey’s results: “NEW CBS Poll: Voters hold Biden responsible for the state of the economy. 71% say he bears a lot or some responsibility for an economy that 65% of voters say is getting worse.”
NEW CBS Poll: Voters hold Biden responsible for the state of the economy. 71% say he bears a lot or some responsibility for an economy that 65% of voters say is getting worse. https://t.co/Aeym2Q8vI8 pic.twitter.com/3oK0dBOohD
— Nathan Brand (@NathanBrandWA) October 16, 2022
Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing that the Producer Price Index ticked up 0.4 percent in September, after falling 0.2 percent in August.
“Prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services advanced 0.4 percent in September, the largest rise since increasing 0.5 percent in May,” the BLS report read. “For the 12 months ended in September, the index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services moved up 5.6 percent. … Most of the September increase is attributable to a 0.6-percent rise in the index for final demand services less trade, transportation, and warehousing.”
Annual inflation via BLS just out:
42.9% airline fares
33.1% utility gas
30.5% eggs
18.2% gasoline
17.2% chicken
15.7% coffee
15.2% milk
14.7% bread
10.1% furniture
9.2% vegetables
8.2% all items
8.2% fruit
8.1% ham
7.6% women apparel
7.2% used cars
6.7% rent
3.7% men apparel— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) October 13, 2022
But over the weekend, Biden claimed that the economy was “strong as hell” and that inflation was a problem for most countries around the world as if that is justification for higher prices at home.
“Just one more economic question,” a reporter pressed the president as he began to eat an ice cream cone. “Are you concerned about the strength of the dollar right now?”
“I’m not concerned about the strength of the dollar, I’m concerned about the rest of the world,” Biden replied as he attempted to chew. “Does that make sense?”
“Our economy is strong as hell,” Biden continued. “The internal — inflation is worldwide, it’s worse off everywhere else than it is in the United States. So the problem is a lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries, not so much ours.”
“It’s worldwide inflation, that’s a consequence of —” Biden said, his voice trailing off as he walked away from the microphone mid-sentence.
Last week, CNBC anchor Jim Cramer proclaimed that any way you cut it, the economic numbers are not good. “It was just plain bad. There’s absolutely nothing to say about it other than it was bad,” he said of the BLS report.
“A lot of people were hoping this number’s going to be good, maybe accepting that tomorrow’s going to be bad,” Cramer continued, adding: “The only thing that’s actually even remotely positive about it is that there’s nothing that’s really shocking to the upside, it’s just kind of as bad as it’s been.”
“There’s no relief here. There’s just nothing good here,” he concluded.
