It doesn’t matter if someone is filling the job that was lost during the last 2 years of COVID lockdowns and rules and such if the prices are rising faster than earnings. This is apparently a big problem for Biden and the elected Democrats than the people experiencing inflation
Biden’s mounting midterm threat: Inflation angst outweighing historic job growth
Democrats once expected a thriving post-Covid economy to be their big strength heading into the midterms. Instead, the path to Election Day is littered with land mines for a party struggling to avoid annihilation at the ballot box.
President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers face the threat of spiraling inflation, driven by soaring food, energy and lodging costs. The Federal Reserve is embarking on an aggressive series of interest rate hikes — as many as seven this year alone — to curb rising prices and slow the economy. The war in Ukraine is further disturbing supply chains, roiling commodities markets and fueling uncertainty. Add in a new wave of Covid lockdowns in China that could bring more disruptions to trade and you’ve got a toxic mix.
Polls show some two-thirds of Americans view the country as being on the wrong track. Biden’s disapproval rating on the economy stands at 58 percent, while Republicans have a 54-35 percent lead on the issue. And the widely watched University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey recently fell to its lowest level in more than a decade.
Incumbent parties usually lose House and Senate seats in off-year elections, but turning these attitudes around could be the difference between Democrats taking average losses this fall or getting punched out like they did in 1994. And administration officials are increasingly concerned about the economy as a heavy drag in the midterms, according to several allies.
See? That’s what they’re really concerned about, losing elections, not the peasants serving them in the U.S. It’s their own fault for passing shading, counter-productive legislation, for bringing counter-productive legislation up, for Brandon signing EOs that hurt not help, and for discussing doing things that hurt not help.
“The mood is just shockingly bad inside and outside the White House,” said Steven Rattner, an investment banker and former Obama administration official who speaks to senior Biden aides.
“If somehow inflation comes down and the electorate’s mood improves, they can compete,” Rattner said. “If these things don’t happen, the midterms could get scarily painful very quickly for Democrats.”
White House officials deny any sense of panic over the economy or their midterm chances.
“So many economic indicators are not only extremely good but better than expected. And we are recovering so much faster than previous downturns,” said Heather Boushey, a member of Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Interesting how the economy was getting much better right up till Biden was elected, then took a big negative when he took office. Say what you will about Trump and his mean tweets, the guy focused on fixing issues. Not in the Washington way, where the leaky pipe is patched, but, in a way where the pipe is replaced so it no longer leaks onto your living room ceiling, and the ceiling is fixed and painted.
For now, the big headline numbers still look good for Biden. The economy created 678,000 new jobs in February, continuing the sharp bounce back from Covid losses. The jobless rate is just 3.8 percent. GDP growth is slowing but it was sterling as recently as the last quarter of 2021.
But all those headline numbers may amount to almost nothing politically.
One senior Democratic economist who talks to Biden and his advisers said there’s frustration within the White House that the administration gets little credit for good economic news, even as there’s a relentless focus in the media on inflation. But the economist said the electorate is sour on Biden and the economy.
Smart thinking people realize those jobs are mostly not new positions, they’re just existing positions being filled post-COVID. Because there’s not much in the way of good economic news.
Read: Bummer: People More Worried About Inflation Despite “Historic” Job Gains »