The Indiana Democrat Party is moving the goalposts in an attempt to claim victory on inflation.
In a post last Wednesday celebrating the one-year anniversary of the signing of the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” (a name President Biden wishes he hadn’t given it), they stated inflation had “fallen to pre-pandemic levels,” seemingly crediting the legislation.
But what does that mean exactly? Sure, the last time inflation was high as it is today “pre-pandemic” was back in April 2011 (when Barack Obama was president).
But when Joe Biden took office, it was just 1.4%.
Suffice it to say, “pre-pandemic” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Here’s the truth:
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At 3.2%, inflation remains more than twice the rate when President Biden took office.
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Prices are nearly 17% higher than when President Biden took office.
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Real average hourly earnings remain lower than when President Biden took office.
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On a year-over-year basis, inflation has averaged 6.1% under President Biden — more than double the level of inflation under any of the last four presidents.
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The Inflation Reduction Act deserves zero credit for the inflation rate dropping to its current rate from a 40-year high of 9.1%, according to former Obama economic advisor Jason Furman. “I can’t think of any mechanism by which [the Inflation Reduction Act] would have brought down inflation to date.”
And here’s the real kicker: “…the U.S. is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic price levels — what some may think of as ‘normal” prices’ — any time soon.”
Despite moving the goalposts, one thing is clear: Under President Biden, prices remain sky-high.
