Joe Biden's policies vs. Donald Trump's policies

It's taken me some time to figure out why parts of the US economy are doing great while other parts are hurting people. The truth is that Joe Biden's spending bills that are little more than payoffs to Democrat special interest groups have driven inflation in ways we haven't seen since Jimmy Carter was president. The bad part is that inflation is about to get worse. CPI is already at 6.8%.

That isn't the worst news. The worst news is that PPI is at 9.6%. This headline is frightening serious economists. The fact is that "wholesale prices increased at their quickest pace on record in November in the latest sign that the inflation pressures bedeviling the economy are still present."

The producer price index for final demand increased 9.6% over the previous 12 months after rising another 0.8% in November. Economists had been looking for an annual gain of 9.2%, according to FactSet.

Let's be clear about this. Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have passed 3 of the biggest spending bills in US history. Included in those bills are incentives to not work, including plussing up the unemployment insurance by $300 per week. It's a rational decision for workers to not work when they make more for not working.

That disincentive has contributed to the worker shortage, which has contributed to the supply chain crisis. The bottom line is simple. The cost of manufacturing things is still increasing. That means that prices will continue rising for the forseeable future.

Meanwhile, the parts of the economy that Mr. Biden hasn't obliterated are still working great. Mr. Biden's Build Back Better Bill is still stalled, which means that tax rates are still the Trump tax rates. Economic growth is still strong. Job growth isn't strong but that isn't Mr. Trump's fault. Wages are still rising, which is a continuation of what they'd done during the Trump administration. Rick Santelli reviews the PPI report during this interview:

This truly is a tale of 2 economies. Biden's economy is riddled with inflation. Thanks to his reckless spending and his war against the fossil fuel industry, inflation went from essentially nonexistent under Trump's administration to the highest in a generation or more in Biden's administration. Paychecks stretched significantly farther during Trump's administration than they're stretching today.

Inflation is often called the 'cruelest tax.' When the coldest months of winter hit, inflation will hit people the hardest. People with modest fixed incomes will get hit the hardest. So much for Scranton Joe, the supposed champion of the working class.

I don't know who coined the phrase 'blue collar billionaire' but it fits Trump perfectly. He won in 2016 by speaking to the miners, union workers and those that had gotten left behind. Remember this from President Trump's acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention:

Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned.

I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and women of our country. People who work hard but no longer have a voice.

I AM YOUR VOICE.

He implemented policies that caused blue collar wages to rise significantly faster than white collar wages rose. The US energy industry went from endangered species status to energy independence in less than 3 years. The forgotten unionists were suddenly building pipelines and helping end US dependence on OPEC+ oil during Trump's administration.

It's time to obliterate the Democrats' America Last policies. It's time to restore President Trump's America First policies. Bill Clinton used to appeal to "people who worked hard and played by the rules. Today's Democrats, especially the Biden administration, wouldn't recognize Bill Clinton's Democrat Party. By contrast, Trump's GOP would enthusiastically welcome Bill Clinton's Blue Dog Democrats into the GOP tent.