The Biden Democrats are rewriting history, celebrating the Obama record on the economy as if 2008-2016 were salad days for America. In Washington parlance, that is called “misremembering.” The reality is that the Obama tax and regulation agenda led to the weakest economic recovery from a recession since the Great Depression. Far less than half of the public rated the economy good or great from the day he was inaugurated until he left the White House eight years later.
This week, the Census Bureau released its economic report — the gold standard of measuring American families’ finances.
In Trump’s first three years in office, the real median family income rose by more than $6,400. In Obama’s eight years in office, the increase in income was closer to $4,000. Black workers made greater income gains in three years under Trump than eight years under Obama.
But Biden’s agenda is to return to the future with a regulation binge — in banking, finance, environment, consumer affairs, and healthcare.
The rumors are swirling that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leading Biden economic policy adviser and confidant, could be Treasury secretary or regulatory czar.
The radical policy proposals that Biden lifted from the Warren campaign playbook include entirely carbon emission-free electricity (with a loss of up to 5 million blue-collar jobs) and the strictest financial regulations in history. Stocks and retirement portfolios could take a beating.
For example, Biden recently adopted Warren’s proposal to infuse social justice politics directly into the Federal Reserve’s monetary policymaking. The adverse economic effects of further politicizing our nation’s independent central bank cannot be understated.
Many Biden economists are advocating repealing the Fed’s current dual mandate of promoting stable prices and maximum employment. Now, they want the Fed to equalize incomes too. How? By printing money? Forcing companies to pay a superminimum wage? These were the same people who accused Trump of trying to take away the Fed’s independence.
Private financial institutions would also come under the iron fist of government rules under Biden.
American mom and pop investors and financial traders of all shapes and sizes benefit from the independent analysis of credit rating agencies in judging the safety of privately-issued and government bonds. Now Uncle Sam will intervene in these bond ratings in a way that could distort investment decisions.
Concerning healthcare, Trump wants healthcare freedom that gives patients and doctors much more say regarding what kind of insurance they can buy and what kind of procedures are best for them. Biden wants to lean into Obamacare, which has driven up health costs and prohibited people from purchasing more affordable health plans.
The costs of all these “consumer protections” fall hardest on the lowest-income families. Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago estimates that the Biden regulatory stranglehold and his ban on fracking would reduce the most impoverished household incomes by about 15%. The average household would see losses of about $4,000 by going back to the Obama regulatory regime.
Socialist Bernie Sanders has suggested that the Biden administration would be the most progressive and radical in history if it takes office. He may be called “lunch bucket Joe,” but for blue-collar America, the Biden agenda would be a real blow to the wallet.
