The truth about Bidenomics

Working-class Americans just cannot catch a break in the Biden economy. Millions are struggling to get by as they face the one-two punch of higher prices and rising interest rates. And it's all thanks to Washington Democrats' reckless $10 trillion spending spree, which sent the spike in consumer prices to a 40-year high and drove the Federal Reserve into a corner where their only solution is to make borrowing for a house, your farm, a car or to grow a business far more expensive.

What is particularly maddening is that Washington Democrats are bragging about these results and branding their disastrous policies as "Bidenomics". They are claiming that their reckless spending agenda is bringing relief to the American people. But Americans know full well that Bidenomics is nothing but a plan to bury their children's future under a mountain of debt while government bureaucrats in Washington tell taxpayers how to live their lives.

Since President Joe Biden took office, working-class Americans have lost two months of their pay trying to keep up with price increases. A recent survey found that 73% of consumers said higher prices have affected their ability to cover monthly expenses, such as cellphone bills, utilities, auto insurance and more. At the same time farmers, small businesses and workers are living paycheck to paycheck, Biden and the Left are pushing trillions of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars to the wealthy and well-connected. Case in point: companies with more than $1 billion in sales receive more than 90% of the special interest tax subsidies for so called "green" electricity that were included in Washington Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act. Banks and insurers alone receive over half of them. That's Bidenomics.

In Biden's economy, Americans rightly feel that the American Dream is getting further and further out of reach. That's especially true when it comes to purchasing a home — a longtime cornerstone of the American Dream. On July 26, the Federal Reserve once again raised interest rates, bringing them to the highest level in 22 years. On the day of the Fed's rate hike, the average mortgage payment was already $991 and 84% higher per month than when Biden took office. Sky-high interest rates will continue to drive up borrowing costs for credit cards and auto loans.

No matter what the White House and Washington Democrats may tell themselves, Bidenomics is failing the American people. While the fight to turn the page on wasteful spending and the fallout from it will not be easy, House Republicans have made important strides to end the reckless behavior in Washington to make our economy stronger and American families more financially secure. Earlier this year, we successfully forced Biden's hand and delivered the largest spending cut in the history of our nation. While the bill was not perfect, it included critical tools to save taxpayer dollars today, limit future spending and get the economy back on track.

After more than two years, we know what we get with Bidenomics: higher prices and "help wanted" signs in the windows of Main Street businesses. The American people deserve better.

Jason Smith (R-MO) represents the eighth congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.