by Dick Pilling | Jun 11, 2024 | 250 Words
As I see it, under “Bidenomics,” prices seem to be going up a heck of a lot faster than our take-home pay. Studies reflect that average hourly pay increased by 13.6% since January 2021 but, also, inflation increased by 17% — this means that, on average, one had to make an additional $11,434 annually just to keep from going backwards. (cbsnews.com)
But apparently, President Biden has not noticed this because he says that “We’re better situated than we were when we took office, where inflation was skyrocketing”.
Not sure if he was mis-speaking, mis-remembering or mis-leading, but, regardless, it was another example of mis-informing for which he is famed. To set the record straight, when he took office, inflation was a lowly 1.4% and, under his administration, “Bidenflation” kicked in, pushing it to a 41-year-high of 9% in 2022 before dropping back to 3.4%, over twice what it was when he entered office. (blackburn.senate.gov)
To put a finer point on it, prices across the board soared by 17% to include clothing prices (+7%), rent (+ 19%), food (+20%), energy (+ 31%), gas (+ 34%) and mortgage rates are at two-decade highs and, placing this in historical perspective, between January 2010 and January 2021, the price index for food increased less than 18% but since Biden’s election, it rose by 21%.
Bidennomics and Bidenflation are just two different names for the same thing. Rising prices and less money in your pocket. The better term would be Bidendisaster.
Dick Pilling
by Dick Pilling | Jun 8, 2024 | 250 Words
Admittedly, I am old enough to remember the Carter presidency, but, happily, I still retain some degree of mental competency — however limited — and am therefore able to compare it to that of Biden’s administration and note that there are some similarities.
For instance, both men subjected our country to international humiliation arising from the disrespect visited upon our embassies during their respective tenures. Carter lost control of the Tehran facility when it was overrun by militants, and Biden, not to be outdone, was forced to evacuate facilities in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Belarus and Sudan.
Also, both Carter and Biden experienced economic problems but, in defense of Carter, he inherited high inflation with slow economic growth, rising crime and high gas prices, but due to his apparent inability to set consistent policy goals, made these situations even worse.
Carter’s decisions could be considered textbook examples of what not to do.
Biden, on the other hand, inherited a low inflation of 1.9 percent, the lowest gas prices since 2004 and, overall, a much better economy.
Unfortunately, he then made the same mistakes as did Carter, which have boosted the cumulative inflation rate by 20 percent and raised gas prices to be the highest average of any president in past 15 years.
Truly, Biden had to work hard to screw things up as much as he did.
Guess he didn’t read Carter’s textbook. So really, all things considered, Carter was actually a pretty good president.
But only, of course, if you compare him to Biden.
Dick Pilling
by Dick Pilling | Jun 5, 2024 | 250 Words
President Biden, with his vast knowledge of the auto industry, will set a target reflecting that all new auto sales be electric by 2030, but,truly, I wonder if he has thought this through. Sounds like a half-vast idea to me.
Firstly, the idea of allowing regulators, especially our present president, to decide what car I am allowed to buy smacks of central planning, which, history tells us, usually fails.
And, apparently, the major car manufacturers are familiar with historical central planning failures and are now scaling back future production plans.
Further, EVs, due to their increased weight, really produce more particulate pollution than do conventional vehicles, not to mention the air pollution produced by the additional generating plants essential to meet the needed electricity requirements.
Secondly, Biden announced that he will propose legislation to halt production of all new coal plants and impose power plant emission regulations that are impossible for coal plants to meet.
He also proposes to dramatically reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industries which amounts to a de facto ban on natural gas.
So let me get this straight. Our elected officials say they want to eliminate all gas cars in favor of those that run on electricity thereby nearly doubling the demand on our nation’s electricity grid.
And then they propose to severely limit the efficiency of many of those power plants that produce electricity. Or just shut them down.
What are they thinking? Or, rather, are they thinking at all?
Dick Pilling
by Dick Pilling | May 30, 2024 | 250 Words
As a recovering engineer, it is part of my healing journey to eliminate my preoccupation with numbers but, truly, this presents a personal challenge.
For instance, I find myself fascinated with the soaring number of illegal border crossings — 5.4 million since Biden took office — plus another 1.5 million “got-aways” (cornyn.senate.gov). Moreover, the number of “paroled” migrants entering the U.S. under Biden simply dwarfs the numbers entering under both Obama and Trump (“Trump vs. Biden on immigration: 12 charts comparing U.S. border security,” washingtonpost.com).
One can only wonder at where this overwhelming number of new arrivals are going and what they are doing. And are they helping or hindering our economy?
Another attention-grabbing number is the $7 trillion increase in taxes projected by the Biden administration in 2025 (“The Biden Tax Hike Will Likely Exceed $7 Trillion,” gop-waysandmeans.house.gov) which, oddly, targets those who are relatively poor as evidenced by the fact that fully fifty percent of the audits would be directed to families making less than $25,000 (denver7.com).
Obviously, this tax hike is not about relief for the middle/lower classes but more about supporting increased exorbitant government spending and which will be “crushing for hardworking Americans struggling under Bidenomics”(“Biden’s proposed tax hike would crush workers and the economy,” thehill.com)
Lastly, some more numbers deserving of interest is our dramatically increasing poverty rate whereby some 12.4% of the population now lives in poverty which is up from 7.4% in 2021. Even more concerning is that child poverty more than doubled to 12.4% from 5.2% the year before and, obviously, these are not good numbers. (“Why poverty is rising in America,” americaninequality.substack.com)
Seems that, wherever one looks, numbers are way up.
Hopefully, come next election, Biden’s number will be up as well.
Dick Pilling
Port Angeles
(as published in the Sequim Gazette)
5/29/2024
by Dick Pilling | Mar 3, 2024 | 250 Words
Some of us may remember the movie “The Sixth Sense” which recounted the story of a boy, played by child star Haley Joel Osment, who is haunted by ghosts and claimed he could see and talk to dead people.
Now, not to be out done, our own President Biden has claimed a similar ability.
In a New York fundraiser, Biden related how he discussed the January 2021 Capitol riot with German Chancellor Helmet Kohl.
Of course, this alleged conversation took place four years after Kohl’s death.
And, in a recent G7 gathering, he claimed to have recently chatted with former French President Francois Mitterrand but many will remember that Mitterrand passed away in 1996.
In truth, the often confused and ever-forgetful Biden was referring to Germany’s Angela Merkel and not the deceased Helmet Kohl and to French President Emmanuel Macron instead of the long-dead Mitterrand.
Obviously, President Biden misremembered, a term first seen in the circa 1500 writings of Thomas More, and which he does frequently.
Like when he misremembered, or just plain forgot, the years that he served as vice president or the date that his son died.
But it’s too bad that President Biden cannot actually talk with dead people because it would really help him with his misremembering thing.
Because if he could, he should cease chatting with less-than-effective European politicians but, rather, seek advice from a successful leader.
Perhaps he could arrange a chat with former President Ronald Reagan.
And he should take copious notes.
Dick Pilling
Port Angeles
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