President Biden’s policies have now cost the average American family about $7,100, according to a new report by the Heritage Foundation. While Democrats have proven time and time again that they value their social agenda more than Americans’ economic security, the level of harm represented in this figure is shocking… and infuriating.
As the Heritage report outlines, the average family has lost $5,800 due to inflation and $1,300 due to higher interest rates:
Under Biden, prices have risen so much faster than wages that the average family has lost $5,800 in real annual income. That loss is thanks to the ‘hidden’ tax of inflation, caused by the Biden administration and congressional Democrats’ policies.
Higher interest rates are now costing the typical family another $1,300 annually. Combined with a lower real income, this effectively costs families a total of $7,100 in annual income under Biden.
In January 2021, before Joe Biden took over the presidency, annual inflation was at a stable 1.4%. Since then, the high inflation rate has broken numerous 40-year records, has significantly outpaced wage growth, and has driven Americans to take on more debt than ever.
Today, over a year since inflation began surging, the consumer price index is still at an alarming rate of 7.1%. The price of food has increased by 10.6% over the year: staples like rice and poultry have increased by 14.1% and 13.1%, respectively. Energy prices have risen by 13.1%, with the cost of fuel oil increasing by an astounding 65.7% and energy services by 14.2%.
Wages are also falling behind. In November, the real average weekly earnings decreased by 3%. This trend has also been consistent for over a year.
At this point, a significant majority of Americans—63%—are living paycheck to paycheck. In fact, many are losing money each month and taking on debt to pay for essentials. The total credit card debt in the United States is now at $930 billion after a 15% jump in balances—the largest annual jump in more than 20 years. Not only are Americans taking on more debt, but they’re carrying these balances for long periods of time, making it even harder to pay off as interest piles. Among Americans who carry credit card debt from month to month, 60% have been in debt for over a year.
Because most credit cards have a variable rate, millions of Americans are directly and negatively affected by the Biden administration’s interest rate hikes.
On top of the Biden administration’s monetary policies, Americans have primarily been harmed by the Administration’s fiscal policies that have driven inflation.
President Biden has passed bills and executive orders that paid Americans not to work, expanded tax credits, paused federal student loan repayments, canceled the Keystone Pipeline, and more.
Just a few months ago, during this time of high inflation and a recession, Democrats passed a massive tax-and-spend plan. Democrats’ reconciliation bill contained substantial tax hikes including a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax, a $6.5 billion natural gas tax, a $12 billion crude oil tax, a $1.2 billion coal tax, and several more. The reconciliation bill also included careless spending on climate initiatives, Obamacare subsidies, and supersizing the IRS.
Both tax hikes and reckless spending have driven inflation. According to a 2020 National Bureau of Economic Research paper, 31% of the corporate tax rate is borne by consumers through higher prices of goods and services. Further, the federal government has flooded the economy with so much money that demand is growing too fast for production to keep up, also resulting in inflation.
A $7,100 donation to one family, in many circumstances, could be life-changing. The theft of $7,100 over the course of the year is equally life-altering, though Democrats had hoped it would simply go unnoticed. They should not get away with it. For ineffective climate subsidies and COVID funds that disappeared before our very eyes, the Left has stolen thousands of dollars from working families.