More than a year after the passage of the controversial Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), its failures are becoming clearer with each passing day. Just ask anyone who has the unfortunate need to step into a grocery store. With the latest report showing inflation still above the Federal Reserve’s target rate, it is clear Americans will continue to suffer under this man-made disaster.
Nevertheless, the Biden White House wants working families to get used to the “new normal” of paying much more for much less. It was not so long ago that supporters of the IRA happily introduced the term “Bidenomics” to the national discourse, hoping it would revamp their economic image. Today, working families are instead posting their grocery store receipts online, pointing out how little they are receiving for a much bigger price tag.
Everyone is indeed talking Bidenomics, but not in the way he wants.
The inflation rate is still up more than 20 percent since 2019, and a key reason, if not the biggest driver, is President Biden’s attack on American energy. On his first day in office, Biden unleashed an avalanche of executive orders with oil and natural gas as their main target. Biden’s actions ushered in gas prices that have increased for 24 of the last 33 months. To put it another way, gas prices increased for nearly 73 percent of Joe Biden’s presidency — so much so that gas prices today are 35 percent higher than during the Trump years.
It’s not a coincidence that as gas prices began to shoot up in the fall of 2021, rising inflation followed. Every item, in every store and every home, is impacted by the cost of energy. The math is simple: increased price at the pump means increased price at the grocery store.
In response, Biden and his allies in Congress passed the IRA, diverting $369 billion of Americans’ hard-earned money to his green ambitions. Since then, inflation had continued to grow, fanned by the flames of failed government spending. How long before those “I did that” Biden stickers that showed up on gas pumps all over the country start popping up in grocery store aisles?
No serious person believes the Inflation Reduction Act reduced inflation. With the 2024 election season here, the party that delivered that massive spending behemoth will work hard to make voters forget. Don’t let them.
Working families are paying the price for the failure of the Inflation Reduction Act every day. Next November, every politician who supported it should pay a price, too.
Larry Behrens is the Communications Director for Power The Future and is the author of the book, “Sabotage: How Joe Biden Surrendered American Energy Independence.” He’s also appeared on Fox News, Newsmax and One America News. You can find him on Twitter at @larrybehrens or email at larry@powerthefuture.com.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.