Washington Post White House Bureau Chief Toluse Olorunnipa had a bout of the heebie-jeebies over history potentially not giving President Joe Biden the, er, “credit” his economic policies deserve.
Oh, Biden’s getting credit alright, just not in the way Olorunnipa intended.
“Biden’s agenda had a big impact. Will history give him credit,” read Olorunnipa’s Sunday propaganda piece disguised as a news item that also made its way into the Monday print edition of The Post. Olorunnipa mourned that Biden’s irresponsible infusion of trillions of dollars into the economy that set inflation on a collision course with people’s wallets wasn’t enough to give Democrats the boost they needed in the 2024 elections. “As construction cranes rise above Liberty and dozens of other Trump-friendly towns, the White House is grappling with the reality that the trillions injected into the economy by Biden’s policies did little to boost his party.”
All the supposed benefits, legacies, and perks of Bidenomics, lamented Olorunnipa, were now “in the hands of those who will only see benefits years or decades after he leaves office.” In other words, of course Biden’s policies were great, just wait about 10 years or so and you’ll see how God-Bless-America fantabulous they actually were!
Olorunnipa relayed the White House spin: “In recent weeks, Biden and his aides have cast his presidency as a calculated case of economic delayed gratification.” Biden allies were allowed to double down on the ludicrous notion that Bidenomics was somehow a stroke of genius: “Still, the outcome is tinged with bitterness for Biden’s allies, who say the benefits of his economic agenda are beyond dispute.” So it’s “beyond dispute” that we will see the delayed benefits in the future? Oh really?
“Biden and his aides have suggested that their audience now is less today’s voters than tomorrow’s historians,” Olorunnipa bleated. That’s pretty interesting, given that Gallup would release a survey just two days after Olorunnipa’s piece finding that Americans “offer a largely negative assessment of the progress the U.S. has made during [Biden’s] presidency on 18 economic, national and international issues.”
Let’s once again — for the umpteenth time — review some of those so-called benefits. As Heritage Distinguished Visiting Fellow Andy Puzder pointed out December 20, “the federal debt is 121% of our gross national product—the level at which it peaked during World War II,” the equivalent of a “house of cards.” And that’s just one, er, “benefit.” In fact, whatever so-called economic growth has occurred is being bolstered by the fact that there’s been an explosion in government debt, underscoring the existence of underlying weakness. More than half of Americans are struggling to pay bills and save money in the Biden economy due to a persistent cost-of-living crisis.
But Olorunnipa just proceeded to regurgitate the same old Biden White House talking points trying to smear lipstick on this pig of an economy. He whined, “Biden’s attempts to highlight statistics showing that the economy was on strong footing — with more than 16 million jobs created, steady growth, record small-business creation and historically low unemployment — often fell flat with Americans dealing with inflated prices and the aftermath of a global pandemic.”
The Post Bureau Chief even attempted to create a false dichotomy to make it seem like voters were more motivated by the bad in the economy than the good, “Polls suggest that soaring gas and food prices have affected Americans’ views of Biden’s economy far more than the rapid job growth, rising stock market and manufacturing boom that also unfolded.” This is misleading. First, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce already pointed to the existence of a severe labor shortage December 13, “Even if every unemployed worker were to fill an open job within their respective industry, there would still be millions of unfilled job positions, highlighting the widespread labor shortage.” Also, more than half of all net job growth in 2024 alone was either direct or indirect hiring by the government, which is subsidized by taxpayers, according to Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni. Not exactly a flex.
Secondly, inflation has also caused stock markets to “appear stronger than they really are and [are] cutting into returns for everyone, including those with retirement accounts,” as Heritage Foundation Senior Research Associate Alexander Frei noted in an October 31 column.
But Olorunnipa, true to form, further editorialized his news item to sing the praises he complained voters weren’t giving Biden. “By any account, Biden’s economic policies have spurred one of the largest industrial programs in a generation, a torrent of public and private investments designed to revitalize the nation’s transportation, semiconductor, clean energy, manufacturing, technology and pharmaceutical sectors.”
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board concluded November 24 that the “story of the Biden years is that Democrats pumped up demand via massive spending while sitting on the supply side of the economy with pandemic policies and measures that made it harder for businesses to invest. Voters understood the failure, and Democrats anxious to rebuild trust would be wise to reflect on it.” Perhaps Olorunnipa should heed that advice too.
