Amid talk of stagflation hitting the American economy, President Joe Biden issued a statement saying all is well.
On Thursday, Commerce Department data said that America’s gross domestic product declined at an annualized pace of 1.4 percent in the first quarter, according to CNBC. The decline was a stark swing from the 1 percent gain that had been forecast.
Axios said the data gave off a “distinct whiff of stagflation,” which is an economic condition not seen since the 1970s. This condition takes place when there is both high inflation and high unemployment.
Biden, however, said everything is just fine, with his White House statement blaming the shrinkage of the economy on what he called “technical factors,” throwing in Russia and COVID-19 for good measure.
The Biden economy: prices surge but growth tanks. We are in the worst financial predicament since the 1970s. pic.twitter.com/D1Xt1oEe6y
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) April 28, 2022
“The American economy — powered by working families — continues to be resilient in the face of historic challenges,” Biden said. “Last quarter, consumer spending, business investment and residential investment increased at strong rates. The number of Americans on unemployment insurance remains at the lowest level since 1970.”
Biden then launched a political attack on Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
“Congressional Republicans, led by Sen. Scott, believe the way to fight these global challenges is by raising taxes on middle class families, including half of small business owners,” Biden said.
Scott’s spokesman McKinley Lewis fired back.
“That the most unpopular president in recent history is spending more time lying about Sen. Rick Scott’s plan than addressing the myriad crises he’s created says everything you need to know about Joe Biden and this White House,” Lewis said, according to the Sacramento Bee.
“Joe Biden could learn a thing or two about governing from Sen. Scott who cut taxes more than 100 times and balanced the budget as Governor of Florida, and is proposing common-sense solutions to rescue our country from the Democrats and their disastrous agenda.”
Oh but this is a sign of a “robust economy” according to the NYT and the Biden administration – which are the same thing. https://t.co/IOKNW62Ydv
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) April 28, 2022
Biden said Congress needs to act in a bipartisan fashion.
“Congress should send to my desk a bipartisan innovation bill to bolster our supply chains and make more in America,” Biden said.
Biden — whose spending bonanza vastly increased the national debt — also said that “Congress needs to pass legislation to lower costs and lower the deficit.”
Republican Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas pushed back, according to The New York Times.
“Accelerating inflation, a worker crisis, and the growing risk of a significant recession are the signature economic failures of the Biden administration,” Brady said.
Many American agree. An Associated Press poll, in which a majority of Americans have disapproved of Biden’s handling of the economy since September, showed that Biden’s approval rating on the economy has hit a new low of 33 percent.
New AP poll:
Biden’s handling of the economy?
33% Approve
66% Disapprovehttps://t.co/P7sCRx6eYs— Nathan Brand (@NathanBrandWA) April 28, 2022
Coming as it did days after Deutsche Bank issued a forecast predicting a major recession, even The Washington Post noted that the shrinkage is “raising fears of recession.”
“We’ve got a resilient economy, but signs of weakness are starting to show,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, said. “The reality is that rate hikes, and higher prices have consequences.”
“When the Fed has to raise interest rates as far as they say they’re going to, recession risks are high,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said. “There’s just no graceful way for the economic plane to land on the tarmac. It might land without crashing, but it’s going to be a scary ride.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
