President Biden continues to stump for Bidenomics on the campaign trail, touting inflation-spiking measures as a good thing for the economy.
In his Nothing But Malarkey roadshow the Inflation Reduction Act is working, and trillion-plus spending costs nothing.
He has his administration cheerleaders to back him up: The economy is on a “good path” to bring down inflation without a major weakening in the labor market, treasury secretary Janet Yellen told Bloomberg.
What Biden doesn’t have in his corner is reality.
And Bank of America data served up a big, troublesome serving Tuesday, reporting that more Americans are tapping into their 401ks because of financial woes.
The number of people who made a hardship withdrawal on their 401k in the second quarter jumped to 15,950, up 36% from Q2 of last year, according to CNN.
It’s a “pretty troubling development” if some people are turning to hardship withdrawals, said Matt Schultz, chief lending analyst for LendingTree.
Inflation? That’s nothing to worry about, even if it’s eating a huge chunk from household budgets.
You don’t make a hardship withdrawal lightly, depending on your age, there are penalties, and money taken out now is no longer growing for your future.
But the mortgage or rent must be paid, kids need shoes, and food has to be put on the table.
That’s the reality for too many Americans, Mr. President.
There was a double whammy of stark reality too, as the New York Fed reported credit card debt for U.S. households passed $1 trillion for the first time ever.
That’s not Vegas vacation money, that’s putting more and more on credit cards because you have less spending power. People may have jobs, but wages aren’t keeping pace with inflation.
Biden’s everything is ok message is reliably failing to impress voters, as his subterranean poll numbers can attest.
The rate hikes that the Fed keeps rolling out to tame that inflation? They are also causing credit card rates to rise.
If you’re a working person in Biden s America you can’t catch a break.
Too many people are caught between a rock and a hard place, or in this case, an inadequate paycheck and a credit card. Americans shouldn’t have to choose between paying today’s bills and covering their retirement.
If Biden is smart, he’ll “forget ” to talk about Bidenomics for the rest of the campaign. If he were an effective leader, he’d come up with a solution to the mess he created.