POMPEO: Bidenomics Has Delivered the Worst Economy in Decades But Kamala’s Socialist Price Controls Would Be Far Worse

The ability of families across the United States to afford basic things like housing, energy, food, and transportation has become almost impossible and is endangering the foundation of American power and what makes the American Dream possible.  Four years of “Bidenomics,” driven by a radical, far-Left agenda, have delivered the worst economy in decades and make the prospect of four more, quite sobering indeed.

Inflation has risen at an alarming rate under the Biden-Harris Administration.  According to a federal inflation calculator, a basket of goods – such as the food you buy at the grocery store every week – that cost $100 at the start of 2020 now costs over $120.  Numbers from this past spring indicated that home prices were over 7 times greater than the median household income, and they are now 30 percent higher than when Biden and Harris took office in 2021.  Combined with persistent high interest rates, it has never been more expensive to purchase a home, which hurts young families in particular.  Despite Biden and Harris’ protestations that inflation is “slowing,” Americans can see every day that basic goods like rent and mortgage prices, food, water and energy bills, and transportation costs have all continued to steadily rise. 

Persistent inflation adds up quickly for families that were already struggling to make ends meet.  To make matters worse, wages have not kept up with the pace of inflation over the past four years: Since President Biden took office, inflation has increased nearly 20%.  It isn’t just that everything costs more for American families; families also have relatively less money to spend.  For farmers and working-class families, like those I represented in Kansas’ 4th District, Biden and Harris’ economy has been a disaster.

Biden and Harris created these problems by pushing massive and reckless government spending programs that doled out absurd payments to favored industries and political allies.  A large portion of their vaunted “Inflation Reduction Act” was used as little more than a slush fund to bail out failed Democrat leaders from California to Chicago to New York.  Other funds were used to subsidize renewable energy – in fact, their own Treasury Department put out a press release stating that the “Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant legislation to combat climate change in our nation’s history.”  By pouring money we didn’t have into green energy, while at the same time crushing domestic energy industries with brutal regulations and restrictions, Biden and Harris drove up inflation for no reason other than to satisfy a narrow, progressive agenda.  Then, instead of taking responsibility for these inflated prices, Biden and Harris repeatedly blame “greedy” corporations.  VP Harris just announced a plan to impose federal bans on “corporate price gouging” – in other words, she plans to use the power of the Executive branch to punish corporations for a mess her own Administration created.  Price controls are a prime feature of socialism, and they are far more likely to lead to food shortages than to make life better for working Americans.

But this, at its core, is what “Bidenomics” is all about: Screwing up the economy with socialist policies, then trying to “fix it” with more socialism while blaming the businesses that enable our economy to function.  This economic death spiral is going to continue unless we get competent leaders who advance the American Dream, not the socialist fantasy of a Green New Deal.

The strength of America’s economy is not just crucial to delivering greater freedom and prosperity at home; it is also deeply tied to our success in foreign affairs.  Strong, stable domestic growth means we have more resources to deter our adversaries abroad.  The financial tools that are necessary for a successful foreign policy, such as sanctions, are only useful if we have a powerful U.S. economy to back them up.  Likewise, limiting the reliance of our partners and allies on adversaries for basic needs, such as energy, makes the world a safer place – but this is only possible when we are able to offer a better alternative.  For instance, on the Trump Administration’s watch, we became a net exporter of oil for the first time in seven decades, something that gave us enormous power to help friends in Europe deter rogue nations.  When you lose that capability due to backward policies at home, it is a great loss for the American people and the world.

This November, American voters face a choice between two approaches to economic governance: One that seeks to expand freedom, and one that seeks to restrict it in order to advance a progressive agenda.  For the past four years, we have seen what the latter choice actually delivers. I hope Americans will make the right choice on the policies that will succeed for our country’s future.