XPost: alt.politics.trump, alt.politics.republicans, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: leroysoetoro@americans-first.com   
      
   https://amac.us/newsline/economy/inflation-has-declined-under-trump-but-   
   quadrupled-by-this-point-in-bidens-presidency/   
      
   At this point in Joe Biden’s presidency, inflation had already nearly   
   quadrupled.   
      
   From 1.4% when Biden entered office in January 2021, it hit an alarming   
   5.2% level by September of that year.   
      
   In contrast, inflation has actually declined under Donald Trump since he   
   began his second term.  From 3.0% in January of this year, it stands at   
   2.9% today.   
      
   From the mainstream media tenor, however, one would hardly know that.   
      
   Over the past four years, media and their favored clique of economic   
   pundits have treated inflation very differently depending upon which party   
   held the White House.   
      
   That disparity isn’t merely an abstract academic exercise or just another   
   illustration of egregious media bias.  It can have a negative real-world   
   impact.   
      
   To understand how, consider first that consumer spending accounts for   
   approximately two-thirds of the American economy.  Consumer spending, in   
   turn, depends upon consumer sentiment.  And when the media and politically   
   biased pundits artificially dampen consumer sentiment when the President   
   is a Republican but cheerlead when the President is a Democrat, that   
   creates a substantive problem.   
      
   That dishonesty and disparate treatment also inhibits recognizing the   
   economic policies that lead to inflation, and the policies that reduce   
   inflation and boost our economy.   
      
   That dynamic certainly persisted throughout the Biden Administration.  The   
   surge in consumer prices from 1.4% to 5.2% between January and September   
   2021, and what happened thereafter, was no fluke.  Biden Administration   
   policies – including massive Covid stimulus spending after the economy was   
   already rebounding, or aggressive regulatory moves that constrained energy   
   supply – fueled consumer price spikes.   
      
   As a result, inflation rose to 9.1% by 2022, and never came close to the   
   Federal Reserve’s 2% target for the remainder of Biden’s tenure.   
      
   Media coverage, however, remained gentle toward the Biden Administration.   
   As inflation began its steep ascent, Americans were first assured that it   
   was nonexistent, and then merely “transitory.”  By the summer of 2022,   
   however, inflation rose all the way to 9%.  Thereafter, the media used   
   terms like “cooling” when rates ticked a tenth of a percentage point   
   lower, even though they remained painfully high and prices were still   
   climbing faster than paychecks.   
      
   Americans’ everyday reality told a very different story.  By the time that   
   Biden left office, families of four were paying over $1,400 more per month   
   for the same basket of goods and services than they were in January 2021.   
      
   Now contrast that treatment with the prevailing media tone today.   
      
   As noted above, inflation stood at 3.0% when Donald Trump returned to the   
   Oval Office in January, and instead of rising as it did under Biden it has   
   actually declined.   
      
   Despite that reality, media chatter today highlights terms like “inflation   
   remains elevated” and similarly pessimistic headlines.  The same pundits   
   who saw only silver linings while inflation soared to 9% and remained   
   elevated throughout Biden’s term now wring their hands with inflation   
   below 3%.   
      
   As referenced above, all of this matters beyond partisan point-scoring.   
      
   Public perception of inflation influences consumer confidence, business   
   investment, interest rate expectations and even potentially interest rate   
   decisions themselves.  If prevailing media drumbeats minimize price surges   
   under one party but amplify them under the other party, it can distort the   
   economic environment itself.  Investors make decisions based partly upon   
   those media drumbeats.  Voters are also swayed, as polling consistently   
   shows that perceived economic performance remains a prevailing factor in   
   leaders’ approval and election results.   
      
   Accordingly, an informed electorate and sound policy choices depend in   
   part upon an honest, competitive marketplace of ideas.  And that depends   
   in turn upon an honest press.   
      
   And in that vein, whatever one’s politics, inflation’s trajectory from   
   Biden’s inauguration through today is a matter of objective public record.   
   From 1.4% in January 2021 to 5.2% by September of that year, peaking at 9%   
   the following summer, inflation eased painfully slowly to 3.0% when Biden   
   departed.  As of August, it’s now at 2.9%.   
      
   Until mainstream media and the entrenched clique of media pundits do a   
   much better job of ending their double-standard, Americans would thus be   
   wise to maintain a skeptical eye toward media headlines.  Whether those   
   headlines relate to the cost of living or any other important issue, our   
   ability to make wiser choices going forward depends upon such healthy   
   skepticism.   
      
   Timothy H. Lee is Senior Vice President of legal and public affairs at the   
   Center for Individual Freedom.   
      
      
   --   
   November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look   
   forward to America being great again.   
      
   We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that   
   stupid people won't be offended.   
      
   Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.   
      
   Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama   
   / Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.   
      
   Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the   
   The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood   
   queer liberal democrat donors.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)