Inflation is becoming a major issue for many voters who are seeing their gas prices and food go up. The recent inflation rate increased 5.3% and for most workers, they have seen a 1.3% decrease in their income as inflation outstripped earnings. Voters are noticing this as they visit the local gas station and see the price of driving their cars going up or as they find it more expensive to feed their families.
There is a significant cost to families. The average Nevada family has lost $1,059 dollars to inflation this past year, even after a rise in income. Inflation is a cruel tax imposed on workers when the government debases the currency to expand spending. Biden’s spending plan promises welfare for the average voters along with tax cuts, but these spending plans will be undermined by increased monetary expansion by the Federal Reserve. Whatever benefit they may receive from promised tax reductions is already being wiped out by inflation.
Many voters see inflation happening and view this as a threat to their economic well-being. In Nevada, 75% of voters view controlling inflation very important while 17% view it as somewhat important.
Many voters don’t view Biden’s massive increase in spending as a benefit to their economic prospects. Instead they suspect it will lead to further inflation. When asked in a recent poll about the impact of increased federal spending and debt, 65% of Nevada voters viewed this increase as not just bad for the economy but also playing a role increasing inflation.
President Biden has suggested that the current spike in inflation is transitory. However, Biden’s secretary of Treasury Janet Yellin stated in July that we may have “several more months of rapid inflation.” That hardly sounds temporary.
Inflation can’t be hidden as voters see and feel it with every trip to the gas stations and the grocery store. Inflation is but one of Joe Biden’s many failures in his first year and the Democratic Party will pay the price at the polls if this trend continues.
Tom Donelson is the Chairman of Americas PAC, Project Director and research associate at Americas Majority Foundation.
