I & I Editorial BoardTo all those suffering from skyrocketing prices, struggling to make ends meet, going to food kitchens to feed their families, breaking the bank just to fill up their tanks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a message for you.
Quit your griping and vote Democratic.
That is the “new and improved” messaging that Pelosi thinks will win over voters in November.
And no, we are not kidding. In an interview with Punchbowl News published on Wednesday, here’s what she said:
Inflation’s an issue, but it’s global. It’s global. … What’s [the Republicans’] plan? They ain’t got nothing. When you bring down unemployment, inflation goes up. … So, in any case, [President Joe Biden] brought unemployment [down], cut it in half. Inflation is there but it’s global and not as bad as it is in some countries. We’ll have to message it better in the next three weeks ahead. I think we’re in great shape. Other people don’t want to believe that.
Let’s break that down.
“It’s global.” Not exactly.
The U.S. inflation rate is worse than 13 of the G20 nations. Canada’s has been steadily declining since June. And several European countries are suffering higher prices thanks to their decision to impose the idiotic “clean energy” mandates Biden wants to import. Energy costs in Germany, for example, were up 44% in September.
In any case, telling people “everybody’s suffering, so don’t feel so bad,” is not what we’d call a winning message.
“When you bring down unemployment, inflation goes up.” That’s flat out false.
Under Trump, the unemployment rate dropped from 4.7% to 3.5%, while inflation remained steady. In fact, every sustained decline in unemployment since 1980 shows unemployment and inflation declining. (See charts below.)
Only under Biden do we see prices skyrocket as the unemployment rate declines. In fact, the closest comparison to what’s happening today is what the country suffered under Jimmy Carter, where unemployment was flat as prices spiked. (See the charts below.)
“I think we’re in great shape. Other people don’t want to believe that.”
Great shape? GDP declined and inflation topped 8% in the first half of the year. Most think we are in a recession.
Overall prices are up almost 13% since Biden took office. Food is up 15.4%, energy up 39%, used car prices are up 35.7%, etc., etc. More than two-thirds of the public believes the country is headed in the wrong direction.
The only people who want to believe that the country is in “great shape” are Democrats who hope that voters will ignore what they are seeing every day and trust Nancy Pelosi.
“What’s [the Republicans’] plan? They ain’t got nothing.”
House Republicans have sketched out a plan to deal with inflation should they retake the House. A big factor is unleashing America’s energy potential, something that Trump was doing and Biden attacked. The GOP also calls for pro-growth tax cuts and deregulation to spur productivity. In other words, they’re proposing returning to the policies that worked under Reagan and Trump.
Of course, no matter what Republicans propose, Democrats would dismiss it as “not a plan.” But what exactly is Pelosi’s plan? The only things she and her party have offered are price controls that never work, pointless attacks on corporate “greed,” and the wildly mislabeled Inflation Reduction Act.
What’s really surprising about Pelosi’s claim that this “better messaging plan” will work for Democrats is that Biden has been trying it for months.
Back in June, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was insisting that “when you talk about inflation, it is a global thing. And it is not just about the United States. This is something that everyone is feeling because of coming out of a once in a lifetime pandemic, because of the war that Russia has started in Ukraine.”
Biden has tried to blame everyone in the world for our price hikes. He’s said that Republicans don’t have a solution and want to – gasp – repeal the Inflation Reduction Act. And just the other day, Biden claimed the economy was “strong as hell.”
None of it has worked because the public can see with its own eyes what’s happening. For Americans, inflation isn’t a messaging problem. It’s created a daily struggle to make ends meet.
— Written by the I&I Editorial Board
Using these vague “policy violations,” Google is now threatening to demonetize us. It’s part of Big Tech’s effort to silence conservative voices.
You fell into Nancy’s trap. “What’s [the Republicans’] plan? They ain’t got nothing.” That’s east coast talk. People from SF do not use that phrase. Double negative. Capitulation. She’ll admit later on that she meant precisely what she said – The pubs have a plan; we don’t.
The counter in front of her ice-cream freezer is covered in brochures on Italy.
Drill baby, drill