I & I Editorial BoardDavid Strom at Hot Air noticed something in the Democrats’ campaign messaging as the midterm elections draw near. Namely, the emergence of a talking point about how if Republicans win control of Congress they will “crash the economy.” There’s only one reason to say this. Democrats know they’ve set the economy on course to crash and they’re hoping to blame Republicans when it does.
Describing Republicans as a threat to democracy hasn’t swayed voters, and not for lack of trying. President Biden gave a speech on Wednesday once again accusing Republicans of this crime. His party has only lost support despite two years of pushing this line.
Democrats also thought the Dobbs ruling might swing voters in their favor, apparently because they thought pro-abortion fanatics represent the general public.
Nothing seems to be effective these days at scaring voters into voting for Democrats. Not when inflation is running rampant, the border is in chaos, crime is up, and schools are pushing transgender radicalism on children.
What Democrats can’t run on is the economy. Or maybe they can?
At a recent event, President Biden warned that:
“The Republican leadership in Congress has made it clear they will crash the economy next year by threatening the full faith and credit of the United States for the first time in our history, putting the United States in default unless — unless we yield to their demand to cut Social Security and Medicare.”
Several blue-check types on Twitter echoed this talking point.
It has no chance of changing the outcome of the midterms. The economy is already crashing. The public knows this, which is why nearly two-thirds think we’re in a recession and only about a third approve of Biden’s performance on the economy. Sure, jobs seem plentiful, but what families care most about is whether they can make ends meet. Bidenflation is robbing families of their incomes and savings.
So, why raise this specter now?
Simple: The Democrats aren’t thinking about 2022. They are laying the groundwork for 2024.
There are warnings aplenty that the economy is headed toward even worse times than we are in right now.
“The odds of a U.S. recession are rising. And the chances it will be mild are falling,” is how Bloomberg characterized it on Thursday. It quotes Deutsche Bank AG chief U.S. economist Matthew Luzzetti saying that “The higher the Fed needs to go on the terminal rate, it raises our conviction that a recession will happen next year. But it also raises the risk it will be a deeper one.”
Or, as Heritage’s EJ Antoni put it: “In my opinion, the writing has been on the wall for months that the economy is set for future declines, and that writing has now gotten so big that even an ideologue must notice it.”
Notice that these predictions have nothing whatsoever to do with who wins in November, and everything to do with the disastrous policies foisted on America by President Biden and a razor-thin Democratic majority in Congress.
But reality has never stopped Democrats in the past. So, if the GOP takes control of Congress, expect Democrats to run around saying something like: “We told you Republicans would crash the economy if they won in November. You didn’t listen. And look, the economy crashed, just like we said it would.”
Daniel Di Martino, a Job Creators Network Fellow, told the Daily Caller that “the Biden administration will try to blame the upcoming recession on Republicans taking over Congress despite the reality that it is fully predictable now despite Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress.”
You can bet that the press, which has been studiously downplaying dire economic conditions since Biden has been in office, will suddenly “discover” how bad things are and join Democrats in blaming the GOP.
Are Republicans prepared for this eventuality? Probably not. Are Republicans ever prepared when the left launches an attack, even when they’ve been warned well in advance?
The shame of it is that the GOP has a golden opportunity to seal the fate of the left. The public is suffering, and they need to understand who is to blame. Inflation, chaos at the border, crime in the streets, radical propaganda in schools. These are all the fruits of the left’s agenda.
And these crises will continue, and will get worse, whenever the left regains control of the government. Republicans can make it clear that the left doesn’t care about you. Doesn’t care about your finances. Doesn’t care about your safety. Doesn’t care about your kid’s education. Doesn’t care about economic growth and prosperity.
All it cares about is control.
Taking advantage of this opportunity would require message discipline and an iron will to stay the course no matter how much the left screams. But those are characteristics the Republican party seems unable to acquire.
More likely, they will follow the example of Liz Truss, and backpedal furiously once the heat is on.
— 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.
“…unless we yield to their demand to cut Social Security and Medicare.”
Who exactly has made these demands? Assumes facts not in evidence, Joey-boy.
1. There will be an economic crash next year.
2. By shutting down oil exploration and regulating refining out of business, there will be a diesel fuel shortage. It’s not avoidable.
3. Diesel prices will skyrocket as will farming cost and transportation costs.
4. Food shortages are a certainty because of the oil issue, no fertilizer. Crop yields will be down 30%.
5. Energiy cost will skyrocket this winter and will wipe out the meager savings of most Americans in cold-weather climates.
6. These problems are the direct result of Democrats’ energy policies.
7. A Republican Congress can’t fix the problem.
2023-2025 at a minimum, could make the “great depression” look like the “good old days.”
I wish there was a point I could argue with you on.
I expect energy to increase a bit, another 25-30%, but not like Italy at 5 times what a kiliwatt hour cost a year ago.
But I think I might be unduly optimistic.