Commentary
You know this, but I figured a refresher can’t hurt as we note that consumer confidence has hit a low last seen a decade ago. It occurred to me while reading from David Bahnsen’s book, “There’s No Free Lunch.”
Last November, as I wrote about President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda that he claimed wouldn’t raise taxes on anyone making under $400,000 a year, I reminded you of Milton Friedman’s statement, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
During his campaign, Biden said, “Milton Freidman isn’t running the show anymore,” and its obvious.
Since then, we’ve seen the price of everything we purchase rise, from a gallon of gasoline to a gallon of milk.
On May 21, 2022, Biden foolishly thought he could allay our fears with a Wall Street Journal op-ed, “My Plan for Fighting Inflation,” in which he admitted that “Americans are anxious” about the economy. Anxious isn’t an adequate description for most of us. Angry? Pissed off?
It really wasn’t a plan. He promised that tackling inflation was his number one priority, and pledged that he would take every practical step to reduce inflation, and he hasn’t. Increasing U.S. oil and gas production, for instance.
It wasn’t that long ago that Biden insisted that combatting climate change was his number one priority.
Meanwhile, an NBC poll revealed a 23 percent approval of Biden’s handling of inflation.
It’s All About the Spending
“The government has no money to spend that it does not first take from someone else,” writes Bahnsen. “Government spending is, by definition, confiscatory. And government spending is, by definition, redistributionist.”
He recognizes that there are some legitimate expenses of government, “but to fail to understand the cost of lunch is to leave ourselves susceptible to the worst kind of applied economics.”
Biden even wants the government to fund congressional campaigns. Hardly a legitimate expense.
“The problem with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people’s money,” – Margaret Thatcher
“There is no free lunch,” reiterates Bahnsen, “We can talk about all the things we want accomplished with government spending … but the idea that the treasury can spend infinite dollars and there will be no consequence is the mistake of believing in a free lunch.”
Biden continues to tell us that 14 Nobel laureates in economics have said his spending is actually going to bring down costs and reduce inflation, because “it’s totally paid for.”
However, investment expert Steven Rattner recently voiced his concern, “How could an administration loaded with savvy political and economic hands have gotten this critical issue so wrong?”
And Stephen Moore, former economic advisor to former President Trump, recently commented, “What’s really frustrating to me is that the contraction of the economy we’re seeing is the opposite of what we should be seeing if we had stuck with Donald Trump’s policies.”
But then there’s Robert Reich, who served as Bill Clinton’s secretary of labor and Barack Obama’s economic advisor, who tweeted @RBReich: “Inflation isn’t being driven by government spending. It’s being driven by a handful of giant corporations who are jacking up prices and raking in record profits.” As if that would be possible. Nonsense.
That’s almost as bad as Biden’s insistence that Vladimir Putin is responsible.
In case you haven’t heard, Republicans are focusing on their plans to combat inflation as the midterms draw nearer. They want to soften the impact on households with tax-cutting proposals, while calling for the rescinding of unused federal spending, reducing regulations and negotiation of new trade agreements.
With just 119 days until the midterms, may God continue to bless the United States of America.
