Two months after President Joe Biden began pushing “Bidenomics,” Americans haven’t budged on their pessimistic views of the economy, particularly inflation, according to several polls. In fact, it’s led rival candidates to campaign on the promise of reversing Bidenomics policies.
In a poll released on Aug. 7, seven out of 10 respondents say they’ve heard little to nothing about the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that Mr. Biden signed one year ago.
“The Inflation Reduction Act will help Americans save money on prescription drugs, health premiums, and much more,” the president said last year. “It also makes the largest investment in history in combatting climate change and increasing energy security, creating jobs here in the U.S. and saving people money on their energy costs.”
The legislation sought to renegotiate Medicare drug prices and incentivize “clean energy” consumer choices through tax credits, although pharmaceutical companies have sued to block the new negotiation standards.
The poll, conducted by the University of Maryland for The Washington Post, surveyed Americans on the Biden administration’s climate initiatives.
It found that most Americans had heard little to nothing about the new tax credits available to them, including tax credits for electric vehicles (67 percent), for heat pump systems (77 percent), installing solar panels (66 percent), and for solar panel and wind turbine manufacturing (75 percent).
In addition, a majority of respondents favor the credits.
Support for the 2022 IRA, however, wasn’t as strong: 39 percent support it while 20 percent oppose it, and 39 percent said they weren’t sure.
Poll respondents self-identified along party lines fairly evenly, with 33 percent Democrat, 32 percent Republican, and 27 percent independent.
Campaigning on the Economy
In recent weeks, the White House has been vocal in taking credit for how the economy has improved, repeatedly emphasizing that jobs are up while inflation is down because of the president’s government investments.That’s led former President Donald Trump, who is seeking reelection, to also place economic policy front and center of recent campaigning as well. At rallies, he’s reminding voters of the better economic conditions during his term and, at times, denouncing Mr. Biden’s policies with promises to undo them if elected.
“Crooked Joe Biden cares only about enriching his own family ... I care about enriching your family,” Mr. Trump said at a GOP fundraiser on Aug. 5.
While Mr. Biden favors expensive policies that push for wind and solar energy and electric vehicles, Mr. Trump said America still has more to benefit from oil.
“We have more oil—I call it ‘liquid gold’ ... under our feet than any other nation in the world, by far,” Mr. Trump said. “We were going to supply all of Europe ... we were going to make so much money. We‘d pay off debt, and then we’d lower taxes again.”
On Aug. 7, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another Republican presidential candidate, put out an op-ed spotlighting his own economic policy.
“President Joe Biden’s job-crippling and ideological regulations and executive orders will be reversed on Day One,” he wrote.
“We will declare our economic independence from the failed elites who orchestrated American decline and from the never-ending federal spending that has inflated prices and plunged our nation to the brink of insolvency.”
Mr. DeSantis wrote that he would put forward a tax reform agenda to spur productivity and growth, and advance energy independence, without offering much by way of specifics.
“The goal of our declaration of economic independence is simple: We win, they lose.”
He further aligned the economic goals with his signature culture-war platform, vowing to end ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing standards and disband DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programs.
Environmental issues have indeed been a way for the Biden administration to advance various “equity”-based agendas. A recent analysis published by OpenTheBooks.com found that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is increasingly transforming into a force for “environmental justice.”
Grants given to “environmental justice” applicants increased from $5.6 million in fiscal year 2021 to $14 million in fiscal year 2022.
The report explains that “environmental justice” is related to critical race theory, which ties race to social, political, and economic outcomes.
The EPA received $40 billion from the 2022 IRA.
