[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 200 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5721-S5722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Bidenomics

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, $11,434--that is how much more a typical 
family has to spend today to maintain the same standard of living they 
had at the beginning of the Biden administration--$11,434. That is a 
lot of money. Needless to say, it is money that a lot of Americans 
don't have.
  Nearly 3 years of high inflation has taken its toll. Americans are 
exhausted from constant price hikes, and they are struggling to keep 
pace with the huge increase in their cost of living.
  One recent news story noted:

       Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they 
     had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.

  Let me just repeat that.

       Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they 
     had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.

  In other words, we have had 10 years of price increases packed into 
the last 4 years. The lion's share of those increases has occurred 
during the Biden administration. Since President Biden took office, the 
price of groceries has risen by almost 21 percent, gas prices have 
risen by 54.8 percent, electric bills are up almost 25 percent, car 
repairs and maintenance are up 26.5 percent, rent is up 18 percent, and 
the list goes on. Unfortunately, at this point, it is

[[Page S5722]]

clear that today's high prices are here to stay.
  Inflation didn't come out of nowhere. Inflation is the result of too 
many dollars chasing too few goods and services. That is exactly the 
situation the Biden administration and Democrats helped create in 2021.
  The President's first major piece of legislation was a massive and 
partisan $1.9 trillion spending bill filled with unnecessary spending 
and handouts to Democrat interest groups. The bill flooded the economy 
with unnecessary government money, and the economy overheated as a 
result--no big surprise there. Almost 3 years down the road, we are 
still dealing with the inflation crisis the President and Democrats 
helped create. So it should come as no surprise that the President's 
``Bidenomics'' pitch--his attempt to sell the American people on his 
economic record--is falling flat, even among members of his own party.
  A substantial majority of Americans have a negative view of the 
economy. Fifty-five percent of voters say they are worse off 
financially under President Biden, and a large percentage are cutting 
back on spending to make ends meet.
  President Biden claims that ``Bidenomics is just another way of 
saying `the American Dream.' '' Well, for a lot of Americans, 
Bidenomics has proved to be less dream and more nightmare because the 
reality is that under Bidenomics, working Americans are struggling to 
get by. They are tapping into their savings. They are taking on more 
debt. They are falling behind on car payments or other bills.
  Increasingly, one key measure of the American dream, which is owning 
your own home, is out of reach for many Americans. The higher interest 
rates the Federal Reserve was forced to put in place to help rein in 
President Biden's inflation crisis has meant more expensive mortgages, 
which, combined with higher home prices, have eroded home buyers' 
purchasing power.
  A recent NBC news article reported:

       [I]n late 2020, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical, 
     newly sold home was around $1,100 in principal and interest. 
     It's now about twice that.

  It is now about twice that.
  On the car-buying front, Americans are facing loan rates last seen, 
as one article noted, during the great recession.
  And soaring credit card interest rates are making it difficult for 
Americans to afford their credit card bills much less make progress in 
paying them off, a situation not helped, of course, by the fact that 
many Americans have had to turn to their credit cards to help them get 
by--get by--under Bidenflation. Under the Biden administration, 
Americans can't catch a break.
  President Biden has spent a lot of time talking about giving families 
``a little bit of breathing room.'' But the reality of Bidenomics is 
that a lot of families have seen their breathing room disappear. 
Perhaps the President should remember that before he gives another 
speech touting his economic record.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.