The Rot in America is so Deep Nothing Biden Can do Will Fix It
There is something sinister going on in America that’s difficult to define.
It’s an economy with 3.5% unemployment, yet a GDP that’s only growing at 1%.
American business has experienced an explosion in technological innovation, but the U.S. has negative productivity.
It’s virtually impossible to find reliable workers in any industry. Homeowners needing to hire out for repairs or upgrades gird their loins for the inevitable no show, shoddy workmanship or theft.
Date night has been canceled in many households because the price of a meal at a decent restaurant now exceeds the monthly food budget. A couple of friends wanting to meet for lunch at a sandwich shop get a bill for $40, and that’s in Arizona. One can only imagine what a deli sandwich in New York costs these days.
The Root of the Problem
Either consciously or intuitively, most average Americans realize woke leftist policies have predictable outcomes. It never varies, and it’s never positive. Remember, we’ve been subjected to Democratic leadership in 10 ½ out of the last 14 ½ years, so there are no surprises here, and it’s taken its toll on our nation’s prosperity, and more importantly, its psyche.
When self-righteous woke zealots in 29 states decided that the minimum wage must be raised from $7/hour to $10/hour or more because everyone deserves a “livable” income, those with even a modicum of intelligence and experience knew the inevitable outcome before the new wage rate took effect. Every business that employed hospitality workers would have to pay more, so they raised their prices. Consumers, realizing the price of everything was rising, demanded higher wages. When combined with Covid giveaways, the end result was a spike in inflation not seen since the 1980s, and just like the 80s, the hospitality workers are worse off than they were before the raises. In the meantime, business owners struggle to remain profitable as their higher prices drive away customers.
Brilliant…
After railroading President Trump into shutting down the economy during a pandemic that only significantly impacted the elderly from a health standpoint, Democrats insisted on cranking up the free money machine in the name of “compassion,” but it was just a cynical effort to buy more votes. Again, it didn’t take an Einstein to know what was coming. After the first round of 2020 payments gave $3400 to a family of four, Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan dished out another $5,600 to the same family. This was more money than many of these people saw at one time in their entire lives. So, what did they do? Save it? Invest it?
Nope. They spent it. Watching a guy wheeling his new 75-inch TV out to the ‘98 Dodge Caravan with the kids in tattered clothing following behind was commonplace. When you add in the $800 billion the government distributed in forgivable PPE loans, unemployment benefits, credits, grants and forgiveness programs, the total giveaway was more than $6 trillion.
The disaster that waited on the other side of the Democrat’s free-money bonanza was predictable. Many of the people that received the free cash, along with a rent moratorium, free utilities and suspended student loan payments, decided it was more profitable to stay home and play video games than to get a job. This inflationary and budget busting mentality is entrenched, and it’s only now beginning to unwind a bit as Biden reluctantly allowed some of the free money programs to end.
Still, make no mistake, the long-term ramifications of these reckless actions have taken deep root, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to remedy this malaise anytime soon.
The labor force participation rate remains at historical lows, despite an unemployment rate that stands at 3.5%. That means there are still a bunch of jobs that the 2.5 million people who dropped out of the labor force since the pandemic refuse to take. Compounding the problem, the labor force participation rate before the pandemic started was 11% below the rate in 1990, where it began to decline. In short, leftist Democrats have trained a lot of people not to work.
Congratulations.
Meanwhile, the budget deficit, which is a barometer of the government’s ability to print money for future giveaways and feel-good programs, is now over $34 trillion. The interest on the debt is the sixth largest budget category at $424 billion annually, but as they say in the music industry, it’s rising with a bullet. If current trends continue, the interest on the debt will surpass the defense budget by 2025.
Think about that for a moment.
The Vague Uneasiness that Suggests Hopelessness
The average American sits at home, recognizing that his plight in life is growing more difficult in ways he can’t quite quantify. He has always trusted his leaders to get the numbers right so the roads are smooth, the price of gas and food remain stable, the country can defend itself and he can take the family on a nice vacation once in a while. What he doesn’t understand is that the rot inside the foundational pillars that determine our prosperity is so severe, it’s unlikely his children will ever experience the kind of life he envisioned for them. Unless American attitudes, governance and work ethic change dramatically and soon, the ominous decline we all feel playing out in the background may prove to be irreversible.
Fixing this mess might take a couple of decades and require our best minds and most creative thinkers to work out solutions to horrific problems of our own making.
While the country needs Ronald Reagan, instead, we have Joe Biden and Kamala Harris obsessing over climate change and winning rigged elections.
It’s depressing.
