Publius
Well-known member
Republicans blame in inflation on Biden.
They do this because it's low hanging fruit to score cheap political points.
Are they right?
No, they are either misspeaking, or deliberately lying.
Let's review the facts.
Inflation was a worldwide phenomenon, and the only other worldwide phenomenon that occurred leading to that inflation was the pandemic.
In summary, it was the pandemic that led to inflation. It's a worldwide phenomenon and no single president can cause a world wide phenomenon, unless he declares war on the world.
How did the pandemic cause inflation?
It's very simple, and Republicans, and even some Democrats, fail to understand inflation.
Inflation, as Milton Friedman, and other economists in the monetarist schools have taught us, is a monetary phenomenon.
I don't agree with monetarist economic policy, but for one thing, it's the one thing they get right, and that's how to cure inflation. It's why they installed Paul Volcker in the Carter/Reagan years and now Jerome Powell in the Trump/Biden years, and Powell is following in Volcker's footsteps and using the same tool to bring inflation down as did Volcker, which is to raise the interest rate the Fed charges banks at the discount window. They are about to bring it down, now that inflation has been tamed.
What does that mean? It means only the source of money is the cause of inflation. Without the manipulations of that source, inflation is impossible. In fact, without it, deflation could be the inevitable result (given that there would be population growth without monetary expansion). Oh, sure, prices would go up and down just as the waves in a swimming pool go up and down due to external forces, but the aggregate level, the 'trend', can not rise unless you pour more water into the pool, which is to say, print money faster than the GDP can absorb the new dollars.
And, in a sovereign nation that is wholly independent for it's currency from other nations, as America is, it means inflation is caused by the government printing press.
To finance the massive demand for currency by Trump's CARES act, ($2 trillion) and Biden's ARP ($2 trillion) we have an infusion of new fiat dollars called 'quantitative easing' AKA "QE" (Fed jargon) hitherto unseen in a long time by the Federal Reserve.
So, when a QE is greater and infused faster than the GDP can absorb the new dollars, inflation ensues, and it takes about 6 months to a year for the new dollars to circulate the M1 economy, and that it did, resulted in inflation. Other nationed followed similar monetarist policies, and all of the countries, including America, did this to prop up what would have been an economic holocaust had they not done it.
In short, it was the pandemic that caused the inflation. Inflation is what we all paid, collectively, to thwart a worse outcome, an economic collapse.
Democrats need to learn this to better defend themselves against false accusation from the right (Trump was equally responsible)
Republicans need to quit lying about inflation.
That is the point.
Remove inflation, and what you have left is one of the more successful presidencies in history by teh Biden administration.
Biden's economy is a success because it has reduced inflation down to just about where it should be. Near 2%.
Biden's administration is a success because one of the singular most important things he did were:
1. Rebuild America's infrastructure, a 10 year plan of which there are over 56,000 infrastructure projects occuring as we speak.
2. More funding for climate change programs than any point in history, a very necessary thing to do.
3. The return of CHIPS manufacturing to America, because we depend far too much on Taiwan, which is under treat of China occupation.
The three most important things Biden could have done,. he accomplished, and Trump did nothing. It would ahve been better that these problems been address sooner than Biden, but Trump did nothing. All he did was give his rich buddies a huge tax break, which, as any economist will tell you, is unnecessary when the economy is good.
Trump lies.
He said no one in the military died in war under his administration. Not true.
He said there were no wars in his administration. Not true, Afghanistan occurred throughout his administration.
He blamed Biden for the disaster of the Afghanistan evacuation.
But, let's get our facts straight:
Trump tied Biden's hands.
How so? He kicked out the Afghanistan leadership, caused them to flee, and negotiated with the Taliban, who cannot be trusted.
He got released 5000 Taliban prisoners, many of whom were Taliban members. Was this necessary for peace? Some say so, others do not.
He reduced military support in Afghanistan to a fraction of it's former posture, a mere 2500 soldiers when Biden took over.
That left only two options:
1. Withdraw entirely.
2. Restore troop levels and let the war continue.
Let's be accurate, Trump knew that withdrawal would be disastrous, given the situation that he left Biden with, had he withdrawn from Afghanistan himself. He had advisors, they knew they knew this, surely they so advised him. The simple fact is, he did the deal he knew would be disastrous, and left it to Biden to do the deed, knowing that either choice, it would be bad for Biden. If Biden chose to restore troops, that would be bad. If he decided to withdraw, he would have no choice but to do it rapidly, and that would be very risky for Biden.
Trump did this to Biden because he is a despicable human being, and not a patriot.
crooksandliars.com
www.politifact.com
Biden decided that, getting out of Afghanistan was the right thing to do, and despite the risks, he did it.
America, in short, as Biden correctly understood, has had a bellyful of the Afghanistan war.
Biden had the courage to do it, Trump did not. Trump deliberately kicked the can to Biden, in a very cowardly fashion. That it could have been done better, we can argue that till kingdom come, and note this argument is littered with monday morning quarterbacks, all of whom miraculously know better than what it would have been like had they had to walk a day in Biden's shoes.
History will show that Biden was one of the greatest presidents of the 21st century.
History will show that Trump is one of the worst presidents in history, period, on many levels. Hell, his inviting the Taliban to Camp David, something no president would have ever thought of doing, earned him his place on the bottom of the presidential totem pole.
They do this because it's low hanging fruit to score cheap political points.
Are they right?
No, they are either misspeaking, or deliberately lying.
Let's review the facts.
Inflation was a worldwide phenomenon, and the only other worldwide phenomenon that occurred leading to that inflation was the pandemic.
In summary, it was the pandemic that led to inflation. It's a worldwide phenomenon and no single president can cause a world wide phenomenon, unless he declares war on the world.
How did the pandemic cause inflation?
It's very simple, and Republicans, and even some Democrats, fail to understand inflation.
Inflation, as Milton Friedman, and other economists in the monetarist schools have taught us, is a monetary phenomenon.
I don't agree with monetarist economic policy, but for one thing, it's the one thing they get right, and that's how to cure inflation. It's why they installed Paul Volcker in the Carter/Reagan years and now Jerome Powell in the Trump/Biden years, and Powell is following in Volcker's footsteps and using the same tool to bring inflation down as did Volcker, which is to raise the interest rate the Fed charges banks at the discount window. They are about to bring it down, now that inflation has been tamed.
What does that mean? It means only the source of money is the cause of inflation. Without the manipulations of that source, inflation is impossible. In fact, without it, deflation could be the inevitable result (given that there would be population growth without monetary expansion). Oh, sure, prices would go up and down just as the waves in a swimming pool go up and down due to external forces, but the aggregate level, the 'trend', can not rise unless you pour more water into the pool, which is to say, print money faster than the GDP can absorb the new dollars.
And, in a sovereign nation that is wholly independent for it's currency from other nations, as America is, it means inflation is caused by the government printing press.
To finance the massive demand for currency by Trump's CARES act, ($2 trillion) and Biden's ARP ($2 trillion) we have an infusion of new fiat dollars called 'quantitative easing' AKA "QE" (Fed jargon) hitherto unseen in a long time by the Federal Reserve.
So, when a QE is greater and infused faster than the GDP can absorb the new dollars, inflation ensues, and it takes about 6 months to a year for the new dollars to circulate the M1 economy, and that it did, resulted in inflation. Other nationed followed similar monetarist policies, and all of the countries, including America, did this to prop up what would have been an economic holocaust had they not done it.
In short, it was the pandemic that caused the inflation. Inflation is what we all paid, collectively, to thwart a worse outcome, an economic collapse.
Democrats need to learn this to better defend themselves against false accusation from the right (Trump was equally responsible)
Republicans need to quit lying about inflation.
That is the point.
Remove inflation, and what you have left is one of the more successful presidencies in history by teh Biden administration.
Biden's economy is a success because it has reduced inflation down to just about where it should be. Near 2%.
Biden's administration is a success because one of the singular most important things he did were:
1. Rebuild America's infrastructure, a 10 year plan of which there are over 56,000 infrastructure projects occuring as we speak.
2. More funding for climate change programs than any point in history, a very necessary thing to do.
3. The return of CHIPS manufacturing to America, because we depend far too much on Taiwan, which is under treat of China occupation.
The three most important things Biden could have done,. he accomplished, and Trump did nothing. It would ahve been better that these problems been address sooner than Biden, but Trump did nothing. All he did was give his rich buddies a huge tax break, which, as any economist will tell you, is unnecessary when the economy is good.
Trump lies.
He said no one in the military died in war under his administration. Not true.
He said there were no wars in his administration. Not true, Afghanistan occurred throughout his administration.
He blamed Biden for the disaster of the Afghanistan evacuation.
But, let's get our facts straight:
Trump tied Biden's hands.
How so? He kicked out the Afghanistan leadership, caused them to flee, and negotiated with the Taliban, who cannot be trusted.
He got released 5000 Taliban prisoners, many of whom were Taliban members. Was this necessary for peace? Some say so, others do not.
He reduced military support in Afghanistan to a fraction of it's former posture, a mere 2500 soldiers when Biden took over.
That left only two options:
1. Withdraw entirely.
2. Restore troop levels and let the war continue.
Let's be accurate, Trump knew that withdrawal would be disastrous, given the situation that he left Biden with, had he withdrawn from Afghanistan himself. He had advisors, they knew they knew this, surely they so advised him. The simple fact is, he did the deal he knew would be disastrous, and left it to Biden to do the deed, knowing that either choice, it would be bad for Biden. If Biden chose to restore troops, that would be bad. If he decided to withdraw, he would have no choice but to do it rapidly, and that would be very risky for Biden.
Trump did this to Biden because he is a despicable human being, and not a patriot.

Former Trump NSA: 5000 Taliban Freed Before Afghanistan Exit
Lt. Gen. McMaster told CNN Trump bears responsibility for the Afghanistan withdrawal.


Yes, Trump admin. worked to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners
Sen. Mitt Romney blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for the chaotic events that swept Afghanistan after the

Biden decided that, getting out of Afghanistan was the right thing to do, and despite the risks, he did it.
America, in short, as Biden correctly understood, has had a bellyful of the Afghanistan war.
Biden had the courage to do it, Trump did not. Trump deliberately kicked the can to Biden, in a very cowardly fashion. That it could have been done better, we can argue that till kingdom come, and note this argument is littered with monday morning quarterbacks, all of whom miraculously know better than what it would have been like had they had to walk a day in Biden's shoes.
History will show that Biden was one of the greatest presidents of the 21st century.
History will show that Trump is one of the worst presidents in history, period, on many levels. Hell, his inviting the Taliban to Camp David, something no president would have ever thought of doing, earned him his place on the bottom of the presidential totem pole.