December 4, 2023

"Biden was initially ambivalent about the term, then embraced it — but 'Bidenomics' has recently disappeared from his prepared speeches...."

Explains Axios, in "House Democrats ditch 'Bidenomics' messaging."
• The term was seen as tone-deaf to voters still struggling economically and also invoked a president with lackluster polling numbers. 
• One Democratic strategist said the biggest problem wasn't using "Biden," but that the term was too philosophical and required too much explanation.

69 comments:

narciso said...

Have they refuted their votes on the stimulus on the inflation reduction any of their nominees its irrelevant

rhhardin said...

It means do what you want without regard to consequences, policywise.

The Vault Dweller said...

Telling people that inflation is now under control, when individual people have seen some of their frequently bought items more than double in price from what they were 4 years ago, isn't going to win the support of many people.

Iman said...

Gliobidenoma strikes down the Cancer-in-Chief.

Original Mike said...

What, exactly, do they say Bidenomics IS? Best I can figure out, it's massive deficit spending.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Given how clear the first sentence of the first bullet point is that second bullet point makes no sense at all. Philosophical? Not even close. The second thought people have when hearing the term Bidenomics is that the Biden family raking in big bucks from foreigners is the only benefit of Bidenomics and everyone else gets the shaft.

JRoberts said...

"One Democratic strategist said the biggest problem wasn't using "Biden," but that the term was too philosophical and required too much explanation."

That's right. The peasants are too stupid to appreciate all that Joe Biden has done to protect them from personal prosperity and freedom.

Now, enjoy your crumbs and allow your "betters" to do what they do best - wasting your tax dollars and padding their own pockets.

Jake said...

Too philosophical? The leftwing base must be awfully dense.

Original Mike said...

Federal revenues for the year are a little over $4.4 trillion, which doesn't even come close to covering Uncle Sugar's $6.3 trillion "budget."

robother said...

Eschew the term, but the Bidenomics abides.

MadisonMan said...

The term was seen as tone-deaf to voters still struggling economically and also invoked a president with lackluster polling numbers
That's a way of saying Bidenomics are a failure. Honestly, every time I read someone say that the economy is doing just fine, I think they never ever go shopping for food.

Butkus51 said...

People actually think Biden is coherent and plans things out.

F'n remarkable.

Mason G said...

"The leftwing base must be awfully dense."

Well, they voted for Biden. So there's that.

Dave Begley said...

Just rec'd my new copy of "1984" ordered via the Althouse AMZN portal.

Back cover quote, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

Food prices up 20%, at least. But Bidenomics tells us everything is great.

n.n said...

Shared responsibility through progressive prices and subsidies.

Original Mike said...

"That's a way of saying Bidenomics are a failure. Honestly, every time I read someone say that the economy is doing just fine, I think they never ever go shopping for food."

My wife usually does the grocery shopping, but she's been ill lately so I've been doing it. Holy crap! It's breathtaking.

n.n said...

Federal revenues for the year are a little over $4.4 trillion, which doesn't even come close to covering Uncle Sugar's $6.3 trillion "budget."

Underfunded Medicare, unfunded Medicaid, and Obamacares shares responsibility through progressive prices. Also, academic subsidies and a Novel Green Deal forcing climate change.

Rusty said...

'Build Back Better!"
How's that workin' out?

gilbar said...

‘Please Don’t Forget About Us’: Longtime Illegal Immigrants Exasperated As Biden Hands Work Permits To New Arrivals

Immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after crossing the border illegally are frustrated with the Biden administration for expediting work permits for new illegal immigrants, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Juana Arreguin, who arrived illegally from Mexico nearly 30 years ago.. according to the Chicago Tribune. The Biden administration has given some Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians expedited pathways to work permits, which Arreguin has found unfair.

Arreguin is part of a community of thousands of illegal immigrants in Chicago asking the Biden administration for the same treatment, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“Please don’t forget about us. We need job permits too,” Arreguin said.

The Biden administration granted Temporary Protected Status to roughly 472,000 in September, as well as an extension to 242,700 Venezuelans already protected by the temporary designation.

nearly half a FUCKING MILLION ILLEGALS.. A MONTH!!
There's illegals that have been trying to get green cards for YEARS,
and these newbies just skate into the Front of the illegal line.. This is NOT FAIR!
The new illegals should wait their turn to jump in line, just like All the older illegals did!!

tim in vermont said...

Biden's friends and Hunter's clients are all doing great, so suck it h8rs.

narciso said...

exhibit a mr phillips, 100% vote with pelosi,

gilbar said...

Mason G said...
"The leftwing base must be awfully dense."
Well, they voted for Biden. So there's that.

to Be FAIR.. Their votes were COUNTED for Biden.. not quite the same thing
Many people don't even think they VOTED in 2020.. And yet their votes were counted for Biden.

Serious Question: Does Professor Althouse think Her vote wasn't counted in 2020?

tim in vermont said...

Bidenomics means that affluent Democrats in temperate cites get subsidies on the EVs that simply won't work for most working Americans.

Joe Smith said...

I've said it before, but I am doing pretty well financially. My money folks tell me I have nothing to worry about and can spend whatever within reason.

Maybe it's my natural inclination toward frugality (growing up poor will do that), but I am very concerned about the crazy inflation.

Grocery prices, gas, insurance; they have all gone through the roof. Home insurance where I am has tripled in the past three years.

The only people who can feel comfortable with this are those who have 'actual' wealth. My floor for that is $20M invested. If you're not in that category, then you are worried...

Jamie said...

One Democratic strategist said the biggest problem wasn't using "Biden," but that the term was too philosophical and required too much explanation.

This is true, if the philosophy is postmodernism, in which there is no reality or truth, only hierarchies of power that determine the relevance of individual perception. You definitely do have to explain how persistently high prices on consumer goods with no corresponding wage gains is a good thing for people.

Greg the Class Traitor said...

One Democratic strategist said the biggest problem wasn't using "Biden," but that the term was too philosophical and required too much explanation.

Translation: people are just too stupid to understand how awesome we are.

No, we aren't. You're saying "who are you going to believe, gov't statistics or your own lying eyes?" And our answer is: our eyes

Ampersand said...

Commenters here are drawn to this digital niche because it allows us a refuge from the ocean of propaganda in which words like Bidenomics not only are supposed to mean something, but the meaning is supposed to be something desirable.
I propose a neologism for terms like Bidenomics: politibabble. You read it first here.

Rich said...

More likely, 'Bidenomics' is a synthesis of research over the past 40 years, including Piketty's generational data, Mazzucato's insights about the crucial role of government in economic innovation, and new research in fields ranging from anthropology to public health — informing policy makers about the far-reaching social impacts of inequality.

'Bidenomics' is a synthesis of 40 years of new information, layered onto an economy that has been digitizing since Reagan's second term. Reagan exalted the free flow of capital, as if markets were always and everywhere the solution to every imaginable problem. Then came the Internet, digitization, and rapid global communications.

As a result, 'mistakes were made'; Biden had a front row seat to watch one policy disaster after another — first as a senator, and later as V.P.

Remington made a good typewriter, but never produced a word processor.

Notably, Reagan held office near the cusp of the electric typewriter; Bidenomics appears to be an attempt to grapple with a world that is daily being altered by software, climate change, and shifting demographics.

Bidenomics is attempting to deal with more complexity and faster rates of change than Reaganomics was ever able to address.

Kevin said...

It's the Bideneconomy, stupid!

Leland said...

tone-deaf to voters

Tone-deaf? I thought it was pitch perfect for describing who to blame for the poor economy.

Real American said...

The problem is they're trying to slap the Biden name on whatever positive economic news there is as if he had anything to do with it while ignoring the the bad economic effects that is also occurring, some of which he is responsible for such as the inflation we've seen since he and the Dems in Congress went on a massive spending spree that they said would reduce inflation, which it hasn't, because it was just a giant spending bill.

Rich said...

The beginning of the new era was signaled during the Bush administration with Vice President Dick Cheney's quote that "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter." This was in a book recounting the experiences of former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill that showed the lack of deliberation if not thinking behind the establishment of the new Republican party orthodoxy, a doctrine separated from traditional Republican concern for fiscal probity. O'Neill politely described Bush's thought processes as "disengaged." Chaos at the top of a Republican White House is not new, and just more colorful under Trump.

One could argue plausibly that overall Bush economic policies leading up to the 2008 crisis set the stage for an overall decline in trend GDP growth by about 30% from 3+% to 2+% due to the erosion of the structural strength of the US economy after 2008.

Weakening trend GDP growth was not counteracted by a large public works bill as part of the crisis recovery program due to obstructionism and intransigence by Republicans led by Senator Mitch McConnell in 2010-11.

The outcome has been the establishment of a slow-growth trend GDP growth potential not amenable to short-term happy talk solutions, the only ones understood by the modern Republican party.

This set the stage for Trump's tax cuts which provided a short-term stimulus at the expense of sending the debt-to-GDP ratio heading towards an unprecedented 100% by 2028 (CBO). The goal was never growth but rather wealth concentration.

The US economy is currently configured around a goal of ever-higher wealth concentration and further economic concentration across all sectors, strikingly so in banking and finance.

As to achieving a "starve the beast" overall fiscal position, what will happen when the need for hundreds of billions in new expenditure collides with deficit-ridden entitlement programs in the decade of the 2020s. One might prophesy an era of "hard choices" coming up. The fundamental lie behind Dick Cheney's original pronouncement was that eventually choices and priorities must be made. The tough-guy person of Cheney was always a soft muddle between the ears.

"Damaged fiscal and monetary credibility" will make nice companions for devastated foreign policy credibility and the coming erosion if not surrender of global leadership. Trump blew up the Iranian nuclear agreement and in the process blew up American foreign policy credibility in ways that may never be repaired.

A choosing time is coming up.

wendybar said...



THIS is Joe Bidens Bidenomics....


D Sprinkle
@dalonnas_60

Replying to @GOPoversight @sonyacminirex and @RepJamesComer
Excellent… Another Monday more damning evidence, coming out against the most corrupt president in history, and what will Republicans do ?

Nothing !
The do nothing Republicans don’t even have to worry about Democrats anymore, because Republicans are kicking their own asses !
12:16 PM · Dec 4, 2023


https://twitchy.com/samj/2023/12/04/bombshell-hunter-bidens-business-made-direct-payments-to-joe-biden-n2390470

Mason G said...

"to Be FAIR.. Their votes were COUNTED for Biden.. not quite the same thing"

You are, of course correct. In my defense, I was commenting on the leftwing base who actually did vote, not the imaginary and dead ones (a significant component of that base, to be sure). And I submit those living, breathing leftists did, in fact, deliberately choose Biden.

Whiskeybum said...

Ampersand@11:30

“Politibabble” - I like it. Let me try to use it in a sentence.

Did you read all the politibabble that Rich just posted on this topic?

Old and slow said...

Too philosophical huh? What would that philosophy actually be? Money for cronies in on the green scam? Vast untraceable sums to Ukrainians?

Earnest Prole said...

Even before Bidenflation struck, half of all Americans had less than $500 in the bank; for them Bidenomics has been an unmitigated disaster. Elite Democrats have grown so distant from their fellow citizens that they have great difficulty grasping this most basic fact of American life.

farmgirl said...

Bidenflation will be harder to run away from.
The repackaging of smaller amounts of goods for the same pay price is not a game.
What a joke this Presidency has been.

A Lame joke- not funny at all.

TreeJoe said...

Federal revenues TODAY would cover the ENTIRE 2018 and 2019 federal expenditures.

All of it.

Yet today, we are spending as a nation nearly a $2 trillion deficit post-COVID, with no formal wars.

Let me say it again: If we had frozen spending at current levels FOUR YEARS AGO we would currently have a balanced budget. Even if we had flooded the economy in 2020 and 2021 with extra social safety nets, we would still be at a balanced budget today. Paying down off our prior loans and slowly reducing the total debt burden.

Let me put aside Trump and even Biden. They ultimately sign stuff and push for stuff but don't own the purse.

Congress is out of control and not being held responsible.

mikee said...

Aphasia is a normal symptom of advancing dementia. Expect more and more words to not appear in the things this poor old man says.

Rit said...

There's no need to struggle in today's economy. Just learn to paint. It worked for Hunter.

Steven Wilson said...

"As a result, 'mistakes were made'; Biden had a front row seat to watch one policy disaster after another — first as a senator, and later as V.P."

The notion that Joe Biden ever learned anything from policy disasters is an insult to the intelligence of virtually anyone who posts here. The kindest but most accurate description of Biden occurred during the 2008 campaign when they were touting his thirty six years of experience in Washington. I don't remember who said it, but it was to the effect that "Joe Biden doesn't have thirty six years of experience, he has one year of experience thirty six times."

And the notion he could understand whatever that inchoate maundering about Piety, Mazzucato, digitization, etc....

Joe Biden is the most corrupt and feckless man ever to occupy the presidency, and when you consider the presidencies of Pierce and Buchanan that's saying something. Those of you who foisted this shambling demented wreck of a third rate politician on us have a lot to answer for, and I don't know how could possibly muster the energy to defend him or yourselves.

Remember the dude who shamed McCarthy during the Army hearings. We could use him now, but he was on the wrong side of the aisle so I don't imagine he could find in himself to speak truth to corruption.

Yancey Ward said...

I buy the groceries for my mother and myself. I do this shopping once week on Wednesday afternoons. Over about a month and half, the list of things I will have purchased in that month and half is invariant. My mother likes the eat the same things, and so do I- we are both set in our ways in that regard. In 2019 for the entire year- I spent an average of $97/week on the grocery trips (I keep a spreadsheet). The running average since this past July is almost double that $97/week ($183/week), and this is with me doing substitutions for lower cost producers, like more and more generics in the last 2 years along with more big bulk purchases of items that keep without refrigeration. I will also note I live in a low cost of living area of the country.

This is why "Bidenomics" is treated with disdain- everyone buys groceries, and everyone sees every week how bad the inflation has been since Biden's installment as President. You can't make people disbelieve their "lying" eyes.

Leland said...

Did you read all the politibabble that Rich just posted on this topic?

Nope. Saw the name and skipped. It would be helpful if he did like Cookie and put an easy to identify avatar to make skipping faster.

Original Mike said...

Public discourse is so dispiriting. You would think that we could agree on lessons learned from an event as profound as the 2008 financial crisis: don't lend money to people who are unlikely to be able to pay it back, and especially don't have the government force (and underwrite) said risky loans. But no…

Sheridan said...

I give Rich props for trying to portray Biden as competent even wise. But Biden is more Chance the gardener in "Being There". And unlike the movie where the Washington elite deceived themselves about Chance's incompetence, in real life the D.C. elite know exactly what Biden is - an empty vessel waiting to be filled with the ideas of others. And many of those "others" are nearly as incompetent as slow Joe.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I just read a shitload of the politibabble that Rich posted on this topic. The really funny part is that the Fed just said last week that the “supply side changes we made to bring inflation down were having a positive effect” and despite Rich’s philosophical bafflegab in support of Bidenomics, even Biden’s team is counting on Reaganomics (Supply Side) to get his ass out of the inflation nightmare. Once again poor dead Irony takes an undeserved beating.

Rusty said...

Whiskeybum said...
Rich honest to god thinks he's the smartest one here. It's a Kruger-Dunning thing.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

From r/WalkAway: "Democrats finally realized that saying “You’re too dumb to know you’re rich” isn’t an effective message."

Mason G said...

"Nope. Saw the name and skipped. It would be helpful if he did like Cookie and put an easy to identify avatar to make skipping faster."

Motion seconded.

Iman said...

Rich might cast a shadow…

if he weren’t sooo transparent.

Breezy said...

To me, Bidenomics is the way to make your nest egg grow by sending your grown children out to foreign states with the task of secretly offering your policy-altering services to the foreign entities in exchange for money. The value of your services, your “brand”, grows as you climb the political ladder.

Old and slow said...

My girlfriend is a not very politically informed left-leaning hippie, and even she considers Biden to be a shambling disaster. She bought a new alternator for her Subaru a few years ago for 50 or 60 bucks. Just bought a new one for over $300 (different Subaru...). People notice these things. They also notice that he can't extricate himself from a stage or string a coherent sentence together. When you have lost youngish female hippies, that's a bad sign. She HATES Trump, but she will not vote for Biden. Of course, I do expect Biden to win a second term if they don't manage to push him aside before the election.

Rich said...

The advanced economies are integrating, not decoupling. (Decoupling at most is going to be the management of strategic dependencies with autocracies.) The other democracies are all negotiating their way into Biden's new American First economic paradigm if for no other reason than their participation reinforces future success rather than detracting from it.l

America's best success occurs economically when all the other democracies are also expanding. Because of America's great economic preponderance, the Europeans and Far East democracies — all strong international traders — will have even more motivation to broaden economic and trade relations out into the developing world, further juicing returns to the all the advanced democracies. Capital from democratic capitalist countries is going to be the key ingredient in developing world economic expansion in the future.

The future is likely to see greater predominance within the global economy by the advanced democracies due to the intrinsic strengths of democratic capitalism. The autocracies have challenged this model and that challenge is failing and failing rapidly. China ain't displacing any democracy in any new order.

Bidenomics is the geopolitical winner.

John said...

Original Mike 10:24 said:

"What, exactly, do they say Bidenomics IS? Best I can figure out, it's massive deficit spending."

It is MMT, but with the consequences every one who has ever taken an economics course could see. Of course it is also old fashioned rent-seeking, providing a bundle of cash only dishonest players in the Democratic Party would be tempted to grab, with, again, all of the "unintended" consequences, again plain to see.

Sheridan said...

Iman - remember Bram Stoker - vampires (blood sucking parasites) also cast no shadow. But no worries, so long as you don't invite them through your doorway.

Larry J said...

“ The Vault Dweller said...
Telling people that inflation is now under control, when individual people have seen some of their frequently bought items more than double in price from what they were 4 years ago, isn't going to win the support of many people.”

Biden has tried to blame greedy corporations for high prices and is trying to demonize them into cutting prices. The profit margin at most grocery stores is less (often much less) that 5%. Biden wants them to cut prices by 15% or more. Being the profoundly ignorant moron that he is (plus demagogue), he refuses to accept responsibility for the things he and the Democrats did that drove up prices. Cutting domestic energy production such as canceling the Keystone pipeline was just the start. Creating trillions of dollars out of thin air and dumping that into the money supply under the Orwellian name of the Inflation Reduction Act was also a huge factor.

Gas prices have come down from their peak but they’re still over $1 a gallon higher that when he took office. The growth in grocery prices may have slowed, but the price of just about everything is much higher than before he took office and aren’t likely to ever come down. And people know it. Bidenomics is to blame.

boatbuilder said...

"Joe Biden is the victim in all of this. It is all the fault of...Dick Cheney!"


Sigh.

Rich is just mailing in AI-generated posts.

MadTownGuy said...

"One Democratic strategist said the biggest problem wasn't using "Biden," but that the term was too philosophical and required too much explanation."

Bwahaha! No. Too 'Bideny.'

cubanbob said...

Rich is the guy who pontificates that those who actually pay taxes are not being taxed enough while he gets the free ride. Funny he blames Trump who actually raised taxes on the wealthy by curbing the SALT deductions. There is a reason why so many wealthy are moving out of high state and local tax jurisdictions but that apparently is beyond his grasp. Hey Rich, you ever pay 70% income tax at the margins? Go ahead and put your money where your mouth is. The government accepts donations. By the way Rich, in the forty years from when Reagan took office and pudding head took office pale compared to the advances in science, engineering, technology and work force and population that happened between 1880 and 1930. Next time, get a better AI to compose your tripe.

Mason G said...

"It is MMT..."

Has anybody ever explained why, if the government can just print all the money it wants, they still insist on collecting taxes?

Original Mike said...

"It is MMT, but with the consequences every one who has ever taken an economics course could see. Of course it is also old fashioned rent-seeking, …". (emphasis added)

Yes. Thanks for pointing that out.

Wa St Blogger said...

There is no incentive for congress to be fiscally sound. Congress buys the votes with the money they spend, and receive no negative consequences for when the bill comes due in the future. They only have incentives to spend, and no die-incentives to control spending. Congress keeps us enthralled with bread and circuses so we don't get angry enough to vote on budget. After all, if the "other guy" gets voted in, it is the end of the world because he is SOOOO nazi or socialist. Or is pro/anti abortion. The end of the world will come if you don't vote for they with with the right letter next to his name.

RNB said...

"...voters still struggling economically..." Still? More and more!

Original Mike said...

Median Real Income (Census Bureau)

2019: $78,250
2020: $76,660
2021: $76,330
2022: $74,580

I'm sure this is Trump's fault, somehow.

Jamie said...

Has anybody ever explained why, if the government can just print all the money it wants, they still insist on collecting taxes?

I wish I knew how to link to an emoji - I'd go for the guy stroking his chin here.

Rusty said...

Mason G said...
"It is MMT..."

"Has anybody ever explained why, if the government can just print all the money it wants, they still insist on collecting taxes?"
Because printing money doe not create value. In fact it destroys value. Wealth is created by individuals and has real value. Printing money is a form of taxation in itself.
Rich.
Individuals create wealth. Without Wozniac and Jobs there would be no Apple. All the people working at Apple create value for the brand. Wealth comes from individuals working to create a product or service. It is limited only by that individuals imagination. You could say that there is a nearly unlimited amount of wealth.
The state. The taxing bodies only exist to consume wealth.

Old and slow said...

Rich's posts have recently changed their style to one of bland reasonable sounding but meaningless talking points. I think it may actually be AI now.

Rusty said...

Rich being a civil servant would answer a lot of questions.
Rich. Does your supervisor know you're posting on taxpayer time?