McRae: Bidenomics is broken
By: Treasurer David McRae
Note: The following article is an opinion-editorial submission from State Treasurer David McRae. The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of this publication.
The average Mississippian will spend $819 more per month today than they did four years ago just to maintain the same quality of life, according to the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. That’s almost $10,000 a year!
The increase comes in the form of higher gas prices, higher utility costs, and higher grocery bills, meaning no one is immune from the impact.
In recent weeks, President Biden has toured the country talking about his “Bidenomics” agenda. But “Bidenomics” isn’t working.
One of Bidenomics’ most significant points of failure is the debt it’s produced for our country. Since taking office, President Biden has approved $5.5 trillion in new government spending, pushing the national debt to $34.5 trillion (about a quarter-million dollars per taxpayer).
Moreover, his anti-energy policies have wreaked havoc on the supply chain. During his State of the Union, President Biden was quick to point to corporate greed as a reason that prices have skyrocketed over the last three years, but let me ask this: where was that greed under the Trump administration? Why did it suddenly skyrocket under the Biden administration?
The truth is that on Day One, President Biden blocked the Keystone XL Pipeline and halted oil and gas permitting. These moves alone made it more expensive to move almost any good in America. That, along with a handful of other decisions that have made it harder to create jobs, has resulted in massive supply chain disruptions, ultimately increasing the cost to you.
Combine all of this with international crises, an invasion on our southern border, and uncertainty from the business community, and it’s not difficult to understand the ultimate effect of Bidenomics: historic levels of inflation.
While Mississippians are certainly suffering under the federal government’s policies, we are weathering the storm better than many other states. While the same quality of life costs us around $800 more per month, Californians are paying more than $1,100 more per month. That’s because we have a state government that continues to implement pro-growth policies, mitigating Bidenomics’ damage.
In Mississippi, we don’t spend more than we have (in fact, we have a healthy rainy-day fund). We’ve kept our strong credit rating (while the U.S.’s has been downgraded). And we empower our people to make decisions that are right for their families (consider the Treasury’s College and Career Savings programs, which help families avoid student loan debt without a government bailout).
Mississippi is not perfect, but I am optimistic that we’re making the right investments and creating the policies needed to allow our economy to grow – even in the face of Bidenomics. And I firmly believe that our way of doing things can be made a model for the nation, giving our weary country a beacon of hope that low taxes and increased freedom can produce prosperity again.
Mississippi Treasurer David McRae is the 55th Treasurer for the State of Mississippi. In this role, he helps manage the state’s cash flow, oversees College Savings Mississippi, and has returned more than $85 million in unclaimed money to Mississippians. For more information, visit Treasury.MS.gov.
