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Mr. GRASSLEY. We just heard my friend from Nebraska say that Biden wants Bidenomics to be all about restoring the American dream. Well, for most Americans, it is turning out to be a nightmare. Inflation brought on by the Biden administration's misguided policies has Americans trying to figure out how to afford everyday necessities. One thing that they are not buying is the Biden administration's latest catchphrase: Bidenomics.
Over the Fourth of July break, I held meetings in 24 of Iowa's 99 counties. There was a very common theme there. That common theme was that families and businesses are struggling with the economic impact of inflation.
It is not just Iowans who are feeling the pain from the economy under the Biden administration. According to a recent Associated Press survey, only 34 percent of Americans approve of President Biden's handling of our economy. President Biden's message to these Americans is: Don't believe your bank accounts.
Well, that message doesn't resonate. Iowa families are hit with ballooning bills and higher prices at every corner. For 2 years, Iowans have been stretched thin because of decades-high inflation stoked by Democrats' reckless $2 trillion spending spree, a spending spree that would not have happened if they had listened to their own Democratic economists, particularly the outstanding Harvard economist and former Secretary of Treasury in the Clinton administration and economic adviser to other Democratic Presidents. Their own Larry Summers told them, before this President took over, that the economy was already turning around; don't spend any more money or you will have inflation.
So what do we see? On average, American consumers are facing prices that are 16 percent higher today than when Biden took office. While prices have climbed, wages have failed to keep up. American workers have seen their paychecks shrink by more than 3 percent in real terms.
Now, we heard the word ``transitory''; that inflation was going to be transitory so you didn't need to worry about it. And this was what the Biden administration claimed when they took office, and of course inflation has proved persistent.
Just remember, 1.4 percent inflation the day this President took office. It rose to 9.1 percent a year ago, and it is still at 4.5 percent.
In its effort to tame inflation, the Fed has hiked interest rates to the highest level in 16 years, putting mortgages and businesses and their loans out of reach for more and more Americans. Half of the small businesses report delaying plans to grow their business due to rising interest costs.
A rebranding of his far-left agenda as Bidenomics is cold comfort for Iowans and Americans everywhere who are coping with rising prices, falling real wages, and ballooning interest rates.
As we saw with last year's partisan tax-and-spending package that the Democrats named the Inflation Reduction Act, as you see, labels are often deceiving. Contrary to the bill's name, this partisan tax-and- spending package had nothing to do with reducing inflation or providing relief to Americans struggling with inflation. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office--and I emphasize the word ``nonpartisan''-- confirmed the Inflation Reduction Act will worsen inflation. And, of course, recent estimates show it will add hundreds of billions more to the Nation's credit card.
Rather than providing relief for Americans struggling to make ends meet, this legislation raised Americans' taxes while showering Democrat-favored industries with corporate handouts with the government taking an increasing role in choosing winners and losers in our economy. Unless you are a corporation or a wealthy individual looking to buy an $80,000 electric SUV, the Democrat ``Inflation Enhancement Act'' has little to offer. And I think changing the name from the Inflation Reduction Act to the ``Inflation Enhancement Act'' is exactly the intellectually honest thing to do.
Bidenomics isn't about growing the economy from the middle out or the bottom up, as the President claims in almost every speech. It is the same old top down, Big Government agenda Democrats have always pursued. It means then, as you know, higher taxes, more reckless spending, and a growing national debt as far as the eye can see into the future.
It is time for a change in policy, not merely a change in messaging. President Biden needs to redirect his message to the facts, the real facts of life, because Bidenomics is not selling.
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