‘Pathetic': Voters of color slam Biden’s performance on the economy
President Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed that his economic policies, dubbed "Bidenomics," are working.
The Biden administration has pointed to a number of positive economic indicators, such as low unemployment and strong job growth/return post pandemic.
A Whitehouse report said "Bidenomics is already delivering for the American people, including for Black Americans. The statement read:
- Achieved the lowest Black unemployment rate on record.
- Achieved the highest Black employment rate since November 2000.
- Achieved the highest Black labor force participation rate since August 2008.
However, Biden has also acknowledged that inflation is a major concern. In 2022 inflation rose to a 40-year high under President Biden. The latest annual inflation rate for the 12 months ending July was 3.2%.
Americans’ credit card debt hits a record $1 trillion
U.S. Bureau of Labor data published on Sep. 01,2023,3 showed "total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 187,000 in August, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent.
Employment continued to trend up in health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and construction. Employment in transportation and warehousing declined- per the report.
Americans' paychecks have gotten bigger in the last two years, but not enough to keep up with inflation - AXIOS
More than 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck
Black Americans are more likely to live in poverty than white Americans. In 2021, the poverty rate for Black Americans was 19.5%, compared to 8.2% for white Americans.
This means that Black Americans are more likely to be struggling to make ends meet and are more likely to be affected by economic downturns.
Black Political Opinion: Bidenomics isn't working. Blacks were economically better off under Trump
In 2020, USA Today reported under President Donald Trump “economic progress lifted median Black household incomes to their highest levels on record and pushed Black unemployment rates and poverty rates down to their lowest levels”.
During the first three years of the Trump presidency, wage growth was off the charts, especially for low-income workers and African Americans.- The Federalist
The National Review wrote “Black Americans were seeing real benefits from lower taxes and lower regulation. The unemployment rate for blacks reached a record low of 5.2 percent and black labor-force participation reached 63.2 percent, the highest it had been since the 2008 recession”.
Black-owned businesses grew at a faster rate than all other businesses between 2017 and 2019.
Black business growth was trending upward before the pandemic. From 2017 to 2020, the number of Black-owned businesses across the country increased by 13.64%—larger than all businesses in general, which increased by 0.53% over the same period. Black-owned firms brought in an estimated $141.1 billion in gross revenue in 2020—an 11% increase since 2017. (source)
Middle class Black Americans react to economy under Biden
Both presidents made progress in reducing unemployment, but the gap between the unemployment rate for Black Americans and White Americans remains significant.
Biden has also signed into law a number of economic policies that he claims are designed to help Black Americans including:
- closing the digital divide for Black families, with funding and a commitment to connect every person in America to reliable, affordable high-speed internet by 2030.
- $4 billion to reconnect communities that were previously cut off from economic opportunities by transportation infrastructure and to help advance transportation projects in disadvantaged or underserved communities.
When the President says his plan grows the economy from the middle out it feels like the economy is wiping the middle class out.
With the time left in his term we'll see if Biden's economic policies have a more positive impact on Black America than Trump's policies did.
Despite claims of success from the Biden administration polls suggest that many Americans are not convinced.
In a recent poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 36% of Americans approved of Biden's handling of the economy.
The economy will be a major factor when Black Americans vote in 2024.
Black Political Opinion is a multi-part opinion-editorial series that looks at various political topics, news, and views, from the perspective of a Black female, conservative leaning Independent.
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