EDITORIAL: Biden tries to deflect attention from sputtering economy

It’s been quite a few weeks for Joe “James Earl Carter” Biden.

Not only has the president signed budget-busting legislation that includes generous taxpayer giveaways for wealthy Americans looking to purchase expensive electric vehicles, he followed up that landmark move by giving away half-a-trillion dollars and forcing blue-collar workers to subsidize college loans for professionals making six-figure annual salaries.

Previously, Mr. Biden crowed about “zero” inflation between June and July, even though consumer prices, by his own Labor Department’s figures remain more than 8 percent higher than they were a year ago. Such delusion was foreshadowed in 2021 when he claimed a $3.5 trillion spending package he championed would cost “zero dollars.”

And yet while the president employs smoke and mirrors to minimize potential midterm losses, the economy shakes and sputters. Gasoline prices still sit at historic highs, and small businesses — particularly in the hospitality industry — struggle to find workers despite raising pay. Growth has retreated in two consecutive quarters, call it a recession or not. The national debt continues to soar as the president and congressional Democrats mainline record tax revenues.

Mr. Biden no doubt hopes for improving economic news as November nears. We’ll see. But the Fed has boosted interest rates, which could eventually slow job growth and spur unemployment, reviving the stagflation of the Carter years. And The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, “Central bankers worry that the recent surge in inflation may represent not a temporary phenomenon but a transition to a new, lasting reality.” A “reality,” by the way, that the administration has done everything it can to hasten.

The president’s approval rating was 41 percent this week, Reuters reports, the highest level since June. This is seen as a sign of progress by his supporters, but Mr. Biden hasn’t hit 50 percent in more than a year. With the economy and crime placing one-two on the list of the most important issues for Americans, Democrats still face headwinds as the midterms loom despite their newly rosy projections.

Republicans have their own problems, of course, including subpar candidates who prefer to look backward rather than offer a market-oriented vision for a prosperous future. But Mr. Biden is the gift that keeps on giving. His “accomplishments” — the Inflation Reduction Act and handouts disguised as student loan forgiveness — highlight his fealty to toxic progressive radicals and will do nothing to attack the nation’s economic ills, likely making them worse. If the GOP is unable to drive home that reality in coming weeks, it deserves its November fate.