LARRY KUDLOW: Biden is the biggest spender of all time
Joe Biden is trying to buy the election by pumping green money that no one wants into the swing states. That's the subject of tonight's riff.
Three Biden bills for a total of $15.4 billion in government spending, mostly for green energy, is being injected into Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and elsewhere. The biggest chunk comes from the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, which really should simply be called the Inflation Act, but a recently conducted nationwide Kudlow/TIPP poll of over 1,400 Americans shows that 54% oppose the EPA mandate for electric vehicles by 2032 that would effectively ban gasoline-powered cars.
That's 54% and, then, when consumers are asked about having a choice to drive gasoline-powered cars if they want to, the survey respondents overwhelmingly favored "consumer choice" by 83%. Interestingly, from the poll, 77% of Democrats, 89% of Republicans, and 83% of independents say they wanted to be able to decide for themselves.
Then, the Kudlow/TIPP poll asked whether Biden's EV push is blind to a lack of consumer demand. A clear majority -- 60% -- said Biden's EV push ignores consumer demand and then, on the subject of doling out government money to buy the election, 66% agreed that climate was often used as an excuse to favor certain industries or lobbies or interest groups.
The poll also asks: "How concerned are you about the prospect of increased prices due to climate mandates affecting the manufacturing of electric vehicles, batteries, and chargers, and their potential contribution to inflation?"
The answer to that one is a 74% majority worries that climate mandates will cause higher inflation, which brings me back to the point of Joe Biden doling out money to buy the election.
He's borrowing a page from Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s, whose political strategy was spend and spend, tax and tax, elect and elect, but that was a long time ago and, by the way, it helped ruin the economy.
Today, with Joe Biden, he's trying to spend an amazing total of $1.6 trillion of moneys that were obligated by Congress but not yet spent. That's a hell of a task in the six months remaining before the election, but the Bidens will try it anyway, including massive student loan cancellations, which, in total, would exceed $500 billion and of course have been ruled illegal by the Supreme Court.
Joe Biden is the biggest spender of all time, and he's generated the worst inflation in over 40 years, which in turn has made it unaffordable for working folks to live in the Biden economy. Real income after taxes -- in other words, "take home pay" -- has the worst performance under Joe Biden since World War II.
So, Biden's EV push is driving a square peg into a round hole. People are worried about the cost of living for energy, food, housing, and consumer goods. For Biden, a "spend and spend" strategy will spell "lose and lose" in November.
This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the May 20, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."