The article highlights the political paradox that the Democrats face in the upcoming Midterm elections. On the one hand, they have to show concern and address the soaring prices, particularly for gas (which then reverberates across the supply chain) in the context of record-high inflation and Americans struggling financially. On the other hand, these economic problems are rising during their administration, deep enough into Biden’s first term that he is forced to take responsibility.
By talking about them, the administration is inadvertently drawing the attention of the voters to their poor performance. Midterm elections are consequential, and Republicans will take advantage of the Democrats’ dire situation to gain political capital and votes. Polls show an overwhelming 69% of voters believing the economy is bad, while Biden and the Democrats have an abysmal 35% approval rating on handling the economy.
The Democrats are desperately attempting to win over voter confidence through bills targeting ‘Big Oil’ and price gouging, but that fails to address the fundamental supply problems and will not have long-term effects. Going into the Midterms, the Democrats are on the back foot due to the unintended consequences of their earlier policies (Touchberry).
I chose the topic because it addresses two major concerns currently, the overwhelming inflation and struggling economy as well as the political uncertainty as partisanship continue to dominate the country and the ruling party’s policies have not been successful. Inflation is a key economic indicator, and it is currently at nearly a 40-year high, suggesting that something is wrong and a recession is all but imminent. After the artificially caused recession of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has not been able to recover fully.
However, these economic figures impact everyday lives at the end of the day, as people struggle to pay for food, gas, and mortgage and as businesses close due to operational costs, resulting in job loss. The politics of it all is driven by policy, and the locked state of Congress currently makes it impossible for either party to pass effective policy. These Midterms would be one of the most consequential in history as they will likely decide the political gridlock and demonstrate the voter confidence in the party that wins the majority.
My opinion on the topic is that this turn of events was expected. The Biden administration went on a spending spree in their first two years, pumping money into the economy with payments and increased benefits, as well as Biden’s American Rescue Plan legislation. Therefore, as many economists warned, inflation rose, which was as well fueled by the perfect storm of Russia’s invasion and globally disrupted energy supply chains.
Furthermore, the Democrats’ policies on reducing domestic oil and gas production are having an impact. I believe the Biden administration is doing the best it can in the short term, but politically they are flailing, and people want results that realistically cannot be provided until there are long-term solutions. Therefore, the Midterms will likely result in Republicans gaining full control of Congress and eventually winning the Presidential race in 2024.
I think this topic will be interesting to follow, as it seems the US has reached nearly unprecedented times in its economic history. It will be interesting to see which economic policies will be developed by the federal government to resolve the crisis, or will it be one of attrition similar to that in the 70s, where economists could not find solutions for a long time.
Work Cited
Touchberry, Ramsey. “Democrats Caught in Election-Year Gambit with Bloated Gas Prices.”The Washington Times, 2022.