In 1974, when the inflation rate was 11.04 percent, President Gerald Ford coined the slogan: “Fight Inflation Now.” WIN buttons were produced in millions of pieces and people were asked to wear them to demonstrate grassroots solidarity in the fight against an economic scourge. The campaign was later described by Martin Crutsinger in an Associated Press article titled “Ford’s WIN buttons are remembered” as “one of the government’s biggest public relations blunders in history.”
Today the inflation rate is 8.5 percent, up from 7.9 percent in February, the largest year-over-year enhance since 1982. The biggest difference, however, is the price of the goods. In 1974, the price of gas averaged 53 cents a gallon and a gallon of milk cost $1.34. Who needs to be reminded of the rising costs of these and other necessities today, even when factored into 2022 dollars?
President Biden was in Ohio on Tuesday to announce his plan to fight inflation. His comments were like blaming the credit card for overspending.
The president claimed his administration had reduced the deficit (but not the $30 trillion debt). This claim was verified by several news organizations and the Congressional Budget Office and found to be largely untrue. As Daniel Dale writes for CNN’s political website: “…some fiscal policy experts say Biden is distorting reality by claiming he is personally responsible for the deficit decline.”
Ahead of Biden’s speech, the White House released a “fact memo” with the usual blame-blaming and disingenuous claims that the president’s policies are working or would work if Congress approved them, which they won’t. Republicans are blamed for allegedly not having a plan to lower energy costs. In fact, the president has little or no direct influence on gas prices. Republicans are quick to claim that under Donald Trump, gas prices averaged $2.17 a gallon, but that was in 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, when virtually no one was on the road for over a year.
The White House statement is once again an attempt to put pressure on us to buy electric cars, which are currently too steep for many Americans. He also engages in economic gimmicks by claiming that some Republicans in Congress want to raise taxes on individuals and compact business owners, when in fact the president and Democrats in Congress want to raise taxes on the “rich” and “wealthy corporations” that they believe they don’t pay their “fair share”. Sound familiar? It should, because it has been the Democratic mantra since President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration.
For Biden and his fellow Democrats, there is literally nothing modern under the sun. It’s not that we don’t have experience in what makes for a vigorous economy. It’s lower taxes, smaller government, loosening federal control over businesses and tax incentives that allow people to save more to take care of themselves, especially in retirement. This is the difference between relying on yourself as your first source and relying on the government as your last resort. Democrats want it to be the other way around because large government is addictive and increases their careers and power.
What we saw in Biden’s speech and the White House statement is another attempt to deceive the public into believing that the failed policies of the past can succeed if the president repeatedly declares his belief in them.
If you still have a WIN button on you or can find one at an classic store, pin it to your clothes. This will be a great conversation starter and you can explain what it meant, why it didn’t work, and why the current administration’s updated version will also fail to achieve the current president’s goals.
