Over a year ago, the Biden Administration blithely dismissed inflation as transitory in the summer of 2021. Rapidly spiking, after Joe Biden said it was nothing to worry about, inflation remains at record highs with no sign of relenting anytime soon. While Biden continues to chomp ice cream and ignore inflation, his insensitive unfounded claim that the “economy is strong as hell” does nothing to assuage the financial struggles of average Americans.

Inflation has been at about 8% for a year and wages have been stagnant, so American purchasing power has been severely eroded. Many groceries have risen even more than 8%, so Americans are cutting back as food devours their budget. Add to that ridiculous energy costs and Americans just can’t win. If that’s not enough, the Federal Reserve has been steadily raising interest rates further crushing purchasing power by making money simply more expensive. The American Middle Class is under siege.

Less than three years ago, the American economy was booming and less than two years ago, inflation was only about 1.5% and America was energy independent, so how did we get here? It all started with knee jerk wrongheaded policies to shut down our economy based on highly suspect prescriptions to combat the Chinese virus (COVID19). If it wasn’t an economic attack on America, it could not have been more effective. Our unfortunate response to COVID19 hobbled our economy.

Instead of broadening economic opportunities for Americans with incentives for business development so they could make their own way back, our government embarked on a profligate spending spree that flooded our economy with money printed out of thin air. After trillions thrown to the wind, our government is surprised that we have runaway inflation, and thus far, they have only made it worse. Government spending can be helpful, but not when it’s completely fabricated to buy favors.

Besides silly spending, the worst thing the Biden Administration did was to decimate the American energy industry. Inexpensive energy is the lifeblood of a robust economy and the lubrication that allows average Americans to participate in prosperity and pursue the American dream. But now we are again dependent on foreign oil, and the doubled fuel prices are compounding the inflation caused by reckless government spending. Expensive energy affects working Americans the most; it hurts the middle class.

Even Democrats realize we must get control of inflation, so they are raising interest rates to slow inflation. Higher interest rates will eventually slow inflation, but at the cost of damaging the housing industry. Higher interest rates are making homes less affordable, so the value of homes will come down and housing starts are already slowing. As Americans can afford less, the economy will continue to contract.

The accepted definition of a recession for several decades has been two consecutive quarters of a contracting economy or two quarters of negative GDP growth. The first quarters of 2022 were negative growth and the third quarter is also likely negative, but Democrats have now redefined a recession to only negative GDP when there is a Republican administration. That’s just propaganda, but the real problem is that the recession is only going to deepen in 2023 due to the continued really bad economic policies. There is no relief in sight for the suffering of average Americans.

Our elite rulers in Washington and the east and left coast bubbles barely notice, but average Americans are feeling the full brunt of inflation and really bad economic policies. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

This is America and we still have the resources, ingenuity, and will to recover. We will have to suffer through higher interest rates because that milk has already been spilt, but we can stop the crazy government spending spurring inflation and hurting American purchasing power. And the most effective measure we can take is to liberate the American energy industry. We have the capacity to be energy independent and make fuel affordable; cheap energy will stimulate our economy and allow average Americans to prosper again!

The solutions are right in front of us, but leftist Democrats will never allow it because they want a middle class dependent on government. So, the only answer is to oust Democrats from power at every level until they see the truth and reclaim their party from the leftist hijackers. America needs two viable competitive parties for progress and stability, so voters must take Democrats to the electoral woodshed to allow them to reform their wayward ways.

A red wave this midterm will empower Republicans to put the brakes on this renegade Biden Administration, but more importantly it will enable reasonable Democrats to purge their party of the leftist stranglehold and return to the American mainstream. America needs both parties, but Democrats need an intervention. Vote Democrats out, so they will hopefully find their way back to America.

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11).

Pete Riehm is the host of Common Sense Radio heard 8 pm every Thursday on FMTalk106.5 or streaming at fmtalk1065.com. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or on MEWE @PeteRiehm or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.