For Tennesseans, Joe Biden’s Blame Game Is Wearing Thin (Marsha Blackburn Op-Ed)

Image Credit: Phil Murphy / CC

By Senator Marsha Blackburn –

Last week, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre proclaimed that, “the economy is in a better place than it has been historically.” This statement is the last in a parade of delusions that Joe Biden and the Democrats have been peddling for almost a year. The strategy is simple: deny their own disasters and, when all else fails, shift the blame elsewhere. Unfortunately, Tennesseans don’t have the benefit of living in the White House’s world of make believe. They know the economy is failing and feel like they have no idea who is in control of the country — or indeed if anyone is.

It comes as no surprise that inflation just hit a 40 year high of 8.6%. For the first time in history, the nationwide average price for a gallon of gas is more than $5.00. To put that into context, just two years ago under President Trump, gas was less than half that price. The higher prices at the pump, grocery store, and nearly everywhere in between have drained Tennesseans’ pocketbooks dry. On average, inflation is costing households an extra $569 each month, which as Tennesseans shared during last week’s telephone town hall, is forcing working families to make tough decisions to stay on budget.

While the rest of America is cutting costs to stay afloat, Biden’s plan to fight inflation is to ignore the problem and then blame the consequences on everyone but himself. In July of last year, he insisted that inflation was transitory, and that if we could just hang on a little longer, everything would be alright. By October that argument had lost traction and the White House decided to blame Donald Trump for the tanking economy. Over the next 5 months the COVID-19 pandemic, Vladimir Putin, and Senate Republicans fielded the blame while the left scrambled for cover.

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Unfortunately for the Democrats, the American people are much smarter than Joe Biden and his party give them credit for. They haven’t forgotten that Joe Biden signed executive orders erasing American energy independence while simultaneously pushing for a $1.9 trillion spending package that top economists, including Morgan Stanley, say paved the way for record-high inflation. Even Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has stopped playing along. Last week, she admitted that the administration’s narrative on inflation was wrong. 

These 18 months of whiplash have sent our nation spiraling. Amid the worst economic tailspin we’ve seen in decades, cities are facing all-time high murder rates and migrant encounters along the southern border are at their highest point in history. Tennesseans are understandably nervous. They look at the chaos around them and wonder, “does the White House know what’s going on?” The answer of course is that they do, but the administration has other priorities. While the White House is busy doling out loan forgiveness packages, resurrecting their “Build Back Broke” agenda, attacking the Second Amendment, and pushing radical abortion policy, the American people are paying the price. 

The economy is not in a good place, and the White House knows it. Rather than doubling down on denial and blame, Tennesseans need Joe Biden to fix the crisis he created. It’s time for the White House to stop the spending and focus on slowing down inflation before their policies run our country further into the ground.

About the Author: Marsha Blackburn is the senior United States Senator from Tennessee. A businesswoman, she is a member of the Republican Party. Blackburn was a state senator from 1999 to 2003 and represented Tennessee’s 7th congressional district in the U.S. House from 2003 to 2019. On November 6, 2018, she became the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, defeating former Democratic Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. She took over as the state’s senior senator in January 2021, when outgoing Senator Lamar Alexander retired. Follow Blackburn on Twitter @MarshaBlackburn and Facebook.