U.S. Rep. Ron Estes on 'Bidenomics'

On Tuesday, August 15, U.S. Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) was interviewed on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins where he discussed inflation and the economy.

Prior to introducing Rep. Estes, Perkins informed viewers that President Joe Biden spoke in Milwaukee, WI that same day as part of his ‘Bidenomics Tour,’ before stating that this comes as “inflation, on his watch, has caused hard working American families to spend an additional $700 a month just to maintain the standard of living that they had two years ago.”

When Rep. Estes came on, he was first questioned about former President Donald Trump’s indictment, which Rep. Estes said was “politically motivated” and shifted the focus away from the fire’s in Maui, Biden’s failures with the pullout of Afghanistan, which will be coming up on two years August 31, and it shifted focus away from inflation.

“He says that ‘Bidenflation’ is helpful for Americans and that’s not the story that we’re seeing,” Rep. Estes said. “As you said, individuals are paying $700 more a month. Literally, what that means, if you look at inflation since Biden came into office, it’s the equivalent of taking two-month’s paycheck out of everybody’s pockets to buy the same goods and services, the same rent, the same car payment, the same groceries. It’s really an impact and it’s a burden on people.”

Perkins went onto state that he saw a report that credit card balances have gone on to top one trillion dollars for the first time ever.

Rep. Estes added that one of the things touted is that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew, however, it grew due to more grocery purchases being put on credit card balances.

“People are having to use their credit cards to actually buy groceries to feed themselves,” Rep. Estes stated. “That just adds more and more burden and that means you have to pay that out overtime. We’re seeing stories here in Kansas where people don’t have the money to buy the same back-to-school supplies that they need.”

He also stated that gas prices are also rising at a time of year when they are often starting to “taper off.”

Perkins stated that credit card debt went up $45 billion from April to June, an increase of four percent in three months, before calling it “troubling news” despite Biden saying it’s “restoring the American dream,” and asking Rep. Estes what his thoughts were on Biden’s take.

Rep. Estes claimed that it’s “indicative that he doesn’t understand what’s going on.” He stated that Biden was wrong when he said inflation wouldn’t be a problem with all the government spending, he was wrong with his assumptions of the Afghanistan pullout, he was wrong in denying being involved in Hunter Biden’s business dealings, and now we’re seeing the impact inflation is having on the pocketbooks of Americans.

Perkins then pointed out that people are starting to use their 401(k) accounts to pay for hardships before playing a CNN clip of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen stating that “over 70 percent of Americans say that they’re very comfortable with their financial situation.” She also stated that Americans “perceive the economy is doing less well than they are, personally, but most Americans feel good about their own economic situation.”

Rep. Estes said he didn’t know what polls she was looking at.

“The polls I see are that the majority of people are uncomfortable with their economic situation in terms of the amount of money they have in their pocketbook, and their concern for the growth in economy and concern for their future wellbeing,” Rep. Estes said.

He also pointed out Perkins’ claim of people using their 401(k)’s and how that means people can’t save for retirement.

“The whole administration seems to miss the boat on so many things, and it’s unfortunate because the American people end up suffering because of that,” said Rep. Estes.

Rep. Estes was then questioned about his bipartisan fiscal reform effort where he spoke on our national debt and things they are looking at doing to help ease the debt including spending at the Fiscal 2022 level for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, stating we’d “save” over $130 billion spending at that rate.