We know we’re not the only ones to be outraged by the way the media have been painting Democrats as the culprits of the recent inflationary spiral in 2021, but the question is what do we do about it? How do we flip the narrative and demonstrate to voters—backed up in truth and facts—that the harmful inflation right now is a product of Republican, not Democratic policies? (Which it of course is?) This is where our messaging has to be on-point for 2022, so first some do’s and don’ts.
Do sympathize with Americans harmed by inflation, and acknowledge their real concerns about it’s effects on their buying power and ability to afford basic goods like food and especially housing. Down here in central Florida, we’ve been seeing rents sky-rocket and the price of even run-down starter homes soar way beyond incomes, and this is the case nationwide—even my professional friends, in the legal arena and elsewhere have been pointing out how homes in the US are now basically unaffordable, as if we’re back to the days of serfdom (if not worse). What had been despair down in FL about this has turned to frothing rage, and if there’s one ray of hope right away, even conservative Floridians are growing angrier about it, and DeSantis is not immune to their rage—they hate the entire political class and elites. Especially because along with the housing bubble we have a college tuition bubble, health-care bubble and rising prices for just about everything right now. All of these things have been caused by Republican policies concentrating wealth, but the first step in getting this message right is to acknowledge the inflation and how Americans are justifiable to be angry at its reduction in the purchasing power of their hard-earned savings.
By the same token:
Do not try to shrug off, minimize, ignore, or disregard the harmful effect of inflation on Americans’ lives—it’s pernicious, demoralizing and infuriating, and stupidly blundering into talk about how inflation is “transitory”, or making intellectual arguments about pandemic demand suppression, only play into the Republicans’ lies that Biden and Democratic officials are tone-deaf to Americans’ concerns. This idiotic media parroting of the word “transitory” is largely a result of the Trump-appointed incompetents at the Federal Reserve, above all Jerome Powell, and we fall into the Republican trap if we try to downplay it in any way or minimize its extent (it feels much more than 6.2 percent to most Americans). It reduces the purchasing power of Americans’ earnings and savings and cheapens the value of hard work that esp. working-class Americans have put in, and as much as I admire most of what economists like Paul Krugman have to say, they too often are tone-deaf on how harmful and disillusioning inflation is to almost all Americans. So take it seriously, and empathize as much as sympathize with Americans voters angry about it. Whether they go with the 6.2% number from the CPI or argue that it’s higher, don’t get caught up in arguing the minutiae—it’s high enough to be of significant real-world concern, and needs to be addressed.
So where to from here? Point out, in simple and repeated language, how the inflation has been caused squarely by Republican policies—and how Democrats are working to fit it.
Do point out that the chief cause of the nasty inflation in the US right now is decades of corrupt gutting of anti-trust regulations and laws by Republican officials since Ronald Reagan. Robert Reich had a brilliant article on this topic in The Guardian so it needs little elaboration here, except to stress the need to condense Reich’s points into simple language which American voters can understand. From there, point out that Democrats are working to strengthen anti-trust laws and unions to fight back against corporate consolidation and wealth inequality that is the primary driver of the monopolies driving this inflation. Hopefully, 2022 will also see a reconciliation budget bill reinstating taxes on the super-wealthy and tackling the carried interest loophole as was part of the Democrats’ 2020 platform—this more than anything would go a long way towards tackling deficits and breaking up some of the power concentrations causing these monopolies.
Do point out that GOP lawmakers and bought-off officials have been the chief obstacles against reasonable rent-control in places like central Florida and Texas, where rents have been shooting up out of control, driven by outrageously greedy speculators and big real-estate investors. Point out how similar GOP policies have been encouraging big corporations like Zillow and Blackrock to buy up scarce housing stock including single-family homes, pricing out family homebuyers and allowing these wannabe slumlords to milk Americans with unaffordable rentals converted from the properties. Also point out how it’s Republican officials who have been allowing corrupt billionaires from overseas to basically use US housing stock for money laundering and tax evasion. From there, introduce and thoroughly discuss Democratic efforts to provide rent control, to limit investor and foreign plutocrat mass purchases of US real estate, to heavily tax unoccupied homes and to block investors and billionaires in general from cornering the real estate market and trying to reduce Americans to serfdom.
Do point out that Jay Powell and other officials at the Federal Reserve, who’ve been prolonging this insane zero interest rate policy and (still worse) mass bond purchases through quantitative easing (artificially suppressing interest rates and forcing Americans into ever more speculative insanity) are largely Trump appointees, and that in fact, Trump specifically appointed them to artificially juice up the economy for his own re-election. Although supply chain issues have been contributing to the inflation, the major contributor to the housing bubble and asset bubbles in general has been the Fed’s outrageous ignoring of basic economic laws, esp. the quantitative easing and interest rate manipulation even with low unemployment, leading to savings and bonds being practically worthless and even losing money with inflation. And that, in every way, goes back to Trump and his appointment of Powell, a moron and corrupt feeder at the trough (he’s been making big policies off his own asset purchases) who was brought in to serve Trump’s interests. Yes, an interest rate rise and stopping QE may bring on a recession, but in this case it would largely be a correction for outrageous asset bubbles and unaffordable housing that represents fake wealth, not actual value creation, and which does almost nothing to benefit 99.9 percent of Americans. Inflation is far more damaging to Americans overall and to Democrats’ chances because of the direct harm it does to Americans’ purchasing power, and if a recession has to come with an interest rate rise to pop the asset bubbles, better to do it as early as possible to allow for recovery before the election. In addition to messaging here, it’s important that Biden not re-appoint Powell or Brainerd who’ve been pushing this monetary madness that enriches only ultra-wealthy existing asset holders—we need a realist in there who will also recognize how much harm the Fed’s policies have been doing to Americans in general.
Do point out that Trump’s foolish and overly broad tariffs have been driving up prices for Americans still higher, and are a major cause of the current inflationary spiral. Remove the Americans, and point out (correctly) that Trump and his arrogant, ignorant policies are the true culprit, and how Democratic policies will confront them.
Do point out how ongoing Republican resistance to vaccination efforts is further damaging American health and snarling the supply chain, with many dock workers and truckers among those getting sick. Yes, it’s important to be sensitive and cautious with vaccine mandates especially for PoC, many of whom have been mistrustful due to the bitter history of Tuskegee and like experiments—we should not be firing Black or Brown Americans with genuine misgivings or concerns, but hearing them out and persuading them. But overall, the Republican anti-vaxxer message has nothing to do with reason or genuine historical grievances—it’s about spreading ignorance, hate and stupidity far and wide, and almost all the ongoing vaccine resistance we’re seeing is thanks to the likes of Sean Hannity, Mike Pompeo, Alex Jones and other nuts on the right pushing their vicious anti-vaccine message. This is another cause of the supply chain crisis and inflation, and while the link may be more subtle, it’s important to point it out.
Do point out how Republicans’ anti-PoC and esp. anti-Asian hatred has also been promoting inflation and supply chain problems. Their hatred drove out many Chinese-Americans and other Asian-Americans with decades in the import-export business who were essential for delivering critical goods from Asia—filling our ports here in Florida and other major ports across the country. Here, again, the chief culprits are Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, Tucker Carlson and their Yellow Peril hate-spewing. Certainly for us in Florida, as well as in Texas and even parts of California, the anti-Asian hostility has been measurably damaging our import-export flows.
Do point out how Trump in all his 4 years, and despite his campaign promises, failed to pass an infrastructure bill and left us unable to maintain our supply chains. The Democrats have addressed this head-on and already delivered for the American people.
Finally, point to other specific Democratic legislation addressing these things, and not only at the federal level. Some of the best legislative efforts recently have been at the state and local level to combat price-gouging, and control rents and penalize greedy big-company investor-buyers and money-launderers buying up dozens of homes and leaving them empty to hide their assets. This more than anything else has been helping to free up housing stock and essential goods at reasonable prices. Democrats are already doing a lot to stem this inflation, and it’s critical that we let the public know it. The worst we can do is to try to brush off or ignore the inflation—it’s a major concern for Americans and it genuinely hurts them, and we’ll appear tone-deaf by trying to intellectualize it away. Instead, confront the inflation crisis head-on, point out clearly how Republican policies have caused it and then demonstrate the solutions we’re already working hard to put into place.