Opinion: As Biden’s economy goes down in flames, Democrats want to focus on Jan. 6 carnival

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Democrats running Washington are more interested in putting on a partisan Jan. 6 circus than helping your family survive painful inflation.

This commentary is by Carrie Sheffield is a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Voice and the Tony Blankley Fellow for American Exceptionalism at The Steamboat Institute.

Democrats running Washington are more interested in putting on a partisan Jan. 6 circus than helping your family survive painful inflation. The split screen couldn’t be more obvious and oblivious: Thursday’s desperate attempt by House Democrats to rehash the actions of rogue rioters from a year and a half ago while ignoring the current, nationwide battering that families are enduring.

Where is our special select committee to fight inflation? Where is our taxpayer-funded, prime-time, blockbuster TV special on keeping families stable and flourishing? Democrats would rather attack former President Donald Trump, who’s been out of power for nearly 1.5 years, than help your family keep food on the table.

The so-called experts promised us that inflation peaked, but again they’re wrong. After falling slightly to 8.3% in April from 8.5% in March, inflation spiked back up again in May to 8.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That includes rising prices for gas — now an all-time, nationwide, average high of $5 a gallon — and higher housing costs, pricier groceries and airfare. The energy index rose 34.6% over the last year and the food index increased 10%, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending March 1981. This after the U.S. economy shrank by 1.5% in the first quarter of 2022.

It’s no wonder that the World Bank issued an economic warning on Tuesday, predicting the global economy will grow 2.9% this year, a steep dive from the 5.7% growth in 2021 and from the 4.1% this year that the World Bank projected in January. It warned of the possibility of “stagflation,” a combination of high inflation and tepid economic growth.

The World Bank projected that oil prices would spike 42% this year and non-energy commodity prices to increase nearly 18%, though it did project that oil and other commodity prices would drop 8% in 2023.

What’s President Joe Biden’s plan to stop this hellish stagflation? Not much. He outlined it in a shift-the-blame Wall Street Journal op-ed laying primary responsibility on the Federal Reserve, whose members have been woefully unaware of how bad inflation would get.

Biden also says he wants to lower gas prices on one hand while his administration does all it can to block new U.S. production of oil and natural gas — all in the name of chasing a socialist Green New Deal.

Laughably, Biden also touts a deficit reduction to help slow inflation — but the deficit is falling thanks to the courage of Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who resisted the assaults from their own fellow Democrats seeking to pass trillions of dollars in new government spending.

Most Americans didn’t believe the inflation “experts” and instead they expect inflation to get worse, according to a new poll from The Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government.

Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say they’ve started bargain-hunting for cheaper products, the Post reported, and “about three-quarters are cutting back on restaurants and entertainment or putting off planned purchases.”

That’s what Americans do. When our leaders fail us, we adapt. Despite Democrats’ Jan. 6 carnival, all signs point to new leadership coming after November.

Images courtesy of Kaylee Greenlee/Daily Caller News Foundation and Wikimedia Commons

19 thoughts on “Opinion: As Biden’s economy goes down in flames, Democrats want to focus on Jan. 6 carnival

  1. How do you “build back better”( the motto of the US, Canada, France, and many others)?
    Trudeau and Macron are both closely allied to the WEF program. So, apparently, is Biden.

    Do you not first have to destroy what you have? Then you can “build back better.”

    Klaus Schwab’s hope during Covid is that we would never go back to normal. He stated that outright. Florida disagreed, as did many Americans.

    They really do want to destroy our ideals and our freedom. They want the world according to them. They tell us outright; it’s all in black-and-white.

    Jim1

  2. One of the best ways to test the validity of an action is to imagine your reaction with the political players roles reversed.

    What would be our reaction if the storming of the capitol resulting in the injury to 150 police officers was done by a Democratic mob led by Antifa extremists trying to prevent the cerification of a Republican President? Would we consider this threat of our Republic and democracy worthy of a congressional investigation?

    • it was 140 but i guess you like to embellish facts like the witch hunt kangaroo
      court jesters who are claiming 5 cops died without including the fact none
      were killed that day… only a unarmed female who was standing in a door way
      not threatening anyone was murdered by a capitol cop.. The 5 that died were
      one who had a stroke the next day (not caused by trauma to the head as the
      kangaroo court suggests) and 4 that committed suicide within months of the
      event. If it had been Pantyfa and the dems it would have been a real riot with
      fire bombs and real shooting from the crowd like their mostly peaceful riots of
      the st. floyd of fentenayl spree of cities being destroyed. Yes there were a few bad eggs including antifa plants and fbi plants but mostly it was citizens who saw the corruption in voting that DID happen and wasn’t being investigated. When over 20 states have counties recording over 100% of voting roles voted you have a compromised election… period

      • The actual numbers of officers injured was 151. 86 were Capitol Police and 65 Metropolitian D.C. Police. One of the Metropolitan Officers was the son of a member of our local Lions Club.

        Adhil Babbitt was shot as she was attempting to climb into a broken window of a barricaded area in which House of Representative members had taken refuge and which rioters, including herself, were trying to storm. Three other protesters involved in the assualt on the capitol died that day including two men who died of heart attacks and a woman Rsoeanne Boyland of acute amphetimine intoxication. One police officer who was injured, died the next day of what was determined by the medical examiner as natural causes in which the events of the previous day were a factor.

        Conservatives have always respected law and order. January 6 was an attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power which for over 200 years has been a hallmark of our Republic. The events leading up to and on January 6 deseves the scrutiny it is getting and not excuse making.

          • Mr. Eshelman,

            Thanks for the link. I appreciate TNR becuase it gives a perspective to the news different from what is presented by other media in Vermont which has a liberal slant. I find myself in agreement here with commentaries on issues such as the pension crisis, opposing Vermont stand alone climate actions, and the need for a more balanced legislature.

            In regards to your link however,this appears more conspiracy theory than based on actual fact. The Ray Epps referred to in the article was a Trump supporter not a government agent. He has been interviewed by both the FBI and the House Committee and has stated that while protesting, he was also trying to defuse the situation and have people respect the police rather than encouraging viloence. His account has been confirmed. Goggle: nytimes.com/2022.05/05/us/jan-6-ray-epps-evidence

            The truth is what is crucial. Whether it is for my left wing friends that solar panels can somehow solve all our energy needs, or for my more right wing compatriots that Jan. 6 was not important, believing only what we want to believe, will not benefit our nation.

          • Good Lord. The New York Times? It’s not biased. And speaking of your typical diversions… now it’s the ‘pension crisis’, ‘climate actions’, a ‘balanced legislature’, ‘solar panels’, or what have you.

            Don’t take my word for anything. Watch the videos. Read the Revolver reporting. Ray Epps, Trump supporter or not, was recorded inciting rioters to breach the Capitol building, even before the Trump speech was concluded. Why hasn’t he been arrested? Afterall, the FBI just arrested Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley on charges stemming from the Jan. 6 ‘insurrection’. And Kelley didn’t do anything even approaching what Epps did.

            And Trump official, Peter Navarro, was just arrested at an airport and taken away in leg irons for not testifying to the January 6 committee – and he wasn’t even at the January 6 ‘insurrection’. Why wasn’t he interviewed by the FBI, as was Ray Epps? Was Navarro arrested for Contempt of Congress?

            Does anyone remember Fast and Furious? – when the ATF sent more than 2000 guns to Mexican cartels? Attorney General Eric Holder was held in Contempt of Congress when he refused to testify on that matter to a congressional committee. Yawn. Nothing happened.

            It’s just a conspiracy theory.

          • Mr. Freitag,

            I’ve read the link Jay provided, earlier. It has undeniable facts, not conspiracy theories. Why is Mr. Epps, who was seen at the main gate seconds before it was breached, and who had just earlier talked with police officers to get them to allow protesters onto the steps (so they could then storm the barricade) not in jail? He appears to be actively encouraging the breach and doing nothing to stop it. He indisputably told protesters, many times on the day of and the day before, that they had to go “into the Capitol.” This is all recorded.

            It’s true that at one point Mr. Epps was discouraging violence. But it’s equally true that he was urging people to go into the building countless times, and that he was a major presence at the main breach who seconds before can be seen whispering to a young man who was then part of the gang that overpowered the cops– while Epps walked the other way.

            Why is the so-called Q-shaman in jail when we have video of him relaying messages from the police who are in front of him that protesters can go in so long as they’re peaceful? It’s a peaceful scene, inside, and the protesters are talking peacefully to the police. We have it on video (but not part of Jay’s link.)

            We also have video of police letting protesters through barriers at another area outside the main breach: the police literally remove the barriers and escort the protesters in. I’ve seen this video. What’s that about? How can anyone be charged with trespassing when police let protesters in?

            Who was the Scaffold Commander? Why is he not in jail, as he was actively guiding protesters toward and into the Capitol building with a bullhorn at the very place where most control could be exercised– at the top of what was scaffolding for media cameras? Why are the fence cutters not in jail who systematically dismantled the fencing? Why did a series of protesters not only remove the metal barricades and set them carefully aside after Epps had paved the way, but then take care to toss them over the stone wall so there would be no trace of barricade? Is that normal protester behavior?

            You might want to peruse the linked piece more carefully and watch all the embedded videos. They make a very strong case that this was an orchestrated affair and carefully planned, but some of the key people involved are not behind bars. Many of the protesters can be heard calling Epps out as “fed” because they themselves had no intention of going into the Capitol: that was not their plan.

            And then there’s Kash Patel’s excellent account of what happened from his perspective as a legal insider. https://www.theepochtimes.com/live-kash-patel-on-jan-6-timeline-trump-authorized-20000-national-guardsmen-two-days-before_4523407.html It’s not at all what the TV wants us to believe.

            We have evidence, and it’s indisputable: it’s on video. We may quibble over our interpretations, but Mr. Epps was certainly not there to “keep the peace” even if he did at one point stand up against unnecessary violence, to his credit. He was very much part of the breach of the barricades and the storming of the Capitol building.

            The so-called congressional investigation into January 6 is a complete sham. They have nothing else to go on because so many Americans see that Biden is destroying our country.

            Listen to the other side of the story. This is the only way we find truth; not by dismissing the other side, but by listening and weighing the evidence. What happened is not at all what we are told happened by the legacy media.

            I listened to the other side. That’s why I’m no longer a leftist, and why I now actively fight the destruction of our country by those who seem to have lost all sense and all reason and all objectivity.

            Jim1

    • Double standard?

      What’s your reaction to the thousands of police officers injured, and the billions of dollars in damage that occurred, during the ‘mostly peaceful’ 2020 George Floyd riots, allegedly led by Antifa and BLM? Were those riots not worthy of congressional investigation? Are you not curious why most of those summer rioters were released with no bail required within a week of being arrested?

      Meanwhile, around forty January 6 defendants are still housed in a facility at the District of Columbia jail because they have been determined to be ‘too dangerous to release or have violated their release conditions’.

      My guess: Those still being held for January 6 must be ‘domestic terrorists’, having previously complained to a local school board about how their children are being treated. Definitely, too dangerous to release. I wonder why they aren’t being held in Gitmo now that most of the Al Qaeda and Taliban folks have been released on their own recognizance?

      And why isn’t Chuck Schumer being investigated for inciting the recent assassination attempt on SCOTUS Justice Cavanaugh?

      And who is Ray Epps, anyway? Why hasn’t he been arrested for his January 6 activity?

      And why did the Capitol Police Board, including the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, refuse to use the national guard troops offered only days earlier to protect Congress during the January 6 riots?

      And why were only 471 Capitol Police officers, out of the 1,879 on the force, actually deployed on January 6th?

      Why didn’t the prime-time hearing raise any of these questions?

      Mr. Freitag: Got any answers?

      • https://www.theepochtimes.com/live-kash-patel-on-jan-6-timeline-trump-authorized-20000-national-guardsmen-two-days-before_45234

        A subscription to Epoch Times is worth it just to hear what Kash Patel has to say. The man is brilliant and calls ’em as he sees ’em.

        Trump asked for National Guard, but he can’t do that by himself; he has to have a second by the Sergeant at Arms or the mayor of DC. Both refused. The Sergeant at Arms answers to Nancy Pelosi.

        Jim1

      • Jay and Jim,

        Thanks for your thoughts.

        For me the bottom line is that all laws should be enforced across the board without regard to race, economic status, or political belief. If you do the crime, you do the time. No whinning, trying to make excuses, or blaming others.

        The other main concept is personal responsibility. This too is a conservative belief. Just because someone tells you to do something, that is not a valid reason for doing it. This is particularly the case when it involves breaking the law or assualting police officers.

        While our society and nation is not perfect and we always need to strive to do better, I do believe the vast majority of people, especailly public servants, including police officers and judges of all political views, hold to the above principles as well.

          • Jay,

            Are you listening to the hearings? Answers to your questions are there in more detail and in sowrn despositions by many of the Republicans involved.

            Good to listen to all sides.

          • Why was Ray Epps not arrested?

            Why did the Capitol Police Board, including the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, refuse to use the national guard troops offered only days earlier to protect Congress during the January 6 riots?

            Why were only 471 Capitol Police officers, out of the 1,879 on the force, actually deployed on January 6th?

            While I haven’t watched the hearing today, I have yet to see or hear the answers to these questions from the committee or the news coverage.

            Help me out here.

          • Jay,

            If you are sincerely interested in what happended and led up to the riot at the capitol on January 6, I would strongly urge you and others to listen to the hearings. Today’s sworn testimony by Republicans including Trump’s campiagn manager, Trump’s Attorney General and others involved in the election and the aftermath is compelling.

            It may not be what you would like to hear, but the answers are there.

          • I saw and listened to them. But STILL, no answers to these questions. In fact, no one on the committee or any of the ‘witnesses’ (I use the term generously) raised these questions?

  3. I sure hope that everyone knows the Kabuki Theater that we are being force fed.

    I sure hope you all get this tactic: “Watch THIS and Not THAT… that of which is a disaster that they are trying to distract us into not paying attention too.

  4. Jan 6 is a whitewash sideshow to distract Liberal policy caused miseries. Wall St. Journal op-ed, spot on (as usual):

    “What progressive spending gave to Americans in welfare and new entitlements, it has taken away in a lower standard of living.…..Rents have risen 5.2% over the last year, though housing websites estimate they’re up double digits in most places. Travel has become much more expensive, as hotel (22.2%), airline (37.8%) and restaurant (9%) prices increase. Americans are often paying more, for less as businesses scale back services…A historically tight labor market has pushed up nominal wages, but worker pay isn’t keeping up with prices.
    One lesson is that progressive welfare spending… in the name of aiding workers, contributes to inflation that erases the value of those benefits. Workers would be far better off now if Congress hadn’t passed $2.8 trillion in Covid “relief” in late 2020 and early 2021.
    Markets took a header on Friday 10th…. Has anyone other than green-energy subsidy firms benefited from the Biden economy? Democrats owe West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin thanks for saving them from worse inflation, had they passed $4.5 trillion in Build Back Better spending

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