Drawing on President Biden’s remarks at the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference last week, I observed that Biden has found the uses of Vladimir Putin (apart from his use in negotiating another Iran giveaway on our behalf). He has baldly turned him to his own dishonest purposes. Speaking of Bidenflation, Biden asserted, “Democrats didn’t cause this problem. Vladimir Putin did. Putin’s gas tax has pushed prices higher.”
Biden was back at it yesterday. One might think it an old man repeating himself, but no. The ladies and gentlemen behind the Biden curtain understand that repetition is required to produce the intended effect. They don’t understand that more than repetition is required when your audience knows from its own experience that you are feeding it a crock.
Yesterday Biden spoke to the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference. The White House has posted the transcript here.
The speech is incredibly stupid. Biden talks up the greatness of the money-for-nothing American Rescue Plan. If you were in doubt about the merits of the legislation, check out the first half of Biden’s speech. Biden may persuade you that it was a big mistake.
Biden first buttered up his audience: “I wanted to come here because you’re the people America looks to first for guidance and for leadership. And that’s not hyperbole.”
“That’s not hyperbole” = “no one in his right mind would take that at face value.”
“So I do appreciate what you all do.” he said. “I really mean it.”
“I really mean it” = “I don’t know what I mean.”
“I’m — (applause) — I learned as a councilman I never have anything that’s intended to be shared by the cities and towns that has to go through state legislature. (Laughter and applause.) No, I mean it.”
“No, I mean it” = “I don’t know what I mean.”
Bide was of course just getting warmed up. “The most significant investment in local government in all of history was in that plan,” he said.
“Investment” = “the government spending that has contributed to the worst inflation in the past 40 years.”
For example: “Before this law, state and local governments were still down more than a million jobs from before the pandemic. One year later, we had at least one year of state and local job growth — the largest in 20 years — adding 467,000 jobs…And, folks, you just had the strongest year of hiring teachers and educators on record.”
And so on and on with stops at previously visited destinations such as the McDonald’s parking lot: “We can’t be a country where a mother has to take her kid to the McDonald’s parking lot to do their [sic] homework over the Internet. This is the United States of America, for God’s sake.”
“For God’s sake” = “We are at the home of the Whopper.”
The second half of the speech is devoted to Bidenflation: “[L]et’s be absolutely clear about why prices are high now.”
“[L]et’s be absolutely clear about why prices are high now” = “Let the obfuscation begin.”
He attributes Bidenflation to two causes. The first is Covid-19. The second is Vladimir Putin. For some reason, however, inflation only surged with the inauguration of Biden last year.
“Make no mistake: The current spike in gas prices is largely the fault of Vladimir Putin. It has nothing to do with the American Rescue Plan.”
“Make no mistake” = “What follows is a mistake.”
Let the non sequiturs begin:
But look — so, gasoline prices, home heating oil prices are going to continue to go up because of these — these embargoes on Russian oil and other things that he’s brought on.
But what happened? There’s other ways — they used — my dad used to talk about the standard of living. It costs a lot more money if you have to pay five bucks at a pump for a gallon of gasoline, and that affects families big time — or to heat your home.
But guess what? If you lower the cost of childcare, it affects your standard of living. And that’s why we’re going to make sure no one has to pay more than 7 percent of their income on childcare. (Applause.)
“Bidenflation” = “why we need Bummer Beyond Relief.”
And so on.
UPDATE: Rep. Jason Smith undertakes a serious critique of the American Rescue Plan in the Washington Examiner column “One year later: Why Biden’s ‘American Rescue’ failed.”
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