LARGO, Md. – President Joe Biden on Thursday touted his economic policies and contrasted the results with what he called the Republicans’ “extreme” budget proposals to give more tax breaks to the wealthy and cut social programs.
Bidenomics, the president told a crowd at Prince George’s Community College here, “is investing in America, the American people, growing the economy from the middle out from the bottom up instead of the top down.”
He noted that “Bidenomics” is a term some economists and conservative media used to dismiss the administration’s economic vision. “But now they’re getting it,” the president said.
Biden said his policies had created 13 million jobs, including 800,000 in manufacturing, and kept unemployment under 4% for 19 months, including record lows in unemployment among Black and Hispanic workers, veterans, and the lowest jobless rate in 70 years among women.
By contrast, Biden labeled GOP economic proposals “MAGAnomics,” insisting they would balloon the deficit due with tax cuts for the wealthy. And Republicans want to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and the Child Tax Credit, among other social programs, the president charged.
“Their plan, MAGAnomics, is more extreme than anything America’s ever seen before,” Biden said.
Biden also stated that job satisfaction was higher than it has been in 36 years and that his administration is growing the economy. “That’s Bidenomics, that’s the objective of it,” he said.
Biden’s economic message is the centerpiece of his bid for reelection, but the president is battling against widespread public dissatisfaction with the economy. Almost 70% of Americans feel the economy is getting worse, according to a Suffolk University Sawyer Business School/USA Today poll released Wednesday. The survey said 84% of respondents said their cost of living is going up.
Sade Davis, a second-year public health student at Prince George’s Community College, does not see it that way. As a mother to two sons and a first-generation college student, she told Capital News Service in an interview that Biden is a symbol of hope for families like hers, representing a dedication to bolster the middle class and support hardworking American families.
Davis, who introduced Biden, said she believes in the direction the president is leading the country, emphasizing, “I think we definitely need some kind of economic push in the right direction.”
When asked how Biden can reverse polls showing most Americans are unhappy with the economy, she emphasized the need for Americans to pursue education and opportunities like she has.
“When we have more educated Americans that actually understand President Biden’s agenda, it’s easier to share that message with your neighbor,” she said.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said in remarks before Biden spoke that “factories are opening across America.” Hoyer also touted the Biden administration’s efforts to lower health care, prescription drug, and energy costs.
Biden dismissed his predecessor as “Donald Hoover Trump” and blistered Republicans for saying that “everything’s wrong with America.”
“They keep telling us that America is failing,” the president said. “Well, they’re wrong. They’re failing. America’s not failing. America’s winning, and there’s one reason for it: you.”