As Voz Media recently reported, African Americans, a very important group within Joe Biden's electoral base, are unhappy with his economic policies. "Our economy is the lowest in God knows how long. We keep [sending] money to Ukraine and other countries instead of helping ourselves," said one respondent to HIT Strategies. A short time later, another poll showed the anger of another electoral group for one of the great legislative achievements of the Biden Administration.
At the request of American Commitment, McLaughlin & Associates grouped people over 55 and asked them for their opinion on the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by the current president in mid-2022. The responses were not very positive: 77% described the legislation as "a failure."
"From consumer prices to healthcare, it is abundantly clear that older Americans view the Inflation Reduction Act as a complete failure," said Jim McLaughlin, the pollster's president. What the president sells as one of his most significant legislative victories might not be perceived similarly by voters, in this case, those over 55.
"While the Democrats' spending bill was presented as a means to lower consumer prices and seniors' healthcare costs, likely voters believe it has done the opposite. Furthermore, older Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to diverting hundreds of billions of dollars in projected Medicare savings to pay for and prioritize Washington politicians' unrelated spending priorities. The IRA was a classic 'bait n switch' by liberals in Congress, and conservatives should stay on [the] offense against it," added Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment.
The legislation wasn't well-received by independents over 55 either, with 79% finding it a failure. Only Democrats polled had a favorable view of the law.
What does the Inflation Reduction Act do?
Days after the legislation was enacted, in August 2022, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania analyzed the impact it would have on prices and concluded that it would be "statistically indistinguishable from zero."
"The Act would very slightly increase inflation until 2024 and decrease inflation thereafter. These point estimates are statistically indistinguishable from zero, thereby indicating low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation," they explained.
"We project no impact on GDP by 2031 and an increase in GDP of 0.2 percent by 2050. These estimates include the impact of debt and carbon reduction as well as capital and labor supply distortions from rising tax rates," they added.
