CHICAGO — President Joe Biden on Wednesday touted his economic agenda in an effort to change voters’ perception of the economy amid recent polling numbers ahead of the 2024 election.
Speaking at Chicago’s Old Post Office building, Biden touted his administration’s success while railing against the economic approach by the Republican Party and former President Donald Trump.
“The trickle-down approach failed the middle class. It failed America,” Biden said. “I knew we couldn’t go back to the same failed policies when I ran. So I came into office determined to change the economic direction of this country, to move from trickle-down economics to everyone at [the] Wall Street Journal and Financial Times began to call ‘Bidenomics.’”
“Guess what, Bidenomics is working. When I took office the pandemic was raging and our economy was reeling,” he added. “Today, the U.S. has the highest economic growth rate, leading the world economies since the pandemic — the highest in the world.”
Biden highlighted key legislation that he passed, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to repair the nation’s roads, bridges, transit systems, and high-speed internet.
Inflation, which has plagued much of the world for the past few years, has lowered. The president took credit for the decreasing prices over the last year.
“Inflation is less than half of what it was a year ago,” Biden said.
Biden laid out his vision to overhaul the tax system, saying that he wants to increase rates on the highest earners, saying it would reduce the federal deficit.
The speech from the president comes as the White House begins its kickoff for the second phase of its “Investing in America” tour, which is running from June 26 and concluding on July 15.
The speech comes as 20% of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction, while 74% believe it’s on the wrong track.
The White House has slammed congressional Republicans for pushing for an economy that would, in their view, “harm hard-working families.” Some of those were included in Biden’s speech Wednesday were rescinding IRS tax enforcement money, opposing his student loan forgiveness plan, and potentially targeting entitlement programs.
“President Biden believes in a fundamentally different approach,” the White House said in a news release. “Under Bidenomics, he has proven that we can make smart investments in the American people while reducing the deficit by ensuring the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes, closing wasteful tax loopholes, and slashing wasteful spending on special interests.”
