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Joe Has a Plan…God Help Us All – Opinion

By Pluralist / June 1, 2022

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Joe Armendariz

My blog post on Memorial Day contained the following paraphrased: The country desperately needs someone who can articulate an economic alternative message that is based around growth, hope and opportunity. What I call a Kempian- Reagan “morality of prosperity” message. A message that’s inclusive and not exclusive. One that encourages, unites, and inspires. In other words, a Kennedyesque vision; a “rising tide lifts all boats.” The kind of message that can give the nation something to rally behind.

This was what American presidents used do. JFK obviously did, Reagan did, Roosevelt did…It’s a bipartisan tradition.

Then, right before midnight PST a Wall Street Journal op-ed ghostwritten for Joseph R. Biden Jr. hit the wires. It was titled: “My Plan For Fighting Inflation.”  And well, an op-ed with this title attached to the President of the United States, even knowing — perhaps especially knowing — it was penned by a member of his staff, is catnip for me.

Unfortunately, despite my best effort, which included a tall glass of milk, and a two-day-old chocolate doughnut in hopes I might gain something resembling consciousness, the long weekend spent taking the family to and fro while enduring Biden’s price spike economy took too much out of me and I had to hit the sack. But not before scanning the piece and seeing that the ghost, on Mr. Biden’s behalf, was presenting to the country a three-part plan.

Then I went to bed and couldn’t sleep. And it was everything I knew it wouldn’t be. 

First of all, President Obama is asking the Federal Reserve to address inflation. The ghost apparently thinks that the Federal Reserve is extremely important. Mr. Biden evidently agrees. They must be, because they are the first part of the three-part “plan for fighting inflation.” So, you know, if they (the Fed) do what they are told to do, presumably, whatever the second, or third part of the fighting inflation plan is, won’t be necessary. The ghost doesn’t explain what Mr. Biden is going to tell the Federal Reserve to do other than to, well, fight inflation. Stay tuned.

Second, the ghost says, and Biden agrees with this as well — by the way, let’s just all agree that Joe agrees with the ghost on all of this since he agreed to put his name on the op-ed. So Joe and the ghost say we need to take “every practical step to make things more affordable for families” during this moment of economic uncertainty.

Now, I’m no philosopher. I took a semester in logic at college. And so it seems, well, logical that the second part of the plan for fighting inflation probably should’ve been the first part of the plan. Because if they succeed at making things more affordable for families in America then, by definition, they’ve solved the problem of what Biden is calling “inflation.” Hence, no need for a third step; indeed, no need for the first step either. Although, since the first step is pointless and silly, I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

You should give at least three sections when selling a plan to Americans. You just sound more professional. It’s as if you thought about it more. This is what pollsters are sure to tell you. It sounds half-baked to have a one-part plan. It is best to have more than one part. It is best to have three. While four is fine, you may lose some people. 

But since, as I said, this sort of stuff is like human catnip for me, I couldn’t wait for the third part.

And, well, the ghost didn’t disappoint. It is the third component that stops greedy corporations offshoring profits and jobs. The third part is to ensure billionaires are paying their fair share in taxes. Because we all know that when a single working mother in Carpinteria, or Santa Maria is filling up her car at the gas station and paying $6.79 a gallon what she’s really worried about is Jeff Bezos paying his fair share in taxes so that instead of him being worth $150 billion, he’ll only be worth $125 billion. To be fair to Biden and the ghost, however, she does get something from the third section of the plan.

The third part of the ghost’s plan for fighting inflation includes more money for the IRS so they have the resources to collect the taxes that Americans already owe. That’s it? Everybody knows — and it’s reassuring to know that the ghost and the President understand this — especially in the middle of an economic crisis, that nothing will deliver the economic relief the American people so desperately need faster than hiring more IRS agents so they can spread throughout the country and audit the American people.

I’m not sure who wrote this abomination for the president. I don’t know if it was a ghost of Christmas past, or a ghoul of Christmas future, but it’s painfully obvious that this president has no idea what is going on right here, and right now. Never in all my 35 years of watching politics has I ever seen a president as out of touch. Joe has a plan and I cannot help but to pray that it works.

 

Joe Armendariz, Armendariz Partners, LLC, is the Director of Government Affairs. Additionally, he is Chairman of California Center for Public Policy. This institute studies economic and educational development issues in Santa Barbara County. Contact him at 805.990.2494. Or email him at: [email protected]

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