Presidential candidate Kamala Harris thinks Bidenomics – the name for President Biden’s economic plans and policies– is simply wonderful! She gets excited talking about it! And why not as she is Biden’s Vice President and has been with him every step of the way these past four years since the Democratic Convention of 2020.

Many of us disagree vehemently! Just ask yourself that famous question that candidate Ronald Reagan asked when campaigning against incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” We know how that presidential campaign turned out! (Reagan won in a landslide!)

In this year’s presidential campaign there are two topics on most people’s mind, the economy and the porous southern border allowing millions of illegal immigrants into our country. A few may think abortion is the leading topic; but that leads to the question of when does a medical procedure stop and murder begin? Let’s focus on the economy which can be simply defined as the careful management of resources. This definition can be expanded in many ways.

This is not the second, nor the third, time that the economy played such a significant role in a presidential election. Who can forget the Clinton campaign of 1992 when James Carvile coined the phrase “It’s the economy stupid”? And then in the mid-1990s, the term “soccer moms” entered the political dialog as these were the people that not only took their school children to sports and other extra-curricular activities but had to do the grocery shopping and balance the family budget.

Inflation plays a role in the discussion of the economy. Current administration leaders are bragging about the low, single digit inflation. But, this is an annual rate as opposed to the cumulative rate of inflation since the Biden-Harris team took office in January 2021. Remember, inflation compounds meaning that the low number is on top of the larger numbers of the last few years! That rate is more accurately reflected in the mid-twenty per cent range meaning that something that cost a buck in January 2021 now costs a buck and a quarter or more. Consider the costs of energy and food for starters. The individual fruit pies in the bog box store cost fifty cents each for a long time but the last I looked they were eighty-four cents. This equates to 68% inflation over that period. I have often commented that a nickel candy bar now costs over a dollar – but that change took decades not just a few years. And, some of these products have shrunk, meaning you may pay a similar price but you are buying a smaller product!

Energy policy impacts the economy. Sure, the price of energy is higher but with a “no fracking” policy, such as pushed by the Biden-Harris administration and the Harris-Walz campaign, means the many sand mines in the Coulee Region are not in production. This means their employees are not working, not getting paid, and not buying goods or services from their hometown businesses. And, I believe the economic impact of wages is that money ripples through the local economy seven times! This means that for every dollar not earned there may be seven transactions not happening.

Other and more obvious impacts of energy are that it takes energy to manufacture goods and then to transport those goods to the consumer. With Bidenomics, all energy costs more.

Education, as in an educated work force, also impacts the economy both on the production and the consumption sides. Blame the education bureaucracy at the federal and state levels for “Why Johnny can’t read?” and “Why Johnny can’t do numbers either!”

In the eastern part of the Coulee Region there are a couple of 4x8 campaign signs about Biden and Governor Evers and the problems of inflation. Their impact on inflation in the economy spans regulations, taxation, education, and so much more!

If, as Harris and the Democrats would have you believe, Bidenomics is wonderful then we should question some the local candidates’ campaign literature. US Senate candidate Eric Hovde will “End Biden-Baldwin Inflation”. State Senate candidate Stacey Klein is working “for economic independence and strength” and to “ease the cost of living.” Assembly candidate Cedric Schnitzler is “addressing rising costs”. Assembly candidate Ryan Huebsch listed his top priority as “Economy” and described the current picture as not very pretty. Can all these good conservative and patriotic candidates be so wrong or is maybe Harris “misspeaking” like her Vice Presidential nominee “misspoke” about his military career?

You can help by voting for the candidates listed above which will help remove some of the good ol’ incumbents that must also think Bidenomics is pretty good stuff. US Senator Baldwin has been in Congress more than a quarter century, State Representatives Doyle and Billings have both been in the Assembly more than a dozen years. State Senator Pfaff is a career bureaucrat and political operative who was once a designated appointee to Governor Ever’s Cabinet until the State Senate did not confirm the appointment. We can do better; just consider the list of challengers again!

Coulee Region Assembly incumbents Van derMeer and Oldenburg both have a wealth of wisdom of “main street experience” outside of politics, represent their constituents well, and are deserving of re-election.

It might be time for former President Trump to borrow another famous President Reagan quote. This one is from his 1984 debate with Mr. Mondale: "I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." In Harris’s case, it is the inexperience that really concerns me!

No, Presidential nominee Harris, I don’t think Bidenomics is good for any of us! In fact, we should probably rename is “Badenomics”! And then we should make sure our family and friends know all about “Badenomics” before we encourage them to vote for the conservative patriotic candidates all up and down the ballot!

Remember, Harris owns the last four years!