Even as most Americans are struggling with high inflation and are blaming those struggles on President Joe Biden and Democrats, voters have a new No. 1 issue of concern heading into the 2022 midterms.
According to a new Rasmussen Reports survey, nearly 90 percent of voters believe that rising crime rates will be a major midterm election factor, per the Washington Examiner:
Twenty-eight years after former President Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also known as the Biden crime bill, a majority rate Biden’s handling of crime and law enforcement issues as “poor,” and even more, 67%, rate it as “fair to poor.”
The latest Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 11% give the president an “excellent” rating versus the 51% that rate him “poor.”
The survey is one of several that show specific issues on which Biden is losing his grip among the public. He had already lost their faith on handling the economy and the war in Afghanistan.
On crime, Rasmussen said that 86 percent view it as an important consideration in the upcoming fall congressional midterm elections, or nearly nine-in-10 Americans.
But the issue is actually key to all voting groups, including Biden’s base.
“More Republicans (72%) than Democrats (52%) or unaffiliated voters (49%) believe violent crime will be a ‘very important’ issue in this year’s congressional elections,” said the survey analysis.
Still, inflation is a major concern among voters as well.
According to a recent Moody’s analysis, many families are losing a full month’s income to inflation, essentially being forced to live 12 months on 11 months’ worth of pay.
As inflation reaches a 40-year-high under Biden, it will cost American households on average an extra $5,520 in 2022, or $460 per month, Moody’s analysts projected. That will hurt lower-income families and earners the hardest.
Breitbart News reports:
In March, that projection was less. Bloomberg estimated families would be charged an extra $5,200 in 2022, or $433 per month, 27 dollars less.
Moody’s compared the average household spending in May of 2021 to the years of 2018 and 2019, when the annual inflation rate was 2.1 percent.
“Having inflation at 8.5% on a year-ago basis, compared with the 2.1% average growth in 2018 and 2019, is costing the average household $346.67 per month to purchase the same basket of goods and services as they did last year,” Moody’s Analytics senior economist Ryan Sweet told the New York Post.
“However, the pure cost for households for having inflation running at 8.5% is $460.42 per month,” Sweet added.
The soaring costs are already forcing consumers to change their spending habits, June’s BMO Real Financial Progress Index survey revealed:
- 42% are changing how they shop for groceries. This includes opting for cheaper items, avoiding brand names, and buying only the essentials.
- 46% are either dining out less or consciously spending less when dining out.
- 31% are driving less to offset the soaring cost of gas.
- 23% are spending less on vacations or canceling them altogether.
- 22% are taking measures such as canceling subscriptions to the gym, cable, etc.
Economists say that the inflation has largely been triggered by trillions in federal spending under Biden along with his anti-fossil fuel policies; gasoline and diesel prices are now triple what they were on former President Donald Trump’s last day in office in many parts of the country. Elsewhere, they have at least doubled.
KNOW MORE:
Yes, Inflation And the Economy Have Both Gotten This Bad Under Biden