Politics
Why Biden is getting little credit for the economy, especially in California
As President Biden struggles to sell Bidenomics to skeptical voters, he’s facing the all-too-real consequences of stubbornly higher inflation, but he’s also battling human psychology.
And both of those factors may be especially strong in California.
Most economists agree that the American economy during Biden’s presidency has made a remarkable recovery from the pandemic. And it continues to outperform expectations, even if California isn’t doing quite as well. But polls have consistently shown that the public by and large holds a negative view of the economy and, by extension, Biden’s handling of it.
While partisan politics, pandemic hangover and other factors have colored people’s attitudes, experts say inflation appears to be the single biggest economic albatross for Biden.
He entered office with an approval rating of 57%, but in Gallup’s latest poll in March that number was 40%, with his handling of the economy perceived as one of his biggest weaknesses.
This even though the rate of inflation has come down significantly from earlier highs and the incomes of Americans, on average, have risen to equal or often exceed the higher costs for most goods and services.
On Wednesday the government reported that inflation, as measured by U.S. consumer prices, edged up in March to 3.5% from a year ago. It was a little higher than expected, driven partly by bigger price increases for transportation, electricity and medical services. Food inflation was subdued, but shelter and energy prices are still running a bit too hot
Although the rate of inflation has declined since hitting a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022, it’s still well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, which could delay a much hoped-for cut in interest rates.
What’s more, experts say the slowdown in inflation isn’t what most people notice. Nor do they seem as relieved by the seemingly encouraging decline in inflation from 2022 as professional economists are. After all, it’s not that prices have fallen dramatically; they’re just not rising as fast as before.
That’s where basic elements of human nature come in, some economists and other analysts say: Consumers instinctively pay more attention to the dollars they have to shell out than they do to the increases in their paychecks.
That’s especially true when the purchases are for everyday items such as gasoline, for which prices in California are higher than elsewhere in the United States.
Today, U.S. consumers are paying 20% more for milk, about 30% more for bread and more than 50% more for eggs than they were in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report Wednesday.
Rents are up more than 20% from pre-pandemic levels and electricity costs about 30% more.
For Californians, even with wage gains matching or exceeding consumer price increases, higher inflation may have an even stronger real and psychological impact because the state is so much more expensive to begin with.
“They worry whether inflation is coming back,” said Mark Baldassare, the statewide survey director at the Public Policy Institute of California. “It creates a new set of circumstances and anxiety in California, where housing and the cost of living is a major concern, especially for lower-income but also middle-income and younger Californians.”
In a statewide survey he conducted last fall, Baldassare found that a growing percentage of Californians were “not too happy” (26% compared with 20% in 2011 and 13% in 1998). And among the groups who are the least happy: 18-to-34-year-olds; renters; and those with household incomes of $40,000 or less.
Nationwide, prices for all goods and services have jumped about 20% over the last four years. And it’s been an especially startling jolt to many consumers because the vast majority of them had never experienced anything like it in their adult lives.
The last time inflation was at or near double-digits was in the early 1980s, and for most of the last 30 years it’s been close to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
“Part of the story is not just that we’ve had high inflation, but we’ve had high inflation with a generation that’s ill-equipped to deal with it,” said Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. “Young people today might think prices have risen by 20% and no one’s ever going to make me whole.”
But, in fact, Wolfers noted, gains in wages and salaries, on average, have actually outpaced inflation since the pandemic, with lower-income workers seeing the highest percentage gains.
Older people who went through substantial inflation before may have learned that it usually turns out to be a temporary problem: For at least the last half-century, when the cost of living has risen sharply, so have workers’ incomes, though not immediately.
Older generations understand the dynamic: “Inflation takes away with higher prices and then it gives back with higher wages,” Wolfers said.
In California, workers on average earned $1,595 a week in the third quarter of 2023, the latest available data from BLS. That’s 23% higher than the same quarter in 2019.
And it’s about five percentage points higher than the increase in prices over a similar period in California, based on data from the state’s Department of Finance.
But even though average paychecks have now matched or exceeded price increases — meaning most consumers’ purchasing power has not been eroded, Wolfers and other economists say — that’s not the way people process things.
When prices go up sharply, people get upset, thinking it unfair and unjust, and looking at the government or someone else to blame. But if their wages go up by just as much, people tend to “externalize” the increase, feeling they earned it, although in reality the bigger paycheck is largely the result of higher prices — and the resulting ability of employers to pay their employees more.
That psychology presents a big challenge for Biden, since it takes time for consumers to get over what they’ve internalized about high inflation. And although California will probably not be in play in November’s presidential balloting, the downcast mood of many residents due to inflation may only be magnified because the state’s economy has been lagging behind the nation.
Between February 2020 and February 2024, California’s payroll jobs have increased by 1.7%, half of the national job growth rate. The unemployment rate in California in February was 5.3%, compared with 3.9% for the U.S as a whole, although the state Finance Department’s chief economist, Somjita Mitra, said California’s share of long-term unemployed is comparatively much smaller.
The latest survey of consumer confidence by the Conference Board shows California significantly trailing other big states such as Florida, Texas, and New York.
And there are fresh signs that more California consumers are struggling financially. The share of credit card delinquencies, for example, rose in December to the highest level since late 2009 around the time of the Great Recession, according to the California Policy Lab at UC Berkeley.
“In California, the credit trends are deteriorating; they’re not headed in a good direction,” said its executive director, Evan White.
Household surveys by the Census Bureau, most recently in February and March, found that Californians are struggling more with housing finances and paying for usual living expenses than the national average. And a significantly larger share of Californians than most other states reported to the census that they had changed their driving behavior due to the cost of gas.
Gasoline prices in both the U.S. and California are up about 29% from February 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But the average price for a gallon of gas in California was $4.83 last month, compared with the national average of $3.45.
Gas prices have been rising again in recent weeks, and if that continues it could be another big impediment for Biden, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
The other key economic factor that Zandi thinks could sway some voters is whether interest rates come down.
For homeowners, higher inflation has meant higher home prices too. But renters, particularly those in their prime home-buying years, in their 30s and 40s, have felt locked out of the market due to high inflation and mortgage rates — particularly in pricey California.
“That really undermines their thinking about the economy and their own financial health,” Zandi said.
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The U.S. military announced another deadly strike against a vessel that it alleges was involved in “narco-trafficking” efforts.
“On April 19, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” U.S. Southern Command indicated in a post on X.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the post continued.
US MILITARY KILLS 2 SUSPECTED CARTEL OPERATIVES IN LATEST EASTERN PACIFIC LETHAL STRIKE, SOUTHCOM SAYS
The U.S. military announced that it killed three “narco-terrorists” in a strike in the Caribbean on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (@Soutcom via X)
SOUTHCOM indicated that the attack killed three men.
“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” the post noted.
President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out dozens of deadly strikes against vessels of alleged “narco-terrorists.”
US MILITARY CONDUCTS MORE DEADLY STRIKES AGAINST VESSELS OF ALLEGED ‘NARCO-TERRORISTS’
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, nominee for commander of U.S. Southern Command, testifies during his Senate confirmatino hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
In a completely different part of the world, amid ongoing tensions between America and Iran, the U.S. attacked an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on April 19.
“Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade,” U.S. Central Command noted.
US SEIZES IRANIAN SHIP AFTER OPENING FIRE; PAKISTAN TALKS IN DOUBT
President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in U.S. custody,” CENTCOM noted.
SACRAMENTO — A month after a public uproar over a mama bear being euthanized after swiping at a resident in Monrovia, state lawmakers are considering mandating the use of nonlethal ways to help allow wildlife and humans to coexist.
Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) said she believes the bear’s death, and the state’s decision to kill four wolves last year that were preying on cattle, raised public concern.
“That made everybody realize we have to do better here,” she told The Times on Thursday. “We need to recognize the importance of seeing ourselves, humans, as part of a larger ecosystem that includes animals and plants and our world and trying to protect it.”
Senate Bill 1135, introduced by Blakespear, would direct the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to create the Wildlife Coexistence Program, which would provide public education, offer technical assistance and maintain a statewide incident reporting system. It would help communities deploy nonlethal devices to deter predators, like barriers or noise and light machines.
At a legislative hearing on Tuesday, Blakespear told the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water that a three-year state initiative offering similar services was seeing positive results — until it was discontinued two years ago after funding ran dry. She said it was time to implement a permanent program.
“Human population growth, habitat loss and the growth of industry across California inevitably leads to interaction between humans and wildlife,” Blakespear told legislators. “No two animal species are the same and each has unique behavior patterns and territories. SB 1135 recognizes these differences and gives communities the tools to prevent conflict and respond when it occurs.”
The bill would also rename a state program that reimburses ranchers who lose livestock to wolves, calling it the Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program. It would require ranchers seeking compensation to show they were using nonlethal deterrents approved by the department.
Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) stressed that life in rural areas is different than living in a city. She said some families and cattle ranchers have a genuine fear of predators.
“When these baby calves drop on the ground and then two wolves start ripping them apart, it’s not the prettiest thing you’ve ever witnessed,” said Grove, who abstained from voting on the measure. “These wolves are not puppies.”
More than 30 organizations are supporting the legislation, including the National Wildlife Federation, Defenders of Wildlife, California State Assn. of Counties, Animal Legal Defense Fund and Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife.
The California Farm Bureau and the California Cattlemen’s Assn. are in opposition due to concerns over funding.
Last month, Blakespear sent a letter to the chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review requesting $48.8 million to implement the legislation, with $25 million earmarked for addressing wolf encounters. Half of the money for wolf conflicts would go toward deterrents; the remainder would compensate ranchers for their losses.
Kirk Wilbur, vice president of government affairs cattlemen’s association, said the organization is concerned about that division of funding — especially if funding is reduced.
Wilbur told legislators Tuesday that the organization supports some aspects of the bill and was having productive conversations with Blakespear to address their concerns.
The bill ultimately passed the committee with a 5-to-1 vote and now heads to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
Human wildlife conflicts have made headlines in California recently, with a bear refusing to leave a basement for weeks in Altadena and a mama bear dubbed Blondie crossing paths last month with a woman walking her dog in Monrovia.
Blondie swiped the woman’s leg, and was subsequently euthanized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Her two cubs were sent to the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center. The bear’s death upset many in the community, as thousands had signed a petition calling for other solutions, like relocation.
Deadly wildlife attacks on humans, however, are rare in California.
There have been six reported human fatalities from mountain lions since 1890, according to the state Fish and Wildlife Department. The agency recorded one human fatality from a coyote in 1981 and another fatality from a black bear in 2023. The department has no recorded human fatalities from gray wolves.
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The Justice Department is turning to former Trump attorney Joeseph diGenova to spearhead a probe into ex-CIA Director John Brennan and others over the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, as the department reshuffles leadership of the sprawling inquiry.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has tapped diGenova to serve as counsel overseeing the matter, according to a New York Times report, putting a former Trump attorney in a key role in the high-profile probe. A federal grand jury seated in Miami has been impaneled since late last year.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
DOJ ACTIVELY PREPARING TO ISSUE GRAND JURY SUBPOENAS RELATING TO JOHN BRENNAN INVESTIGATION: SOURCES
Joseph diGenova represented President Donald Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)
DiGenova, a former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., who represented Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, has repeatedly accused Brennan of misconduct tied to the origins of the Russia probe—allegations that have not resulted in criminal charges.
He also said in a 2018 appearance on Fox News that Brennan colluded with the FBI and DOJ to frame Trump.
The origins of the Russia investigation have been the subject of ongoing scrutiny by Trump allies, who have argued that intelligence and law enforcement officials improperly launched the probe.
BRENNAN INDICTMENT COULD COME WITHIN ‘WEEKS’ AS PROSECUTORS REQUEST OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS
Joseph diGenova has previously said that ex-CIA chief John Brennan colluded with the FBI and DOJ to frame Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)
DiGenova’s appointment follows the ouster of Maria Medetis Long, a national security prosecutor in the South Florida U.S. attorney’s office. She had been overseeing the inquiry, including a false statements probe related to Brennan and broader conspiracy-related investigations.
As the investigation continues, federal investigators have issued subpoenas seeking information related to intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
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John Brennan has denied any wrongdoing related to the Russia investigation. (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Brennan has previously denied wrongdoing related to the Russia investigation and has defended the intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election.
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