TOPLINE: As 2021 comes to a close, it is abundantly clear that President Biden and Speaker Pelosi’s far-left, socialist policies are hurting middle class families, destroying the economy, raising our cost of living, and damaging our relationships with our international allies. Democrats can no longer ignore that their self-made crises are wreaking havoc on the American people. Congress has a responsibility to reject their extreme agenda and put parents, workers, and small business owners first.

Consumers Have to Pay More Because of Rising Inflation

Inflation is at its highest point in nearly 40 years . An increase in the cost of everyday goods and services disproportionately hurts lower-income families.

A survey by Gallup found that inflation is causing “financial hardship” for 45 percent of U.S. households.

The survey illustrates that “lower-income, less educated Americans” are most affected by inflation. The reality is that prices are rising faster than paychecks due to Democrats’ inflationary spending.
 
More than 7 in 10 low-income households say that the rising cost of food, gas, and other necessities is negatively impacting their current standard of living.

Democrats’ inflationary policies are hurting Americans at the grocery store and at the gas pump.

An ABC News poll confirms what Democrats refuse to acknowledge: 69 percent of Americans disapprove of President Biden’s handling of inflation, and 57 disapprove of how he has handled the economic recovery. President Biden and Speaker Pelosi are hurting – not helping – the American people.

COVID-19 is Surging in Joe Biden’s America

President Biden’s disastrous leadership has allowed COVID-19’s omicron variant to rip through the United States. Millions of Americans were desperately searching for tests before the holidays but were left frustrated that despite being two years into the pandemic, there is still a lack of available tests in their area.

In an interview with ABC News , President Biden said, “I wish I had thought about ordering” 500 million at-home tests “two months ago.”

However,  Vanity Fair reports that in October, the Biden Administration rejected a pitch from COVID-19 experts to increase rapid testing before families gathered for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas.

This COVID testing debacle further exposes President Biden’s failure as a leader.

President Biden, who campaigned on the promise to “shut down the virus,” just recently said on a conference call with U.S. governors that “there is no federal solution” to defeat the coronavirus and that “this gets solved at the state level.”

As a candidate, Joe Biden criticized President Trump’s handling of COVID-19, but when Democrats have complete control of the federal government, the coronavirus becomes an issue for the states to solve.

This even contradicts what Ron Klain tweeted seven months before he would become White House Chief of Staff.

If President Biden doesn’t believe there is a “federal solution” to the pandemic, why has he taken the drastic and likely unlawful step of mandating the vaccine on millions of Americans through their private employers?

Thankfully, the courts have stopped the federal vaccine mandates for now, but if they were to be reinstated, the job losses and health care staffing shortages would be catastrophic to the economy and to patients. 

President Biden isn’t leading like he needs to be. He is flip-flopping on public health policies in the face of his failures. The American people are frustrated and have lost confidence in this administration.

Worst Border Crisis in American History

The number of illegal immigrants entering the United States at the southern border has reached the highest level ever recorded.

Drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations are taking advantage of the Biden Administration’s open-door, pro-amnesty policies, and Border Patrol agents are understaffed and overwhelmed.

Since Biden took office, more than 1.7 million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at the southern border.

When added together, the total number of illegal immigrants captured since Biden assumed office surpasses the population of the fifth-largest city in America.

In November, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended over 173,000 illegal immigrants at the southern border. This is a 141 percent increase compared to November 2020 and a 307 percent increase compared to November 2019.

The world knows that the United States’ border is open. 

Thanks to the Biden Administration, hundreds of thousands of migrants, thousands of pounds of illicit drugs, and hundreds of criminals and sex offenders are unlawfully entering the United States.

Why is President Biden prioritizing his far-left immigration policies over the safety and security of the American people?

American Energy Dominance in Decline

Since President Trump left the White House, the American people are paying 35 percent more for a gallon of gas – price levels not seen since Joe Biden was Vice President.

The Energy Information Administration estimates families can expect to pay an average of $746 for their home-heating bills over the next six months. This is a 30 percent increase compared to last year.

With gas prices soaring, the Biden Administration’s response should have been to implement solutions to bring down energy costs for Americans. Instead, Democrats have restricted energy production in the United States, which only increases energy prices at home and at the pump. Limiting American energy production while simultaneously increasing our reliance on foreign oil weakens the United States and emboldens our adversaries.

Without a seat at the table, the United States will have to rely on OPEC and Russia, where we will be vulnerable and reliant on their resources. Further, global emissions will rise because these countries have lower environmental standards and will emit more carbon.

What is President Biden’s plan to lower rising energy costs? To send our country’s oil reserves to China and India. This is just another example of Democrats putting the American people last.

President Biden should abandon his costly green energy agenda, stop relying on our adversaries for energy exports, and prioritize an all-of-the-above energy strategy that will lower prices at the pump and more jobs for American workers.

Democrats’ Crime Crisis is Out of Control

As crime surges in Democrat-run cities across the country, it’s disturbing that liberal and progressive lawmakers don’t take responsibility for their failed policies – like defunding the police or implementing dangerous bail reform – that let violent criminals back on the streets.

Democrats’ anti-police rhetoric and policies have caused crime to skyrocket, making American cities especially dangerous to live in.

Chaotic and increasingly dangerous looting sprees are unfolding in Democrat-run cities like New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

• In New York City, there were more than 26,000 shoplifting cases in September alone.
• In San Francisco, larceny and theft incidents are up 16.7 percent, assaults are up 9.2 percent, and overall crime is up 9.3 percent.
• In Chicago, sexual assaults are up 28 percent, robberies are up 19 percent, motor vehicle thefts are up 6 percent, and murders are up 4 percent.
• In Minneapolis, robberies increased by 9.8 percent, and homicides increased by 8.3 percent.

The statistics speak for themselves – Democrats’ far-left rhetoric, policies, and actions have jeopardized the safety of our nation’s law enforcement officers and vulnerable communities.

So far, the National Fraternal Order of Police reports that in 2021:

• There have been over 310 officers shot in the line of duty.
• There were over 55 law enforcement officers killed by gunfire.
• There have been over 90 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement officers this year. This is more than a 120 percent increase compared to 2020.

Enough is enough. Democrats must abandon their assault on the brave men and women who keep us safe.

Supply Chain Crisis Ushers in Holiday Woes

Pandemic lockdowns, vaccine mandates, labor shortages, and increased demand for consumer goods have created both a domestic and international supply chain crisis that directly impacts American families.

Materials and equipment are not being sent to factories as scheduled, shipments of finished products aren’t reaching distributors, and congestion at ports and other transportation bottlenecks are making it nearly impossible for shipments to arrive in stores on your doorstep on time.

During the worst transportation crisis the world has faced in years, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was absent for months while his agency crumbled under the weight of the supply chain crisis.

To add insult to injury, Secretary Buttigieg previously  indicated  that our supply chain problems will continue into 2022.

President Biden has no feasible plan to solve our supply chain crisis. Instead, he’s pushing an authoritarian vaccine mandate on employers that would wreak havoc on the global supply chain by forcing shipping and trucking companies to lay off their workers.  The Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate would increase worker shortages and cause even more chaos. Thankfully, it’s been blocked by the Courts for now.

Empty shelves at the grocery store and an increase in demand coupled with a decrease in supply have led to consumers paying more for what is available.

A CBS News poll found that:

• 82 percent of Americans believe that the items they buy cost more than before.
• 64 percent of Americans believe that the items they buy are often not in stock.
• 55 percent of Americans believe that the items they buy are taking longer to be delivered.

Regular Americans are paying the price and experiencing the consequences of the Biden Administration’s failing economic and transportation policies.

The Opioid Epidemic is Getting Worse, Not Better

The CDC reported that, from April 2020 to April 2021, there were over 100,000 deaths related to drug overdoses. Sadly, two-thirds of these deaths were caused by synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, and is a 50 percent increase in overdose deaths over the past year. Synthetic opioids are the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States as the user is not aware that they are often mixed with other drugs, making synthetic opioids a deadly substance.

From October 2020 to September 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 11,201 pounds of fentanyl. That’s enough to kill 2.5 billion people – more than seven times the population of the United States.

In October alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a 42 percent increase in the seizure of the deadliest opioid – fentanyl.

President Biden’s open border is allowing illegal drugs and illicit substances to enter our country undetected and kill our young people at an alarming rate.

Unlike President Biden, Republicans are fighting to secure the border and give law enforcement the tools they need to keep extremely lethal and dangerous drugs off our streets and from crossing the border.

Afghanistan Has Fallen

In August, the Taliban took over Afghanistan just days after President Biden began withdrawing U.S. troops from the region, putting Americans and Afghan citizens in grave danger.

One month earlier, after signs and reports that jihadists were capitalizing on reducing U.S. forces in the Middle East, a reporter asked President Biden if it was inevitable that the Taliban would take over Afghanistan. President Biden responded : “No. It is not.”

Regardless of whether it was a miscalculation or a blatant lie, President Biden’s poor judgment caused unnecessary disaster and loss of life in Afghanistan.

In the military’s hasty exit, there were billions of dollars worth of weaponry left behind.

The Taliban has never been better equipped to kill and capture the hundreds of American citizens and Afghan allies who were left behind by the Biden Administration. America’s standing on the world stage has never been weaker.

The Biden Administration must be held accountable for the American citizens and Afghan civilians that they left behind and the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan.