Americans across the country have heard President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as many other administration officials highlight the supposed success of “Bidenomics.” They have told the American public that these policies will lift the country out of the economic downturn resulting from our nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unfortunately, West Virginians know better than anyone how Bidenomics has failed us, and how out of touch the claims of this administration have been.

Throughout Biden’s first year in office, we were assured that drastic price increases were only “transitory.” Countless senior Biden administration officials were deployed for media interviews and public events describing how their economic agenda would bring prosperity. What we have seen over the last four years is not prosperity, but instead, growing economic hardship for West Virginians and the rest of the country

Even a prominent liberal economist stated that the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan President Biden signed into law in March of 2021 was the “original sin” that crushed the American people with the highest inflation in four decades. This radical, big-spending agenda continued a year and a half later with the passage of the $1.2 trillion Inflation Reduction Act, which contrary to its name, did not reduce inflation.

Fast forward to 2024, and we continue to see the real consequences of Bidenomics for West Virginians. A recent report from United for ALICE, an advocacy group that highlights the struggles of working-class America, revealed that 48% of households in our state are living paycheck to paycheck. From coal miners to small business owners, to health care workers, and everyone in between, President Biden’s reckless spending has been devastating reality for hardworking taxpayers and their families.

The most insulting part about the president’s out-of-touch campaign strategy is his insistence that Americans are better off because of Bidenomics. For months, the President’s team has highlighted broad economic statistics without addressing real economic hardships West Virginians and Americans all over the country face due to his failed policies. West Virginians’ economic situation cannot be summed up by one or two generic national statistics. Mountaineers feel the realities of these failed policies in their pocketbooks every single day.

When rhetoric does not match reality, people take note. That’s why that the President and his supporters have largely dropped the Bidenomics phrase altogether. Americans know that Biden’s reckless spending is the reason they have trouble making ends meet.

While the President fumbles for a new message, we will be encouraging West Virginians to hold him accountable for his ineffective and radical policies. We will reality-check the President and not allow his administration to falsely claim people are better off because of his tax and spend approach to “fixing” the economy. Biden might change the name of his failed economic agenda, but he cannot hide from the damage he has caused every West Virginian. At the same time, we will bring Mountaineers and state leaders together to advocate and enact sensible policy solutions to unleash freedom, opportunity, and prosperity for all.

Riley Moore is the Republican State Treasurer of West Virginia. Jason Huffman is the state director of Americans for Prosperity – West Virginia.