Judging Freedom - Inflation & Joe Biden

Episode Date: June 17, 2022

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Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Thursday, June 16, 2022. It's about 9.30 in the morning here on the east coast of the United States. As I said earlier, I'm having a busy day. I was on Newsmax at 9.40 this morning, and I'll be on with my buddy Eric Bolling a little after eight o'clock tonight. Not sure of the topics, but probably something similar to what I'm now about to discuss. In the past two days, the president of the United States has been ranting and railing about inflation, and he blames inflation on not the government. He blames gasoline prices on the oil companies and he blames food shortages on Vladimir Putin. Okay, let's take a step back. There's only one cause under the sun

for inflation and that is too much money pursuing too few goods when the government forces extra cash into the money supply, like when it gives away hundreds of billions during COVID. That money is out there for people to spend. And the natural, natural economic result of all that additional spending is to raise prices. Is that Joe Biden's fault? Partially. It's the culture of government in the United States in the post-World War II era. They think they can create temporary false prosperity by printing cash. In the old days, they printed it. Today, it's digital. So the Federal Reserve will say to the big banks, okay, we're adding three or five or six or 10 zeros to your column. Just go and spend the money. That does create initially some prosperity, but it doesn't last because the long-term result of that

is to raise prices. And it only creates prosperity to the first people who receive that cash before the prices start going up. And who are the first people that receives that cash? The big banks. And who's in cahoots with the Federal Reserve? The big banks. And who's in cahoots with the Federal Reserve? The big banks. And who's in cahoots with the federal government? The big banks. They're scratching each other's backs and the rest of us suffer and eventually prices go up. That is one of the reasons that gas is now averaging close to $6 a gallon. And who does that hurt? It hurts the poor, it hurts the middle class, and it hurts people who have to drive their cars to get their kids to school and to get to work themselves. Joe Biden doesn't understand this, and the culture in Washington

doesn't understand it. Again, I don't want to pick exclusively on old Joe. He is trying to deflect the blame from a culture of which he was a part. Joe Biden was in the Senate for 36 years. He was vice president for eight years. He's now been president of the United States for a year and a half. He is part of the big government culture. That culture is shared by Republicans and Democrats. Oh, there are some exceptions to it. Former Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Tom Massey, Senator Rand Paul, Senator Mike Lee. There are others, not as well known as them, who generally vote against all this additional government spending. Where does the government get the money to spend? It borrows it.

Where does it borrow it from? Sells bonds to the Federal Reserve, so the money comes to the Federal Reserve, which has no cash, so it just adds zeros to bank accounts, creating money out of thin air. We call it fiat money. Fiat is Latin for let it be. Just let it happen. It's not money that was earned. It's not money based on gold or silver. It's just cash that the government and the banks pretend exists. And once it gets into the money stream, then we all start paying more money. What about gasoline? The same thing with gasoline. Okay, the war in Ukraine is having an effect. Why is there a war in Ukraine? Two reasons. One, Vladimir Putin is a butcher. Two, Joe Biden thinks that somehow we can fight a proxy war with Vladimir Putin, which is crazy. We run the risk of starting World War III. We run the risk of impoverishing Europe if they can't buy

oil and natural gas from Russia. We have no business being there. We have no business putting taxpayer dollars in harm's way. Taxpayer dollars. Here we go again. We have no business putting taxpayer dollars in harm's way. Taxpayer dollars. Here we go again. We have no business borrowing money and being there. But here we are. We have a government that wants to fight a proxy war with the Russians. And we have a government that will continue to borrow and spend, borrow and spend, borrow and spend, which makes inflation worse. Again, I have to repeat, this is not just Joe Biden. This is every president in the post-World War II era, which includes the Republicans. Only one year in the post-World War II era did the government not borrow. You're not going to believe who this was.

Only one president balanced one budget for one year since 1945. Who was that? Bill Clinton. His first year in office when he raised taxes retroactively, but he didn't have to borrow any money. I don't support raising taxes retroactively, but I need to point that out to you. Republicans are just as bad as Democrats when they think they can borrow like maniacs and somehow expect the bills to be paid. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom.