Bidenconomy: Americans Having Trouble Making Car Payments

Remember, according to Biden, the economy is now doing great!

As Biden touts US economy, Americans struggling to make car payments

As President Biden touts the state of the U.S. economy under his stewardship, a striking number of Americans with auto loans are struggling to make their monthly payments.

The juxtaposition between Biden’s rhetoric and the harsh economic realities for many people highlights what’s become a constant thorn in the president’s side: high inflation, which continues to eat away at household income, and public opinion disapproving of his handling of the economy.

Car loans are the latest sign of such economic problems. Indeed, loans delinquent by more than two months increased by 5.3% in December compared to the prior month and skyrocketed by 26.7% from a year ago, according to recently released data from Cox Automotive.

Of all December loans, 1.84% were severely delinquent (generally defined as more than 90 days behind on payments), marking an increase from 1.74% in November and the highest rate since February 2009, when the financial crisis crippled the the U.S. economy.

Part of the problem is that people’s car payments are higher than they usually would have been. For new cars, most dealers have been charging a “market adjustment”, anywhere from $1,000-$3,000 above MSRP (I had one guy from Virginia call to place an order because the dealer wanted to charge $6K above sticker). For used, people have been paying way, way above what should have been normal, sometimes more than a new car (in Jan of 2021, one used dealer had a 2022 with 1K miles that was $6,073 above MSRP).

Then you start adding in the higher interest rates over the last 9 months. Which is causing people to say “no” on those too high used cars.

New figures showing people not making their car payments come as Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and not being able to afford basic necessities.

About 72% of middle-income families say their earnings are falling behind the cost of living, according to a quarterly survey from Primeric report. A similar number, 74%, said they’re unable to save for their future. Both figures are up from a year ago. (snip)

“As inflation is coming down, take-home pay for workers is going up,” Biden said in remarks on the economy earlier this month. “Workers’ wages are higher now than they were seven months ago, adjusted for inflation. Wages for lower-income and middle-income workers have gone up even more. It all adds up to a real break for consumers, real breathing room for families, and more proof that my economic plan is working.”

The thing is, inflation is slowly slowing, not coming down. Prices are still up, and still going up. Pay is not going up to account for this. Biden is just gaslighting. As usual.

For several months, polling has consistently shown a majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of inflation and the overall economy more broadly.

A new ABC News/Ipsos poll, for example, shows just 31% of the country approves of his handling of inflation and only 38% likes how he’s tackled the economy.

Fortunately, when prices go down, that’s due to Biden, when they go up, it’s Other Things

Reporter: “Gas prices are now up … The President took credit for the prices going down … Does the President get credit for the price of gas going up?”

Biden’s energy sec: “It’s obviously based upon international and climate events.”

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— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 23, 2023

I filled up at a gas station on way back from gym a month ago and it was under $3. It was up to $3.29 on Sunday. LGB!

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