At least three-quarters of Americans have President Joe Biden on their naughty list for his abysmal handling of the economy. Unfortunately, he isn’t learning from this. Instead of accepting responsibility and course correcting, he’s doubling down on inflationary deficits and casting blame elsewhere.

His latest tactic is rehashing one of his favorite scapegoats: blaming businesses for inflation. Ironically, his own administration’s data disproves this talking point.

With the implementation of the far left’s big-spending agenda, Biden ushered in 40-year-high inflation as the government spent, borrowed and printed trillions of dollars it didn’t have. That devalued the currency, which caused prices everywhere to rise.

This is because one of the functions of money is that of a measuring tool. If a yardstick were to shrink from 36 inches down to just 30, it would take 120 of these shortened yardsticks to cover the distance of a football field, instead of 100. As the dollar has lost value, it takes more dollars to measure the value of the things we buy.

Over 17% more, to be precise, since Biden took office.

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But we forget that businesses are paying in dollars too, whether they’re paying for wages, utility bills or the same products that they plan to resell to consumers. That means costs have risen for businesses, just like they have for American families. But according to data from the Biden administration’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, businesses have gotten the short end of the stick.

The producer price index is used to measure inflation on the products and services businesses buy—sometimes called wholesale inflation—and that index has risen 17.5% since Biden took office. Conversely, the consumer price index, the widely cited metric for inflation faced by American families, is up 17.1% over that same time.

Businesses have actually been sheltering consumers from some cost increases in an effort to maintain market share and not lose customers. That also explains why, according to the Biden administration’s Census Bureau, total corporate profits have fallen for the last six quarters after adjusting for inflation.

And this isn’t merely a recent phenomenon. In not a single month of Biden’s presidency have the cumulative cost increases to consumers caught up to the cumulative cost increases faced by businesses. And yet, Biden has the gall to demand “greedy” corporations stop “price gouging.”

If alleged price gouging were really the cause of inflation, did businessmen magically become greedy when Biden took office? Were corporations never greedy in the 40 years leading up to Biden’s inflationary expansion of government? Businesses haven’t even passed all their higher costs on to consumers; if they’re trying to be greedy, they’re doing it all wrong.

Biden’s accusations don’t even pass the smell test, but he persists in trying to muddy the waters, as if playing word games will distract the American people from the reality they face every day. For example, Biden buttressed his calls for an end to “price gouging” by saying inflation had come down, so it was time to lower prices.

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If you’re confused by that, you have more economic sense than the White House communications team.

Inflation is the rate at which prices are rising, like the speed of a car. If the car slows down, it’s still moving forward, and the odometer is still ticking higher, albeit at a slower pace. Likewise, inflation coming down just means prices are rising at a slower rate, not that prices are coming down. That’d be like saying slowing the car from 80 mph to 55 mph somehow makes the car move backward.

So, the fact that prices paid by businesses are not going up as fast as before doesn’t mean they can reduce prices charged to consumers, contrary to the White House talking point. If we want prices to come down, we need to reduce government spending—dramatically.

Thanks to Biden’s far-left agenda, the federal deficit is on track to almost double from last year, breaching $3 trillion. Until that is reined in, inflation will continue, with the family budget shrinking as the federal budget grows, and Biden will remain on the naughty list.

And, as Santa will tell you, you can’t lie your way off the naughty list.