Joe Biden triggered massive inflation across America when he was elected by launching a war against its own energy industry. Gasoline prices soon were $6 a gallon in some cities and his own administration confessed that the prices were going up at more than 9%.
The Federal Reserve responded with huge interest rate increases to try to tame the damage being done to the economy, and what followed was the failure of at least two banks heavily invested in lower rates.
But it’s all President Trump’s fault, Biden himself is claiming.
According to the Daily Wire, he is claiming that his administration’s “quick action” has left the highly volatile banking industry stabilized.
“Your deposits will be there when you need them. Small businesses across the country that deposit accounts at these banks can breathe easier knowing they’ll be able to pay their workers and pay their bills,” said Biden, promoting plans he says he’s undertaking. “And their hardworking employees can breathe easier as well.”
He continued, “During the Obama-Biden administration, we put in place tough requirements on banks like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, including the Dodd-Frank law to make sure the crisis we saw in 2008 would not happen again.”
He then blamed President Trump for having “rolled back some of these requirements.”
Fox News reported, however, that the legislation making those changes actually was a bipartisan effort from Congress.
Even so, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich claimed, “By the way, Trump deregulated banks like Silicon Valley Bank, which failed Friday.
Other liberals joined him.
“It seems likely that this could have been avoided if it weren’t for the roll-backs by the Trump administration,” journalist Ed Krassenstein claimed on social media.
Another member of the media, David Sirota of The Lever, said, “Quick reminder: 50 Republican senators and 17 Democratic senators voted to ignore warnings and weaken risk regulations for Silicon Valley Bank. Donald Trump signed the bill into law. And now the bank is the 2nd biggest bank collapse in American history.”
Internet commenter Jeff Tiedrich charged: “Donald Trump slashed banking regulations and a major bank failed. if only we could find some common thread linking these events.”
The facts, however, were explained by EJ Antoni, research fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis.
He told Fox Business the recent bank troubles had “nothing” to do with Trump or Dodd-Frank.
There were other circumstances involved, he said.
That’s because the bank was dealing “almost exclusively with tech firms which usually rely on continuously rolling over large debts.”
He explained that’s when companies take out new loans to pay off debt, and often don’t pay off their liabilities fully at any point.
He told Fox, “Second, SVB put a disproportionate amount of its cash into long-term bonds. Ordinarily, that’s not a bad strategy, but it’s unwise when interest rates are zero because those rates must rise eventually. When rates rise, bond prices fall. This is because an investor with the choice to buy an existing bond at a low rate or a new bond at a high rate will choose the new bond since it’s a better return on investment. If you want to sell the old bond with its lower interest rate, you must be willing to sell it at a discount; otherwise, no one will buy it.”
Then, he pointed out, SVB’s clientele, which largely lacked any significant diversity, all needed cash at the same time.
Biden’s claims came after Silicon Valley Bank held a $1.75 billion share sale following huge losses from the liquidation of a $21 billion bond portfolio.
The bank actually was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.
Federal officials said depositors’ money would be protected.
The criticism of Trump, however, was met with a recitation of facts.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald, for instance, pointed out, “Biden has been president for more than 2 years. His appointees control all regulatory agencies. Until 2 months ago, Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. “So whose fault is this week’s collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank? Obviously: Trump’s (probably Putin’s, too).”
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s 2024 campaign, said, “Out of control Democrats and the Biden administration have continued to pathetically try to blame President Trump for their failures with desperate lies, such as the CCP spy balloons, the train derailment in East Palestine, and now the collapse of SVB. This is nothing more than a sad attempt to gaslight the public to evade responsibility. The fact is that Biden has presided over a catastrophic economy that has devastated everyday Americans and has caused misery across the country due to his anti-America policies.”
Liberals blame Trump for Silicon Valley Bank collapse citing 2018 bipartisan bill https://t.co/91wrASMFMT
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) March 12, 2023
The Daily Caller News Foundation said GOP candidates commented on the bank collapse under the Biden administration.
GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said, “Silicon Valley is pushing the idea that SVB depositors need to be rescued to prevent a run on other banks. Wrong. If you want to prevent a run on other banks, increase the FDIC guarantee. But SVB screwed up by utterly failing to take interest rate risk into account, in two ways – both in terms of client concentration risk amongst startups and investing in interest rate-sensitive securities. So did the many startups who blithely did business with them. It’s not the U.S. taxpayer’s job to now coddle them.”
GOP candidates also pointed out just a year ago, SVB talked about its investment of $5 billion with “sustainability” efforts.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley added, “Taxpayers should absolutely not bail out Silicon Valley Bank. Private investors can purchase the bank and its assets. It is not the responsibility of the American taxpayer to step in. The era of big government and corporate bailouts must end.”
President Trump, on his Truth Social platform, said, “WE WILL HAVE A GREAT DEPRESSION FAR BIGGER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN THAT OF 1929. AS PROOF, THE BANKS ARE ALREADY STARTING TO COLLAPSE!!!”
The Daily Caller News Foundation also noted Ramaswamy put blame on the Federal Reserve.
He said it “has made deep-seated mistakes in this country over the last several decades by trying to play God. The problem is, they’re not God and they’re playing God with fat fingers and they’re not even getting it right trying to optimize for employment and inflation.
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If the Democrats had brains,they would be embarrassed as this has been their “speech+ to their brainless voters for decades.Remember Obama?Everything was Bush’s fault.People non Democrats are smarter than listening to these jerks.
I wonder when they will realize this is just pointing fingers. Blame the other guy, I didn’t do it. Even though from day 1 you caused problems.