U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) called President Joe Biden a "real Scrooge" on Monday after a survey revealed that 42% of business owners who normally award Christmas bonuses to their employees can't afford to do so this year.
The survey, conducted by PublicSquare and RedBalloon and reported on by Nasdaq, was included in the November edition of the Freedom Economy Index. It also found that 28% of business owners plan to award smaller bonuses, and 25% said they intend to award bonuses as usual. A meager 5% promised to award larger bonuses than last year.
Meanwhile, 52% of the respondents told the surveyors that their sales were "much lower" this year during the commercially critical Black Friday weekend. In the survey, 81% said their suppliers are increasing prices.
The inflation rate reached an all-time high in June 2022, following a gigantic slew of federal spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, and dipped from 9.1% to 3% over the net 12 months, only to rise again in July and August. The inflation rate in October was 3.2%, .5% lower than September's rate. Nevertheless, the rate remains higher than the Federal Reserve's 2% target.
Moore blamed the decline in business owners promising Christmas bonuses on "Bidenomics" via a tweet on Monday morning.
"Nearly 42 percent of small business owners say they can't afford to issue their usual Christmas bonuses this year," he wrote. "#Bidenomics is a real Scrooge."
Moore also called for an end to "Washington's big-spending, 'buy now and pay later' approach.'"
"Bidenomics is the real grinch that stole Christmas," Moore told 1819 News on Monday when asked about the tweet. "Thanks to Biden's 17% inflation tax, some small businesses can't afford Christmas bonuses, and families are having to cut back on Christmas presents. Last week in a CBS News poll, 76 percent of Americans said their paychecks are not keeping up with inflation. We must end Washington's big-spending, 'buy now and pay later' approach that is bankrupting the American people."
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