Americans for Tax Reform president slams White House for attempting to redefine recession

07/28/2022 / By Ramon Tomey

The head of the advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) denounced the White House for attempting to change the definition of an economic recession.

ATR President Grover Norquist did not hide his disappointment during a July 26 interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. The tax activist said on “Mornings with Maria” that the Biden administration’s move to redefine a recession was “ridiculous.”

“They have to say ridiculous things like that, [and] even have an argument with a dictionary,” said Norquist. “They have to react to what they did to the country and the economy. We had very little inflation before [President Joe] Biden; now it has exploded.”

According to the ATR president, “all the interest groups in the modern Democratic Party [were] sitting around the table with Biden” when they redefined the meaning of an economic recession. These interest groups included big city political machines, labor unions and environmental activists.

Norquist also rebuked progressive ideologues, such as the interest groups he mentioned, for espousing political agendas disassociated from reality.

Ultimately, he pointed his finger at Biden for his increased regulations, frivolous spending and empowering labor unions that exacerbated inflation. “He did this,” commented Norquist.

Traditionally, an economy is considered to be in a recession if its gross domestic product (GDP) declines for two consecutive quarters. But a July 21 blog entry from the White House that outlined a new definition of recession drew the tax activist’s ire.

According to the post written by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), the traditional “two quarters of negative GDP” criterion for recession “is neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle.”

“Instead, both official determinations of recessions and economists’ assessment of economic activity are based on a holistic look at the data – including the labor market, consumer and business spending, industrial production and incomes.”

“Based on these data, it is unlikely that the decline in GDP in the first quarter of this year – even if followed by another GDP decline in the second quarter – indicates a recession,” the CEA insisted.

Norquist: Stimulus checks to combat inflation aren’t tax cuts

Norquist was not the only one to rebuke the White House for its attempt to redefine the term economic recession. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) denounced the CEA’s blog entry on July 25, dubbing it a “frantic effort to redefine the word.”

Based on available data, the U.S. GDP already contracted in the first quarter of 2022. The GDP data for the second quarter of the year is set to be made public on July 28. Nevertheless, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta projected another contraction to the second quarter GDP. (Related: Recession clouds gathering fast: First-quarter GDP shockingly contracts amid plunges in exports, inventories.)

Norquist also raised concerns about the plan by 15 states to provide inflation relief checks to their residents. According to Fox Business, majority of these states are led by Democratic governors.

The states set to provide stimulus checks to their residents are California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.

Fox Business added that the inflation relief assistance for California will come from its $97 billion budget surplus. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the Sunshine State’s $35.5 million relief program will come from funds reallocated from the American Rescue Plan.

According to the ATR president, some of the 15 states were issuing the checks with a view to “cutting marginal tax rates.” However, he commented that “sending a check out is just spending; it’s not a tax cut.”

Visit Deception.news for more stories about the Biden administration’s deceit.

Watch below as former National Economic Council Director and Fox Business host Larry Kudlow warns that a recession is almost impossible to avoid.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.