LARRY KUDLOW: President Biden still hasn't wised up

Joe Biden says Israel is losing support. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats still won't come to their senses on closing the border, even as tens of thousands of illegal migrants are streaming into the U.S., and Donald Trump appears to be fighting Jack Smith and the Supreme Court. 

We'll have live reports from Capitol Hill and the southern border in just a few moments. Later on, we'll go to Israel, where the IDF is mopping up Hamas left and right, but first, a few quick points illustrating why Joe Biden is so unpopular.

Consumer inflation jumped slightly in November, marking the 32nd straight month with annual inflation rising significantly faster than the 2% Federal Reserve target. Hat-tip to Breitbart's John Carney for nagging all of us about this key point. Inflation has slowed, but it's still rising and it's still well above the Fed's own target, but here's Joe Biden's problem: Since February 2021, his first month as president, consumer prices are up 17%, but average weekly earnings are up only 12.8%.

So, that's a drop in take-home pay of over 4 percentage points. That's a killer for Joe Bidenomics. Meanwhile, grocery prices are up 21%. That's another killer for Joe Bidenomics. Energy prices, which have come down a bit, are still up over 30%. Gasoline prices have come off their highs, but are still at $3.13. They were $2 last Christmas. Ouch! Another killer for Joe Bidenomics. 

MAJORITY OF AMERICANS FEEL US ECONOMY IS IN RECESSION: SURVEY 

Eating at home? Chicken is up 24%. Beef up 22%. Cereals and bakery up 25%. You have to eat your veggies, and have some fruit too, but that's up 13.5%. Milk for the babies? Dairy is up over 16%.

Here's another one you might not think of — fertilizer is up nearly 36%. Why is that important? Because it affects farm prices big-time, and why is fertilizer up 36%? Because of the Bidenomics Green New Deal war on fossil fuels, but even with all these economic and political killers, President Biden still hasn't wised up. He just intensified his war on natural gas by issuing a regulation to abolish methane.

As Steve Moore points out, this is truly preposterous, because natural gas — a clean-burning fuel — is the biggest reason that carbon emissions have declined in recent years.

In fact, Joe Bidenomics wants to abolish coal and natural gas, which combined is 60% of our electric power and, of course, natural gas comes from oil, so that closes the fossil fuels circle. This is crazy — killing electricity, jacking up farm and food prices and sinking family wages.

You know, I'd really like to meet Emirati Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who said: "Please help me, show me the road map for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves." 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the December 12, 2023, edition of "Kudlow."