CNN poll: majority in the US have a negative view of the economy 1:43
(CNN) --
President Joe Biden and his administration appear perilously close to an irreversible breakdown in public confidence in their ability to deliver prosperity and financial security.
This while the difficult economic challenges become enormous political responsibilities.
A CNN poll released Wednesday shows that the president's repeated efforts to highlight the undeniably strong aspects of the post-pandemic economic recovery and to offset the blame for its bad spots are not working.
The main culprit is inflation, a corrosive force that the White House initially underestimated and failed to tame.
Decades have passed since Americans experienced this demoralizing cycle of spiraling costs for basic goods and services.
That impact is compounded by punishing gas prices that are also hitting family budgets and spreading pain across the population, in a way that a regular recession, which may destroy millions of jobs but not hurt them all, might not. .
The result is a looming political disaster for the Democrats.
Disaffected voters before the midterms were already historically difficult for a president in his first term.
The depth of voter concern about the economy also suggests that a potential backlash against the Supreme Court potentially overturning abortion rights across the country may not save Democrats in November.
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The party seems stuck in a dangerous political position of insisting the economy is doing well while voters think it's in the tank.
The Federal Reserve raises interest rates half a percentage point, in a historic decision
Fed: New increase in interest rates seeks to control inflation 1:18
The CNN poll, conducted by SSRS from April 28 to May 1, showed a majority of Americans think Biden's policies have hurt the economy, while 8 in 10 say the government isn't doing enough. to combat inflation.
The survey was released on the same day the Federal Reserve made its biggest move against rising costs of living in 22 years.
The central bank raised interest rates by half a percentage point, but triggered a rally in stocks, signaling that despite adjustments to come, there would be no further increases in loan prices.
"I would like to take this opportunity to speak directly to the American people," Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at the start of a news conference.
"Inflation is too high and we understand the difficulties it is causing. We are moving quickly to reduce it."
However, there are concerns that the Fed and the White House have been too slow to tackle inflation, are not using aggressive enough methods to alleviate it, and may yet be overwhelmed by global factors, including the war in Ukraine and the fallout. from the covid-19 pandemic, which clogged supply chains, sent energy prices skyrocketing and caused other prices to rise.
What rising interest rates mean for the economy
The rate increase will make new home and car loans and credit card balance payments more expensive.
But in the process, it could cool the housing market, making it easier to buy a home and taking the heat out of rising prices.
Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, explained that Americans could see the results of rate hikes in their daily lives as inflation hits the highest levels since Ronald Reagan's presidency in the 1980s. .
"What the Fed hopes to do is cool down inflation a little bit so that your paycheck will go a little further, although that will mean a slowdown in the economy and that could mean a little less bargaining power for workers and less prospect of a salary increase in the short term," Wolfers said on CNN's "Newsroom."
The White House is showing clear signs of frustration that inflation is overshadowing the strengths of an economy that looks remarkably strong, despite a small contraction of 1.4% in the first quarter, given the cataclysm of a two-year pandemic. and the worst war in Europe since 1945.
On Wednesday, Biden, for example, touted cuts to the federal budget deficit and an unemployment rate approaching 50-year lows in a speech that appeared to be an attempt to preempt the Fed's announcement and a sign of resolve.
However, his difficult political situation underscores why inflation remains a force feared by political leaders around the world.
Despite Republican claims in midterm campaign ads that Biden's spending policies are the sole cause of inflation, the president is right to identify external factors, including the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, as the main drivers of price increases.
But reality doesn't mean voters will give Biden a pass.
It's only natural that when the country is in a bad mood, the president gets the blame.
And it is also normal that despite the efforts of the White House to explain the problems and their solutions have sometimes been confusing and have come too late, the political damage increases.
Biden may never shake the White House's initial line that high inflation was a "transient" phase emerging from the pandemic.
And while the economy is strong in many areas, voter perception is often more politically important than the data that tells the real story.
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Biden: the war in Ukraine will continue to affect the world economy 0:33
An overwhelming poll for the White House
The CNN poll, for example, says that only 23% of Americans rate economic conditions as somewhat good, down from 37% in December.
The last time public perception of the economy was this bad in CNN polls was November 2011. Only 34% approve of Biden's handling of the economy.
And his approval rating for helping the middle class (36%) is devastating for a president who has made that issue the foundation of his political career.
The question of public perception versus the true state of the economy is also confirmed in the survey.
Americans said almost 4 to 1 that they were more likely to hear bad news than good news about the economy.
Some 94% of Republicans rate economic conditions as bad.
This suggests that views about the economy may be shaped as much by partisan leanings as by a neutral judgment of conditions.
Conservative news outlets maintain a steady stream of horror stories about rising prices, and Republicans have made the subject an effective campaign tool while extolling the strength of former President Donald Trump's economic performance.
However, 81% of independents and 54% of Democrats also think the economy is bad, suggesting that Biden has taken a hit among some of the voters who put him in office.
Americans are more positive about their own finances than about the national economic situation.
53% who say they are satisfied with their personal financial situation.
That could again signal that a broader sense of malaise is coloring views of the economy.
Still, that figure is down from the 66% it was in 2016.
Given this catalog of doom and gloom, Biden's tone and theme on Wednesday were a bit surprising.
The president claimed credit for a $1,500 cut in the federal deficit by the end of the year.
This compares to the profligacy of Trump's debt-laden years and exposes the hypocrisy of Republican deficit hawks who forget his supposed principles when one of their own is in the Oval Office.
Yet how many Americans who stretch their weekly budgets care so much about deficits, even if, as Biden said, cutting them could reduce inflation in the long run?
The event at the White House also exposed the president's frustration at not getting credit for the good of the economy.
Asked by a reporter about Ukraine and the Supreme Court abortion drama, he replied, "No one asked about the deficits, huh? ... They want to make sure this isn't covered up."
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Biden: the war in Ukraine will continue to affect the world economy 0:33
what will happen next
The best hope for Biden, other Democratic politicians and all Americans facing an economic crisis is that the Fed's approach works and prices come down.
And some perspective here: The economy is not facing the total disaster of 2008 or even the inflation nightmares of 40 years ago.
"I don't think we have the economy of the '80s or '70s," Betsey Stevenson, who was a member of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said on "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Wednesday.
But it's hard to see things getting better quickly, or in time to make a difference for Biden before the midterms.
Even if the war in Ukraine ends soon, the fundamental changes it has triggered in the world economy will stick around for years.
More pressure on food prices is sure to come if the war disrupts Europe's breadbasket harvest, an important source of grain and sunflower oil.
New Covid-19 lockdowns in China could revive the supply chain chaos that helped drive inflation in the first place.
Some observers think the Fed has moved too slowly.
Others think their assault on inflation will cause a recession.
JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, appearing on Bloomberg TV on Wednesday ahead of the Fed's announcement, said that while the economy is strong and consumers are in good shape, vulnerabilities are everywhere.
He sees, for example, a 1 in 3 chance of a "mild recession" lasting six to nine months, but cautioned that there is "a chance it could be much harder than that."
So for the country, and especially for Biden, there is more frustration to come.
InflationJoe Biden