I am still shocked when I go to the grocery store to pick up a few things and find the price near $100. How did this happen? Of course, we Americans always want to find someone to blame, and the current occupant of the White House often takes the heat. But let’s take a rational look at the situation.

There has been a myth in our society that Republicans are better with the economy than Democrats, perhaps because they talk a lot about being financially conservative and want lower taxes. However, our history since Ronald Reagan has actually been just the opposite.

Republican President Reagan tripled the national debt from $995 billion to $2.9 trillion. George H.W. Bush increased that debt by $1.55 trillion. Democrat Bill Clinton downsized government and put through a tax increase on upper-income taxpayers, and by the end of his tenure, there was a surplus in the budget and the budget was balanced. There was still a national debt, which he inherited, but did not increase. The economy and stock market were booming.

Thus President George W. Bush inherited a very good economy, but under his administration we spiraled into a deep recession. He increased the debt by $6.1 trillion, and handed Barack Obama a disaster economically. President Obama guided us through some difficult years to stabilize the economy, which increased the debt mainly due to his stimulus packages to combat the Great Recession (and continuing the Bush tax cuts).

But Obama handed Donald Trump a stable economy, which the former president likes to claim was his doing. Yet under Trump there was an even bigger tax cut, mainly for the wealthy, and by the end of his tenure, as the pandemic was in full swing, the economy was spiraling downward once again. Under Trump the national debt increased by 40.43%. President Biden inherited a disastrous situation economically, as the whole world was reeling from the pandemic.

The vast majority of economists predicted a recession. Although prices have risen and inflation was a real problem for some time, the recession never came about under Biden’s tenure, and inflation has been continually falling, as has unemployment, and recently, interest rates. We in the United States have the healthiest economy in the world at this moment.

Currently inflation is back down at 2.4%, which is the same rate it was under Trump just before the pandemic. Unemployment is low with the creation of almost 7 million more jobs than before the pandemic. The stock market is hitting all-time highs. Foreign countries look at our economy with envy. So, yes, grocery prices have not come down as much as we all would like and we have a shortage of affordable housing, but I believe we have to look at the big picture here. We are moving in the right direction. And, under Biden, the debt has only increased by 23.42%.

Would that continue under a Trump presidency? Leading economists say, no, it would not.

Trump wants to extend his tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, and also to impose a 10%-20% tariff across the board on imported goods and a 60% tariff on goods from China. U.S. citizens will get no benefit from these tariffs; in fact, the tariffs will cause major price increases on commodities for American consumers. By one estimate, the Trump tariffs would cost an average U.S. family more than $2,600 a year and fear they will spark an economic collapse worldwide.

Kamala Harris is offering policies to address price gouging, the housing shortage, cutting taxes for families and increasing taxes for the wealthy and corporations so that they pay their fair share and we can reduce the national debt. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that Harris’ plans would add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, while estimating that Trump’s plans would add $7.5 trillion to the debt. So if you’re basing your vote on the economy, that’s a no-brainer.