Democrats lost the 2024 election for one main reason: the high cost of living. After a flood of pandemic-era deficit spending, inflation under President Joe Biden hit a four-decade peak.

In the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Democrats hope to turn the tables on President Donald Trump and win on the same issue. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries promises the party's agenda will "drive down the high cost of living in every possible area." But the Democrats' plans will fail, because they treat Trump as the sole cause of inflation and refuse to reckon with the legacy of the Biden years.

The two most concrete planks in Jeffries' affordability agenda are reinstating the enhanced Obamacare tax credits and reversing Republican Medicaid cuts. In other words, Democrats want to return to the Biden-era status quo, the same policies in place when inflation hit a four-decade high.

Democrats want to make a pandemic patch permanent

Democrats created the enhanced Obamacare tax credits in........

© USA TODAY