Want to know why Americans have unprecedented levels of economic pessimism? 

“Americans have received a pay cut for 24 consecutive months — the longest streak in American history — as inflation has persisted,” noted Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday. 

In January of 2021, average weekly earnings after inflation stood at $338.57. 

Now? It’s $326.40. 

That’s a haircut of 3.6% over two years, a per-worker loss of around $7,400. 

All since President Joe Biden took office and launched into a drunk-sailor spending spree coupled with a war on domestic energy production.

Nominal pay has risen a bit, but Biden’s reckless handouts — which have only two years into his term added some $6.5 trillion to the nation’s debt burden — triggered roaring inflation that’s only now starting to cool even mildly. 

But it’s still red hot at “only” 5%. 

No wonder a record 69% of Americans, per a new CNBC survey, hold negative views on the present and future economy. 

A record 78% of Americans think their kids won’t be better off, per a March WSJ survey. 

After all, Biden’s debt-digging has put the nation on pace to pay more in interest on the federal debt — some $10.5 trillion — over the next decade than it has paid so far from 1940 until today. 

And his budget proposal includes some $5.5 trillion in tax hikes to fund jacked-up spending of $6.9 trillion, to saddle us with $51 trillion in debt over the next decade. 

Which makes Biden’s brinkmanship over the debt ceiling — which needs to be raised by June to avert disaster — all the more ugly.

House Republicans are asking for mild spending restraint in exchange for raising the debt limit; Biden won’t even discuss it.

He not only won’t face how his policies leave average Americans losing ground, he won’t even discuss a course adjustment to avoid a national default.