According to the pols taking the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, America is in great shape, thanks to President Biden and an ever-leftward agenda.

The crowd’s chants of “thank you Joe” were a campaign dream, and if anyone added “for what?” they were inaudible.

But that question had to be on the minds of viewers who live outside the Beltway Bubble, far from the “everything’s fine” hype of progressives stumping for Kamala Harris.

It’s unlikely that families making back-to-school shopping lists and crossing off items they can’t afford will be starting any cheers for Biden. Inflation skyrocketed during his presidency, and Americans are still being squeezed by higher prices and paychecks that can’t keep up.

But Biden and Co. took a dismissive view of inflation, at least the part caused by his administration’s profligate spending. In an interview with CNN, Biden said this after being told grocery prices had increased 30% during his tenure:

“It really is, and it is real, but the fact is that if you take a look at what people have, they have the money to spend.”

That’s how the glasses remain rose-tinted at the DNC – inconvenient facts get swept under the rug, or blamed on corporate greed, and ordinary Americans are left to fend for themselves.

Much in the way Afghan allies left behind after Biden’s disastrous 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. They probably won’t be joining a “thank you Joe” wave. They remain under the control of the Taliban, made richer for all the military equipment the U.S. abandoned there.

Cities and towns across the country who have played host to the migrant influx of the past few years have little to thank Biden for as well. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks a good game about defunding the police and whipped up the DNC crowd this week, but New York City, her stomping ground, has seen violent crime sprees and assaults spike.

As the New York Post reported, crime committed by migrants — including a recent alleged subway mugging involving an 11-year-old Venezuelan boy — and general riots in New York City are “really getting out of hand,” ex-Gov. David Paterson said.

“It’s just not going to work. It’s too many people. Not every migrant is a criminal,” the ex-governor said. “But a sizable number of people are acting in this kind of anti-cultural fashion, and all it’s doing is alienating the (immigrant) citizens who live in the city who try to make the city as great as it is.”

The city has spent about $5.5 billion to shelter and care for the flood of migrants who have arrived here since 2022, The Post reported.

Massachusetts hasn’t hit those numbers, but the state has racked up a sizeable migrant tab – about $1 billion this year, and the state budget has taken a hit.

Funding for school buses in Stoughton ran short, meaning that 150 students have to find another way of getting to classes this year. Meanwhile, Massachusetts is paying for buses for migrant students after the town accepted more than 200 migrant families into their community.

The state funding is separate, but it does raise the question: what budget items could be covered by Massachusetts if Biden took responsibility for his policies and gave states the money needed to house and care for the people he green-lit over the border?

Thanks a lot, Joe.

Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)