EDITORIAL: Increasingly desperate Biden steps up the pandering

President Joe Biden left Las Vegas on Wednesday after testing positive for COVID. We wish him a full recovery. Before flying back to Washington, he spent his time here ramping up his efforts to force Americans to relive the economic malaise of the 1970s.

Mr. Biden’s affinity for central planning triggered soaring inflation and crippling interest rates, reminiscent of the Carter years. Now, the president embraces a mini-version of the devastating price controls the Nixon White House imposed earlier in that decade.

On Tuesday, Mr. Biden floated a plan to eliminate tax credits for larger landlords if they don’t cap rent increases at 5 percent per year. The proposal would require congressional approval. “Republicans in Congress should join Democrats,” the president said, “to pass my plan to lower housing costs for Americans who need relief now.”

Mr. Biden’s plan includes exceptions for new projects and buildings being renovated. This is an acknowledgment that a more stringent measure would quickly crater supply, pushing up prices. But while rent control remains an alluring alternative for economically challenged progressives, it is poor policy that will exacerbate the problem Mr. Biden purports to address.

“Getting rid of regulatory barriers … will increase supply and lower cost for homeownership and renting,” explained John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “But slapping an arbitrary 5 percent cap on rent increases — particularly after years of rampant inflation — will reduce rental housing stock.”

Mr. Biden has become desperate as his campaign flails away trying to undo the damage of his devastating debate performance. Just a few days before advocating for national rent control, he told the Congressional Progressive Caucus that he would soon unveil a host of radical proposals to overhaul the Supreme Court, including term limits for justices and a constitutional amendment to overturn the recent ruling on presidential immunity.

Like his rent control initiative, these court reforms would require congressional approval that almost certainly will never come. Any proposed amendment would also face extremely long odds.

Mr. Biden’s blizzard of ill-advised recommendations for housing and the court are more political than practical. The president seems more concerned about reviving his foundering campaign through window dressing than about pursuing policies that will accomplish anything.

In fact, the president needs support from independent voters if he has any hopes of rebounding. Shamelessly pandering to the leftist activists now dominating his party on rent control and the Supreme Court is unlikely to energize average American voters, who are reminded of Mr. Biden’s nostalgia for the 1970s every time they fill up at the pump or make their way through the supermarket checkout counter.