07.22.21

As Americans Struggle With Rising Costs, Democrats Determined To ‘Inflate Our Way Out Of Inflation’

With Americans Already Feeling The Pinch Of Inflation, Economic Leaders Admit, ‘We’re Experiencing A Big Uptick In Inflation,’ But Democrats Are Determined To Spend Even More Money, Doubling Down With A Multitrillion Dollar ‘Reckless Taxing And Spending Spree’

SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “Runaway costs and surging inflation are a huge worry for middle-class families. Every survey confirms it. Every conversation confirms it. Over the last 12 months, during this economic recovery, the average American worker earned a 3.6% raise. But inflation has risen so steeply that it’s turned that into a nearly 2% pay cut. Remember, at the beginning of the year, the Biden Administration inherited a historically strong economic trajectory. Thanks to the smart, targeted, bipartisan policies we passed last year, our economy was primed to get millions of Americans back to work with competitive pay while consumers unleashed pent-up demand. But that was before Democrats decided to pour $2 trillion into a long list of liberal pet projects and insist on making it less appealing for workers to go back to work. Today, essentials like gas and groceries have gotten more and more expensive. Bigger purchases consumers had put off during the pandemic are getting even further out of reach. Across the country, working families and employers alike are feeling the pinch — an effective tax increase on both the wages and the savings of the middle class…. Sure enough — inflation just clocked the fastest year-on-year increase since 2008.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 7/19/2021)

  • “But apparently, according to President Biden himself, the solution is… even more of the same! [On Monday], instead of deflecting attention from the fact that his administration’s springtime approach was flat wrong, the President doubled down. He suggested that the right way to shake this inflation was — wait for it — another $3.5 trillion in spending. This is the same reckless taxing and spending spree that Democrats dreamt up when they assumed our economy would be having the opposite problem. But now, all that same borrowing, printing, and spending is supposed to be what the doctor ordered to fight inflation?! Inflate our way out of inflation. Let’s hope the American people don’t have to learn firsthand how that strategy would work out. Another multi-trillion-dollar reckless taxing and spending spree is the last thing American families need.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 7/19/2021)

 

‘Inflation Has Continued To Pick Up Pace, Rising At The Fastest Pace In 13 Years’

“U.S. inflation continued to accelerate in June at the fastest pace in 13 years as the recovery from the pandemic gained steam and consumer demand drove up prices for autos, airline fares and other items. The Labor Department said last month’s consumer-price index increased 5.4% from a year ago, the highest 12-month rate since August 2008. The so-called core price index, which excludes the often volatile categories of food and energy, rose 4.5% from a year before. The index measures what consumers pay for goods and services, including clothes, groceries, restaurant meals, recreational activities and vehicles. It increased a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in June from May, the largest one-month change since June 2008.” (“Inflation Accelerates Again in June as Economic Recovery Continues,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/13/2021)

“The maker of Dove soap and Hellmann’s mayonnaise warned of accelerating price increases across a range of products, as it seeks to counter cost inflation across its business. Unilever PLC said Thursday that it was grappling with higher costs for ingredients, packaging and transportation ... The London-listed consumer-goods giant said it would step up price increases across the world, having already raised prices 1.6% in the second quarter. ‘We are going to have to take a little higher levels of price increase,’ Chief Financial Officer Graeme Pitkethly told reporters.” (“Inflation Pushes Consumer-Goods Giant Unilever to Accelerate Price Increases,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/22/2021)

 

‘Worries About Inflation Are Coming Through Loud And Clear’ As ‘Most Americans Report Feeling Its Effects In The Price Of Basic Goods And Services’

CBS NEWS POLL: “[W]ith spending comes the specter of inflation, and most Americans report feeling its effects in the price of basic goods and services. Large majorities of Americans say they are paying more these days for gasoline, groceries and food, as well as electricity and power. Those across all income levels say they have noticed increasing prices for these items.” (“Biden Nets Positive Marks For Handling Pandemic, But Vaccine Resistance, Delta Concern Remains - CBS News Poll,” CBS News, 7/19/2021)

“An overwhelming majority of Americans are concerned about inflation, and they’re not uniformly confident in the government’s ability to reel it in, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll shared exclusively with The Hill. In total, 85 percent of respondents say that they’re at least somewhat concerned about inflation, including 45 percent who say that they’re ‘very concerned.’ The rising worries come on the heels of news that the consumer price index rose 0.6 percent last month as the economy continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.” (“Poll: Concern About Inflation Rises As Economy Recovers From Pandemic,” The Hill, 6/22/2021)

“A top party pollster and senior adviser to the Biden political team is urging Democrats to confront the problem of rising prices — which she says is starting to bite with voters. … Celinda Lake, who polled for the Biden presidential campaign and still advises Team Biden, told Axios that worries about inflation are coming through loud and clear in both public polls and her own focus groups. … Lake said Democrats can’t afford to ignore the inflation issue or hope it goes away; they need to tackle it head on. She’s advised Democratic elected officials to make clear to voters that they understand their lived experiences of higher costs of health care and daily goods — and that they have ideas for how to make the cost of living more affordable.” (“Biden Pollster’s Inflation Warning,” Axios, 7/21/2021)

 

Even Fed Chair Jerome Powell And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Are Now Admitting, ‘We’re Experiencing A Big Uptick In Inflation’

TREASURY SECRETARY JANET YELLEN: “We will have several more months of rapid inflation.” (CNBC, 7/15/2021)

FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD CHAIRMAN JEROME POWELL: “I think we’re experiencing a big uptick in inflation. Bigger than many expected. Bigger than certainly, I expected.” (Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Hearing, 7/15/2021)

  • “The way Fed chair Jerome Powell is talking about inflation seems to be evolving. … Powell and his colleagues have argued for months that the forces currently boosting inflation have been ‘transitory.’ … Powell’s most recent written statement referencing inflation made no reference to ‘transitory.’ He also never used the word during his lengthy Q&A with committee members. The word ‘temporary’ has come up, though.” (“Jerome Powell’s Newest Evolution,” Axios, 7/16/2021)

 

And Yet, Incredibly, President Biden And Democrat Leaders Are Asserting That Passing Their Reckless Multitrillion Dollar Tax-And-Spending Spree Would Somehow ‘Reduce Inflation’

CNN’s DON LEMON: “So you seem pretty confident that inflation is temporary, but pumping all of this money into the economy, couldn't that add to –“
PRESIDENT BIDEN: “No. Look, here's the deal, Moody's today, a Wall Street firm, not some liberal think tank, said, if we pass the other two things I'm trying to get done, we will in fact reduce inflation -- reduce inflation, reduce inflation -- because they're going to be providing good opportunities and jobs for people who in fact, are going to be reinvesting that money back in all the things we're talking about, driving down prices, not raising prices.” (CNN Town Hall With President Joe Biden, 7/21/2021)

PRESIDENT BIDEN: “If we make a prudent, multi-year investments … If we increase the availability of quality, affordable childcare, eldercare, paid leave, more people will enter the workforce. These steps will enhance our productivity — raising wages without raising prices. That won’t increase inflation. It will take the pressure off of inflation, give a boost to our workforce, which leads to lower prices in the years ahead. So, if your primary concern right now is inflation, you should be even more enthusiastic about this plan.” (Remarks by President Biden on the Economy, Washington, DC, 7/19/2021)

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “Again, despite the sometimes hysterical warnings about inflation from Republicans, the chief economist at Moody’s concludes that those concerns are ‘misplaced,’ ‘overdone,’ and that our two infrastructure bills are designed to ‘ease’— his words—inflation pressures…. I hope my colleagues are listening to those benefits…. Easing inflation pressures…. That’s what one of the nation’s leading economists predicts our two infrastructure bills will achieve.” (Sen. Schumer, Remarks, 7/21/2021)

 

Senate Republicans: ‘[T]here’s More And More Money Coming From The Federal Government, Chasing Fewer Goods And Services, Driving Up Prices’ And ‘Our Hard-Working Families Are Already Feeling The Burden From These Rising Costs Of Goods And Services’

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member: “The enemy of the working class, American middle class, and fixed income Americans is inflation. And the package [Democrats are] proposing is going to take it to a new level…. The policies they are pushing do not match the times in which we live. They are in denial about the results of their policies.” (Sen. Graham, Press Conference, 7/21/2021)

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): “Well, the Democrats seem determined to bankrupt America. This reckless tax and spending spree is … the ultimate liberal wish list with taxes and spending and regulations that are not just reckless, they’re scary when you really think about it. You know who’s going to end up paying the bill for this? It’s going to Middle-class Americans who are already paying prices through the roof with inflation.” (Sen. Barrasso, Press Conference, 7/21/2021)

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): “Americans have seen a 3.5 percent increase in their wages. But inflation at 5.4 percent is an actual reduction in the take home pay of everyday Americans. … Literally the staples of American life are increasing exponentially and that’s before the inflationary effect of this next… package.” (Sen. Tim Scott, Press Conference, 7/21/2021)

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): “Our hard-working families are already feeling the burden from these rising costs of goods and services. Things like paper towels and diapers, just everyday items that our families need. And yet the Democrats are trying to ram through another $3.5 trillion of spending. … We are already knocking on $30 trillion of debt. And adding to this burden—it’s not the time when we are battling inflation. And I can say honest to God this type of reckless spending and taxing is never a good time.” (Sen. Ernst, Press Conference, 7/21/2021)

SEN. STEVE DAINES (R-MT): “The challenge we have with this reckless spending and tax[ing] bill that the Democrats are trying to push through on a purely partisan basis is that inflation is the most regressive tax on working Americans. The less money you have, the more you’re impacted by inflation…. And sadly, those who will be affected the most by what’s going on here in Washington, D.C., are those who can afford it the least …” (Sen. Daines, Press Conference, 7/21/2021)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): “[T]here’s more and more money coming from the federal government, chasing fewer goods and services, driving up prices…. This is not a time, if there ever was one, for the federal government to continue spending this kind of money recklessly—borrowed money that’s going to have to be paid back by future generations. I think we’re approaching now a debt-to-GDP ratio that we haven’t experienced since World War II.” (Sen. Cornyn, Press Conference, 7/21/2021)

 

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SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Economy, Middle Class