A new report undermines the Biden administration’s claims that nobody could have prepared for the so-called “Putin Price Hike” and resulting supply chain issues caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported, “In the Oval Office in October 2021, President Biden’s top advisers presented him with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war plans for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” The report was based on data researched by the intelligence community.
Biden, for his part, has long blamed the war for the record-high inflation that America has experienced for nearly the entirety of 2022. He’s dubbed it the “Putin Price Hike.” (We’ll humor him for a moment and pretend that is true and that his disastrous government spending isn’t to blame)
Folks in his administration like Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo have claimed the inflation was entirely unpredictable and that Biden was beset by events outside of his control.
“I don’t think anyone predicted Putin’s war in Ukraine, or various other things that have happened that have been unexpected,” Raimondo said in June.
Yet it would appear that actually, everybody with authority on the matter with Biden’s ear predicted the war.
That would beg the question of why did his administration not begin preparing for the energy crisis, food shortage, and other supply-chain issues that undoubtedly would pop up from Putin’s invasion?
Ideally, his team would have prepared for one of the worst-case scenarios short of World War III or the use of nukes — a long drawn-out war with no end in sight. The administration would have cut back on spending, perhaps raised interest rates, and worked to ensure access to alternative sources of energy.
Looking at the current state of the economy, alongside Raimondo’s words, it is evident that they took no such preparation. As the saying goes, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
Of course, this is not the first time that the current administration has been caught flatfooted and late to the ball on an emerging crisis. A similar thing happened with the baby-food shortage that is still plaguing Americans. Top members of the Biden administration were warned of a supply shortage in late 2021, according to Health and Human Services chief Xavier Becerra. Yet for some reason, the Biden team did not start acting on the problem until late spring.
A key part of the administration’s solution, similar to the energy crisis supposedly imposed by Putin, has been to rely on foreign powers for shipments of baby formula. That pattern does not imbue much confidence that Biden’s team can handle whatever else lay just beyond the horizon.
Of course, what Biden rarely mentions is that inflation was skyrocketing prior to Putin’s invasion. The “Putin Price Hike” only came after his excessive government spending and his discouragement of fossil fuel investment.
Regardless, it is entirely evident that the Biden team could have prepared for the fallout of the invasion in October 2021, yet they didn’t, resulting in economic calamity for most Americans.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.