Republican officials reacted to inflation reaching a new four-decade high by plastering the Biden administration’s handling of the economy.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.6% between May 2021 and May 2022, according to a Friday morning report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The news came one day after gas prices hit $5 per gallon in the United States.
In response to the poor economic news, President Joe Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin, and told lawmakers to make wealthy Americans and corporations “pay their fair share” in taxes. Republicans, however, agreed with the plurality of Americans in pinning the blame on President Biden himself.
“Inflation reaches another 40 year record high. Gas is $5 per gallon. Parents still can’t find baby formula,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) remarked. “Joe Biden’s America.”
Inflation reaches another 40 year record high.
Gas is $5 per gallon.
Parents still can’t find baby formula.
Joe Biden’s America.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) June 10, 2022
“America continues to struggle with runaway inflation,” former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered. “And all we hear from Washington DC is shifting the blame. How about focusing on the problem and offering real solutions that work?”
America continues to struggle with runaway inflation. And all we hear from Washington DC is shifting the blame. How about focusing on the problem and offering real solutions that work?
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) June 11, 2022
“Inflation is definitely NOT transitory. A dollar at the start of Biden’s disastrous admin is now worth less than $0.90,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) noted. “Biden’s inflation tax is costing families $5,000/yr, hurting seniors on fixed incomes, and reducing the value of savings and retirement funds. Thanks, Joe.”
Inflation is definitely NOT transitory. A dollar at the start of Biden’s disastrous admin is now worth less than $0.90.
Biden’s inflation tax is costing families $5,000/yr, hurting seniors on fixed incomes, and reducing the value of savings and retirement funds.
Thanks, Joe.
— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) June 10, 2022
“Inflation is through the roof, hitting 8.6% over the past year, the highest in 4 decades,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) added. “It’s no surprise Democrats are trying to distract from their miserable failures with primetime political stunts,” he said in reference to the January 6 hearings.
Inflation is through the roof, hitting 8.6% over the past year, the highest in 4 decades.
It’s no surprise Democrats are trying to distract from their miserable failures with primetime political stunts. https://t.co/P1Gnge2RHI
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 10, 2022
“Inflation reached a 40-year high of 8.6% in May–the highest total so far under the Biden regime,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) commented. “Yet, the White House is saying that our ‘economy is in a better place than it has been historically.’ This is a disgrace.”
Inflation reached a 40-year high of 8.6% in May–the highest total so far under the Biden regime.
Yet, the White House is saying that our “economy is in a better place than it has been historically.”
This is a disgrace.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) June 10, 2022
Indeed, the White House has continued to view the economy through rose-colored glasses.
“What I’m trying to say to you is that the economy is in a better place than it has been historically,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “And so, we feel, here at this administration and other experts as well… we feel that we are in a good position to take on inflation. We are in a good position to really start really working on lowering prices.”
The United States economy, however, contracted at a 1.5% annualized rate during the first quarter of 2022. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis associates recessions with two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Despite Jean-Pierre’s claim that many experts are optimistic, several Democratic economists have pushed back against Biden’s handling of economic policy.
“Corporate power is playing likely a very small role in the inflation that we’re seeing right now,” Jason Furman, a Harvard professor and former chair of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, told Bloomberg last month — a rebuke to the Democratic argument that inflation is coming from greedy corporations price-gouging consumers.
Even at the end of last year, Larry Summers — who served as Treasury Secretary under former President Bill Clinton and director of the National Economic Council under former President Barack Obama — warned about the inflationary impact of loose fiscal and monetary policy.
“If I thought we could sustainably run the economy in a red-hot way, that would be a wonderful thing, but the consequence — and this is the excruciating lesson we learned in the 1970s — of an overheating economy is not merely elevated inflation, but constantly rising inflation,” Summers said. “That’s why my fear is that we are already reaching a point where it will be challenging to reduce inflation without giving rise to recession.”