Smith: Biden Gambled with the American Economy and the American People Are Paying for His Loss
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the Consumer Price Index showed inflation remaining at a forty-year high of 8.6 percent, and rising 12.2 percent since President Biden took office:“As difficult as it may be for Treasury Secretary Yellen to admit she was wrong about inflation, it has been far more painful for the average American who has filled up their gas tank or purchased groceries in the last 16 months. The truth is that inflation did not just sneak up on the Biden White House – the warning signs were there all along. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected the economy was well on its way to recovery without any more federal stimulus. Obama Administration economist Larry Summers warned the Democrats’ spending could ‘set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation.’ Yet, President Biden and his accomplices in Congress ignored these warnings in order to pave the way for their $2 trillion partisan spending spree, which economists have now confirmed helped spark the highest inflation in 40 years.
“In his first few months in office, President Biden chose to gamble with the American economy and lost. Now it is American families who are paying the price. The average American household will pay a $5,200 inflation tax this year, on top of the $3,500 they paid last year. Rising gas prices will cost families an average of $5,000 more this year because of the President’s reckless policies. Inflation has risen every month of Joe Biden’s Presidency, totaling 12.2 percent since he first took office, and now the President and his Democrat allies in Congress insist the fix for inflation is to spend even more. It’s no wonder that 71 percent of Americans disapprove of the President’s handling of inflation.
“Each day that goes by while President Biden and Washington Democrats make excuses for the inflation crisis they created, more and more of Americans’ paychecks are swallowed up by rising inflation. What the American people need is lower prices, not more spending and speeches from the President.”
Key Facts
- Inflation increased 8.6 percent in May 2022 year-over-year
- Inflation has increased 12.2 percent since Joe Biden became President
- Gas prices have increased 109 percent since Joe Biden became President
- Real wages have dropped 4.2 percent since Joe Biden became President
- President Biden’s $2 trillion so-called “American Rescue Plan” raised the FY21 deficit $517 billion above CBO’s projection to the 2nd highest deficit in American history, and was the spark that helped ignite the inflation crisis
- Inflation in 2022 and 2023 is projected to be 64 percent above CBO’s February 2021 baseline. This after last year’s inflation was more than triple CBO’s projections when Biden took office.
###
