Inflation

 

America has always been a place where if you work hard, you can get ahead. But it’s gotten a lot more challenging in the Biden-Harris economy. Inflation has dealt working families a series of setbacks that have made it harder to get ahead. And it’s in large part due to this administration’s reckless spending.

Three and a half years ago Vice President Harris cast her first tie-breaking votes in the U.S. Senate to advance $1.9 trillion in spending under the guise of pandemic relief. She and Democrats in Congress had been warned that that level of spending risked setting off inflation unlike any we had seen in a generation. But they passed it anyway. And inflation began to take off almost immediately.

For many Americans, life in the Biden-Harris economy feels like a downgrade. All told, it costs a typical family $13,000 more per year just to maintain the same standard of living it enjoyed when President Biden took office, and nearly every aspect of daily life is more expensive in the Biden-Harris economy. More than one-third of Americans are worried about paying their bills. People are pulling back on their spending and putting more on their credit cards. Some people are even taking on extra work just to get by. But sometimes, it’s still not enough.

And it’s not just higher prices. Measures to tame inflation have also added to Americans’ financial pain. To fight inflation, the Federal Reserve has been forced to keep interest rates high, which affects Americans’ finances in a variety of ways. Higher interest rates, in part the result of the Fed’s actions, are making credit card bills harder to pay down. The same is true for car payments. And Americans looking to own their own home are facing what one housing expert called “the most challenging home buying market we’ve ever seen.”

The White House has spent a lot of time trying to spin this economy as strong. But the American people aren’t buying it. An economy where people are working harder and still struggling to get by isn’t what most Americans consider a strong economy. And it can’t be America’s future.

Inflation began accelerating as a result of Democrats’ reckless spending. Yet the Biden-Harris administration and congressional Democrats show no signs of backing off their reckless tax and spending agenda. In fact, it’s clear they envision a lot more of the same. The administration’s latest budget request is filled with burdensome new taxes and trillions in new spending. They want to see the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire, which would mean more tax increases on American families and businesses. And Democrats still have plenty of other tax and spending ideas they would like to implement.

The American people have suffered enough. I don’t want to think about what kind of economic pain we could see from another four years of Democrats’ reckless spending. And I hope the American people will not have to experience it.