[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 124 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4913-S4914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Economic Recovery

  Madam President, now, on one final matter, earlier this week, new 
June figures further confirmed what working families across America 
already know all too well: Runaway costs are hitting the American 
people where it hurts.
  Sadly, this was 100 percent predictable. Even top Democratic experts, 
like Larry Summers, warned that the jaw-dropping $2 trillion that 
Democrats borrowed and spent back in March might unleash inflation and 
do more harm than good.
  The economy was already packed with dry powder. Households already 
had record savings. Supply chains and inventories were already 
strapped. American families did not need a grand socialist experiment. 
They just needed the government to let things finally, finally, get 
back to normal.
  But the President, the Speaker, and the Democratic leader still 
slapped another $2 trillion on the country's credit card, and it has 
bought us a level of inflation that is unprecedented in recent memory.
  Costs for working families have shot up. Inflation is running so hot 
that even though American workers have seen a 3.6-percent pay increase 
on average since last year, it has been completely swamped, wiped out 
and then some by inflation. In real terms, American workers' pay has 
actually gone down--down--nearly 2 percent since last July.
  So let me say this again. On Democrats' watch, inflation has turned a 
3.6-percent annual pay raise for Americans

[[Page S4914]]

into a nearly 2-percent pay cut. And yet, in a spectacle that could 
only occur in Washington, Democrats picked the very same week to 
announce they want to tax, borrow, and spend yet another--listen to 
this--$4 trillion in the coming weeks. Yet another budget socialist 
package twice as big--twice as big--as the last one.
  I am sure this is just what working Americans want to hear. They are 
already struggling to keep up with the soaring cost of gas, groceries, 
diapers, housing, automobiles--you name it. And now the Democrats' big 
idea is to try and inflate their way out of inflation? Inflate their 
way out of inflation. That will be one wild ride for working Americans, 
middle-class families, and anybody with any savings.
  For good measure, Democrats say they will probably pair this spending 
spree with a set of massive tax hikes, dumped right on top of our 
economic recovery.
  Our colleagues need to take this summer and think very carefully 
about what they are discussing. It would be hard to imagine a proposal 
less suited to the conditions of our country at this point. Americans 
cannot afford another socialist borrowing, taxing, and spending spree 
that will kill jobs and raise costs for working families.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.