[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 1, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S422-S423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              The Economy

  Mr. McCONNELL. Working Americans and their families are being 
hammered by the worst inflation in 40 years, and Washington Democrats 
own it. Sometimes it can be difficult to directly connect Washington 
policies to the downstream effects on our families. Sometimes it can be 
tricky to identify cause and effect. But not this time--not in this 
case.
  The pain that families are feeling today was not just foreseeable, it 
was

[[Page S423]]

actually foreseen by experts all across the political spectrum.
  Economists said this inflation is exactly--exactly--what would happen 
if Democrats pushed ahead with their reckless spending sprees that the 
economy simply did not need.
  Larry Summers, who was Treasury Secretary for President Clinton and 
ran the National Economic Council for President Obama, warned Democrats 
a year ago this week that Democrats far-left plans could trigger 
``inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation.''
  Jason Furman, who chaired President Obama's Council of Economic 
Advisers, said the very same thing. He said the Democrat's spending 
binge was ``definitely too big for the moment. I don't know any 
economist that was recommending something the size of what was done.'' 
That is Jason Furman, President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.
  But our Democratic colleagues did not let families' actual needs 
restrain their radical daydreaming. They had already made up their 
minds. This temporary pandemic was to serve as a Trojan horse for 
permanent socialism.
  Remember, right from the start, in March of 2020, with Americans 
dying from this new, mysterious virus, a top House Democrat called it 
``a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.''
  So the new Democratic Party government's first major act was to start 
printing, borrowing, and spending money like there was no tomorrow. 
They managed to blow through roughly $2 trillion on a so-called COVID 
bill that utterly failed to crush the virus. Less than 9 percent of the 
money went to the healthcare fight at all. Even the liberal expert, 
Steve Rattner, a former Obama official, said the spending spree was 
Democrats' ``original sin'' when it comes to inflation.
  And working Americans are paying dearly for it every single day. Just 
look at the headlines:

       2021 went down as the worst year for inflation since 1982.
       Higher prices seeped into just about everything households 
     and businesses buy.
       There's no telling when prices will fall to more 
     sustainable levels.

  Further quotes:

       [R]ising costs for food . . . rent and other necessities 
     are heightening the financial pressures on America's 
     households.
       Rising prices have wiped out the healthy pay increases that 
     many Americans have been receiving, making it harder for 
     households, especially lower-income families, to afford basic 
     expenses.

  Yes, it is true that inflation is up all around the world. This is 
partially a global phenomenon. But the United States has it worse--
worse--than almost everyone else.
  Data from Pew show that America's inflationary spike has been the 
third worst among all countries they measure. We have it worse than any 
other country in the G12--much worse inflation than the UK or France or 
Australia or Japan. That is what this agenda has bought us.
  And Americans are afraid this may still just be the beginning. 
Seventy-nine percent of Americans now expect inflation will get even 
worse over the next 6 months. Now the Democratic-caused inflation has 
the Federal Reserve signaling they may need to raise interest rates 
higher and faster than they had expected.
  This brings its own set of risks upon the American people, and, 
again, it is exactly--exactly--what experts predicted.
  A full year ago this week, the economist, Michael Strain, testified 
that Democrats' spending could corner the Fed and force them to clamp 
down on the recovery sooner than necessary. Democrats had mainstream 
economic experts warning against their reckless spending plans and 
still decided to drive right over the cliff.
  Working families are paying the price every day--at the checkout 
counter, at the gas pump, at the used car lot, when they pay their 
bills, when they look for housing. And now Washington Democrats are 
trying again to revive talk of yet another--another--reckless bout of 
spending this year.
  American families are already hurting enough. They need that bad idea 
to stay buried.