[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1195-S1196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              The Economy

  Mr. President, on another matter, last week marked 1 year since 
Democrats rammed $2 trillion of runaway liberal spending through the 
Senate on a party-line vote. Working families were certainly not 
celebrating this particular anniversary; they were too busy contending 
with the worst inflation in modern American history, unleashed in large 
part by that very bill.
  Democrats' policies have conjured up the worst inflation in 40 years. 
Consumer prices rose 0.8 percent in the month of February alone. Annual 
inflation hit 7.9 percent. It is still getting worse. We just learned 
yesterday that the Producer Price Index, which measures inflation 
upstream at the wholesale level, is up 10 percent--10 percent--since 
last year.
  This is hammering American families. Experts estimate that inflation 
alone is costing the average household more than $296 every single 
month--the equivalent of an extra $300 monthly bill courtesy of 
Democratic policies. No wonder almost 60 percent of Americans say 
inflation is causing them personal financial pain and the Democrats' 
approval ratings on the economy are way underwater. Even with a literal 
land war in Europe, the Democrats' inflation is so painful that 
inflation and not Ukraine still tops the American people's biggest list 
of concerns.
  From the gas pump to the grocery store, to clothes, diapers, and baby 
formula, to furniture and home essentials, to car repairs and car 
replacements, Democrats' policies have put working families on a 
treadmill where they have to run faster and faster every month just to 
stay in place. Rent prices are spiking faster than they have since 
1991. Grocery prices are soaring faster than they have since 1981. New 
cars and truck prices are climbing at their fastest rates ever. Forget 
about getting ahead and saving--households are lucky if they are even 
able to tread water.
  Lately, Democrats have launched a shameless campaign to blame 12 
months of inflation not on 12 months of their bad policies but instead 
on the last 3 weeks' crisis in Europe. The White House informs us that 
``Putin's price hike'' is the culprit. Of course, that is utter 
nonsense. Even liberal experts are rejecting their shameless spin.
  A former top economist for President Obama directly responded to the 
Biden administration's attempt to shift the blame. He said:

       Well--

  This is what he said--

       Well, no. These are February numbers and only include [a] 
     small Russia effect. This is Biden's inflation and he needs 
     to own it.

  The White House spin has not even persuaded former Democratic 
officials.
  Here is another quote:

       This is Biden's inflation and he needs to own it.

  Working Americans understand it just as well as the experts. 
Everybody knows where the buck stops. One retired mechanic who lives in 
Los Angeles recently explained to a reporter that he is facing $6 
gasoline and rising food prices. He is a registered Democrat, but he 
knows where this inflation came from. Here is how he described it.
  He said:

       Uncle Joe has put us on a diet. I like to have a steak once 
     or twice a month. I can't do it now.

  This is exactly what Republicans said would happen when Democrats 
dumped trillions of dollars into printing and spending on a partisan 
basis last year. Even top liberal economists said Democrats' reckless 
spending spree would bring about inflationary pressures like we have 
not seen for a generation.
  Ah, but Democrats didn't listen. They pushed ahead, and, for 12 
months and counting, working families have been paying a heavy price.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the Republican leader referred to the 
American Rescue Plan, which did not receive a single Republican vote in 
support. He referred to it as runaway Federal spending.
  What did we buy with the American Rescue Plan?
  We bought vaccines, and we bought an administration and management of 
delivering those vaccines to the American people in the midst of a 
pandemic that was claiming American lives every day.
  Runaway Federal spending--how much stronger would this Nation be if 
we were still in the depths of this pandemic?
  We are emerging from it, thank God. But it wasn't for lack of effort 
on our part on this side of the aisle.
  Yes, we spent the money. We administered the shots, and people across 
America are now protected from hospitalizations and death because of 
it. No apologies here to my colleague from Kentucky. It was money well 
spent, not just for that--and that was the number one public health 
purpose--but, secondly, to keep businesses afloat so they can reopen 
their doors as the pandemic ebbed.
  That investment in the capital of America, in the businesses of 
America, paid off for business owners who otherwise would have lost 
their life savings and family investments and for their workers who 
finally returned to work.
  I think it helped the small businesses, and I think it helped the 
families. The child tax credit, which cut in half child poverty in 
America--that child tax credit, according to the Senator from Kentucky, 
was runaway Federal spending. Tell that to the family who lives 
paycheck to paycheck and tries to provide the basics in life for their 
children. No apologies here for the American Rescue Plan.

[[Page S1196]]

  And when you ask the American people, ``What about this inflation,'' 
it is a problem. Of course, it is. We see it as they do. And we see it 
all across the world. Inflation isn't confined to the United States. It 
is reflected in a world that is emerging from COVID-19, where 
economies--local economies--were strangled and choked and restricted. 
Now, they are expanding. People are expanding their needs and spending 
on that side of it. If the supply doesn't keep up with it, then 
inflation results. We have a battle ahead of us and many plans here to 
try to address it with a number of items to reduce the cost of living 
for families.