[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.