[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 116 (Thursday, July 14, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H6513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INFLATION IS A TAX ON ALL OF US
(Mr. CLINE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, skyrocketing prices are eating away at family
budgets across the country; 8.3 percent, 8.6 percent, and now 9.1
percent--those were the inflation rates for April, May, and June of
this year. Year over year, energy prices are up 34 percent; gas, 48
percent; fuel oil, 106 percent; electricity, 12 percent; meat, poultry,
and eggs, 14 percent.
But worse is the majority's answer: Double down on Build Back Better
and a tax-and-spend agenda that raises taxes on local businesses and
farmers as our country enters a recession.
While targeted stimulus during the COVID pandemic may have been
appropriate, the plodding reaction of the Federal Reserve, combined
with the typical reaction of the Democratic majority to spend trillions
on Green New Deal projects and blue State bailouts, have caused
paychecks to shrink and a lack of faith in the economic future of
Americans to rise.
Inflation is a tax on all of us. This 40-year high inflation rate is
a wake-up call to return to fiscal sanity. Unfortunately, no one needs
a crystal ball to see that my friends on the other side of the aisle
are busy hitting the snooze button once again on addressing this
inflation crisis.
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