[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4549-S4550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Inflation

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
released the August inflation numbers, and as every American who has 
been to a grocery store lately knows, August was yet another month of 
high inflation.
  Consumer prices rose 8.3 percent last month from a year earlier, 
holding to a near-four-decade-high--40-year-high--inflation. And 
Americans are feeling the strain.

[[Page S4550]]

  Even 1 unexpectedly expensive month can be challenging for many 
families, but at least it is actually and usually possible to recover 
from a single tough month. How are American families going to recover 
from the months upon months upon months of high inflation that have 
marked the Biden economy?
  As I said, American families are suffering. Grocery bills are out of 
control. Between August 2021 and August 2022, grocery bills rose at 
their highest rate since 1979--1979, I was a senior in high school. 
Even back-to-school supplies like pencils and glue are more expensive.
  The National Retail Federation reported in July that households were 
on track to spend an average of $864 on back-to-school shopping--a 24-
percent increase from 2019.
  Utility bills have soared. Things have gotten so bad that 
approximately one out of every six households--one out of every six 
households in America--is behind on its utility bills. Unfortunately, 
considering the increases in the price of natural gas and electricity 
since President Biden took office, it is not surprising. Forty percent 
of households--40 percent--reported having difficulty paying for their 
normal household expenses.
  And Gallup reports that 56 percent of Americans--well over half of 
the U.S. population--are experiencing financial hardship as a result of 
inflation.
  The personal savings rate has plunged to its lowest levels since 
2009, and many Americans are dipping into their savings to make ends 
meet. Others have taken up a side job or are pulling out the credit 
card. Still others have been forced to rely on food banks.
  As recently as Friday, President Biden was touting his work to 
``finally deliver an economy that works for working families.'' I have 
to say, I don't know what ivory tower the President is living in, but 
the Biden economy is the very opposite of an economy that works for 
working families.
  Working families in the Biden economy are struggling. They are 
wondering how they can make ends meet. They are cutting back on 
groceries like meat or milk. They are cutting back on family trips or 
putting off necessary home repairs. They are, as I said, dipping into 
their savings or charging necessities on their credit cards or visiting 
food banks.
  A recent CBS News article discussing a new Gallup poll noted:

       The findings indicate that the hottest inflation in 40 
     years is eating into the bedrock of the American economy--the 
     middle-class--and even eroding the financial stability of 
     more well-heeled households.

  To repeat:

       The findings indicate that the hottest inflation in 40 
     years is eating into the bedrock of the American economy--the 
     middle-class.

  This is not an economy that is--to paraphrase the President--being 
built from the bottom up and the middle out. This is not an economy 
that ``works for working families.'' This is an economy where living 
standards for working families are declining.
  The President has actually had the audacity to repeatedly bring up 
the lines of cars waiting at food banks that occurred during the height 
of the COVID pandemic, with the implication that things are different 
now in the Biden economy. Perhaps no one at the White House has read 
the news recently.
  Here is a sampling of headlines from the past few weeks:

       Las Vegas food banks experiencing heightened demand amid 
     inflation spikes.

  Here is another one:

       Food banks feeling pinch of high inflation as centers 
     juggle to increased demand for help.

  Another headline:

       New Hampshire food pantries struggle with rising costs, 
     growing demand: Organizations say more people than ever need 
     help.

  Another headline:

       St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix sees record number of 
     families in need amid inflation.

  Yet another headline:

       Mountain West food banks are strained by high customer 
     demand and low supply.

  Unfortunately, I can go on. At this point, everyone knows how we got 
here. Democrats took office and decided to pass a massive $1.9 trillion 
spending bill, the so-called American Rescue Plan Act, that flooded the 
economy with unnecessary government money. And the economy overheated 
as a result.
  When President Biden took office, the inflation rate was 1.4 percent, 
well within the Fed's 2-percent target.
  Democrats were warned, including by at least one noted economist from 
their own party, that the legislation ran the risk of overheating the 
economy. But they were committed to taking advantage of their new 
majority to push through their Big Government, Big Spending vision. And 
so they ignored the warnings, and their bill helped trigger the worst 
inflation crisis in 40 years.
  But perhaps the worst part is that even after Democrats saw the 
damage that resulted from their American Rescue Plan spending spree, 
they continued to try to double down on the spending strategy that 
helped get us into this mess in the first place.
  Democrats spent half of last year attempting to force through--if you 
can believe this--yet another partisan spending spree originally 
planned to cost up to $5 trillion. Fortunately for Americans, those 
particular far-left fantasies were foiled. But that hasn't stopped 
Democrats from continuing to accumulate wasteful government spending.
  In August, Democrats forged through a partisan tax-and-spending bill 
that will raise Americans' energy bills, reduce jobs and opportunities 
for American workers, and waste taxpayer dollars on a host of Green New 
Deal priorities, like electric vehicle tax credits for wealthy 
Americans and road equity and identifying gaps in tree canopy coverage. 
They called this tax-and-spending spree the Inflation Reduction Act, 
even though--as even the Democrat chairman of the Senate Budget 
Committee admitted--the bill will not reduce inflation. Apparently, the 
title's only function is to make the bill sound more acceptable to 
Americans who are sick and tired of dealing with soaring prices and 
economic pain.

  Then, a mere 8 days--8 days--after signing the so-called Inflation 
Reduction Act, the President once again added to Democrats' record of 
economic malfeasance with a massive student loan giveaway that could 
cost more than $1 trillion and that the Committee for a Responsible 
Federal Budget notes will ``meaningfully boost inflation.'' That from 
the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
  I am not sure whether the Democrats are incapable of learning their 
lesson or whether they consider soaring prices to be a trivial issue 
next to implementing their Green New Deal agenda or whether they think 
inflation is an acceptable price to pay for Big Government. But, 
whatever it is, Democrats are apparently going to continue to ignore 
the economic pain that Americans are experiencing in favor of 
implementing their far-left, Big Government, and big-spending agenda. 
And it appears that the American people are going to have to continue 
to suffer as a result.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I would ask consent to speak for up to 5 
minutes before the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.