[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1355-S1356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Inflation

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, one of President Biden's favorite things to 
talk about is giving families ``a little bit of breathing room.'' It is 
a phrase he uses frequently, just as he also frequently talks about 
growing the economy ``from the middle out and the bottom up, not from 
the top down.''
  He used both phrases in a speech just last week. And, frankly, it is 
somewhat staggering to me that he continues to talk like this, because 
the Biden economy is the story of taking away Americans' breathing 
room. It is a story of declining purchasing power for lower and middle-
income families, of wages that don't keep pace with increased costs, of 
stretched budgets and difficult spending decisions. President Biden has 
presided over a historic inflation crisis that has left American 
families struggling just to keep up. According to the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture in February 2023, a cost-effective nutritious meal plan 
for a family of four cost $979.40 per month.
  Two years earlier, that same family would have had to spend $674.80. 
That is a 45-percent increase--a 45-percent increase. The Biden economy 
is costing that family of four an additional $304 a month for 
groceries, or $3,655 per year more. And, again, that is just on 
groceries.
  I don't need to tell anyone that prices have risen across the board, 
15.4 percent on average since President Biden took office, and American 
families are feeling the pinch. A recent CNBC survey found that 70 
percent of Americans are feeling financially stressed--70 percent--and 
that the majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And it 
is no surprise, given that inflation has outpaced wage growth for 24 
straight months--meaning that under the Biden administration, Americans 
have received a de facto pay cut.
  Americans are cutting back on spending, dipping into savings, or 
charging expenses to their credit card to help make ends meet. 
Bloomberg reports on a growing trend of relying on ``buy now, pay 
later'' apps for everyday purchases, noting that and I quote:

       U.S. consumers are increasingly using such installment 
     loans to pay for everyday items like groceries, highlighting 
     the financial pain wrought by the worst inflation outbreak in 
     four decades.

  Credit card debt hit a record high in the final quarter of 2022, and 
nearly half of Americans are carrying balances now from month to month. 
More than two-thirds of Americans are saving less than they did a year 
ago. And the list goes on. Put simply, if President Biden wanted to 
create more breathing room for Americans, he has failed. In fact, 
President Biden has taken away Americans' breathing room, and there is 
little relief in sight.
  Now, I don't need to tell anyone that one of the main reasons we are 
in the midst of this inflation crisis is because of Democrats and the 
President's decision to pass the so-called American Rescue Plan Act, 
which was a massive and partisan $1.9 trillion spending spree that 
flooded our economy with unnecessary government money.
  Democrats were warned that their bill would cause inflation, and they 
proceeded anyway. And the economy overheated as a result. Even worse, 
despite steadily climbing inflation in the wake of their bill, 
Democrats seemed determined not to recognize their mistake. Instead of 
acknowledging their oversized spending bill helped set off inflation, 
Democrats kept pursuing more spending and more damaging economic 
policies.
  There is the $5 trillion big government vision they called Build Back 
Better but should probably have been named more aptly ``Build Back 
Broke'' or ``Bankrupt,'' the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which 
has done nothing to address inflation but has imposed a series of new 
taxes that are driving up Americans' energy costs.
  The President's reckless student loan giveaway, which could end up 
costing American taxpayers close to a trillion dollars. And there is 
more. And the bad ideas just keep coming.
  The President recently released his budget proposal, which would 
increase spending every year until the Federal budget reaches an eye-
watering $10 trillion in the year 2033--$10 trillion. For comparison, 
let me just point out that the entire Federal budget for 2019--and that 
is the last budget before the pandemic--was $4.4 trillion--$4.4 
trillion.
  President Biden wants to more than double that: $4.4 trillion to $10 
trillion. And then there is the latest idea from the White House, which 
is punishing Americans with good credit scores if they purchase a 
house. That is right. Think about this one: The Biden administration 
has announced a new policy which is set to go into effect on May 1st 
that would impose higher mortgage fees on Americans with higher credit 
scores, and the highest fees on Americans who make a substantial 
downpayment.
  Now if you save and are able to make a 20 percent downpayment on a 
home, you are going to pay more under the Biden administration plan.
  These higher fees would then go to subsidize mortgages for Americans 
with lower credit scores. In other words, think about it this way: The 
Biden administration is targeting hard-working Americans who save, 
diligently pay their bills, and build good credit, in order to 
subsidize mortgages for higher risk borrowers.
  It is the microcosm of Biden's big government policies. Punish hard 
work, punish financial discipline, punish success, and redistribute the 
wealth. Squeeze middle-class Americans. Force hard-working taxpayers to 
fund Democrats' socialist visions.
  We literally are socializing mortgage payments. That is what it 
amounts to. Nothing more, nothing less. Because, let's be very clear, 
President Biden likes to talk about forcing better-off Americans to pay 
for his policies, and he likes to claim that he isn't going to raise 
taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 a year. But this new 
mortgage policy is going to hit thousands and thousands of middle-class 
Americans making ordinary salaries whose only crime is that they worked 
hard, saved money, and have been responsible with their debt.

  The President can talk all he likes about making wealthy Americans 
pay

[[Page S1356]]

their fair share, the truth is that it is lower and middle-income 
Americans who are suffering as a result of the President's economic 
policies.
  This summer another big economic issue will come into play: The debt 
limit. Sometime in the next few months, the United States will reach 
the limit of its borrowing capacity, and Congress will have to pass--
and the President will have to sign--legislation to raise the debt 
ceiling to enable the United States to pay our debts. Needless to say, 
that will require negotiations between the President and Congress, 
something the President has so far refused to engage in.
  Why? Because the President doesn't want an increase in the debt limit 
to be paired with any measures that might cut spending or actually do 
something to reduce the debt.
  I suppose that is not a surprising position from someone who wants to 
grow government, increase the size of the Federal budget to a 
staggering $10 trillion, but it is a deeply problematic position--both 
because it ignores the increasing danger represented by our ever-
increasing national debt and because it is an unrealistic position.
  In a divided government, a refusal to negotiate cannot be an option. 
And if the President doesn't want to go down in history as the 
President who forced the United States to default on its debt, he needs 
to start engaging in negotiations.
  House Republicans are putting forward a serious bill to restrain 
excess spending while protecting the full faith and credit of the 
United States. The President needs to join the Speaker at the 
negotiating table. Responsible spending reforms might not undo the 
economic damage the President has done, but they could put us on a more 
sustainable and less-damaging path for the future. And they could spare 
Americans some of the economic pain that would result from more of 
President Biden's reckless government spending.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hickenlooper). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.