[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.