[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 20, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Inflation

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, for almost 3 years now, the American 
people have watched the Biden administration and their Democratic 
allies in Congress burn through trillions of dollars of their hard-
earned money.
  Early on in the administration, when one of their radical proposals 
made its way to the Senate floor, I would hear from Tennesseans wanting 
to know whom the Democrats expected to actually pay the bill for these 
programs. But as time has gone by, the Democrats confirmed, as they 
have every time they have been in power, that their plan was to keep 
squeezing taxpayers for as much money as possible, for as long as 
possible. Indeed, the Federal Government has a ceaseless, nonending 
appetite for taxpayers' money.
  I don't think I have to tell you how discouraging this is for 
Tennesseans. It is confirmation that their President knows what is 
happening to them but he just does not care. They are in pursuit of a 
goal. They see this as a means to an end.
  Now, when I am at home in Tennessee, as I was this weekend, people 
don't ask me where all the money went because they know the Democrats 
have wasted it on handouts and Green New Deal schemes--trillions of 
dollars down the drain. All they want to know is when is this going to 
stop.
  They can't plan ahead. They can't save for special occasions. Even 
something as simple as a holiday cookout has slipped out of reach for 
so many families. Independence Day is coming up, but what should be an 
exciting time for everyone has turned into a source of stress because, 
in 1 year--1 year--the price of a bag of chips, up 7.9 percent; ice 
cream and popsicles, 8 percent more; potato salad will cost 7.1 percent 
more this year, and that is only accounting for the cost of the 
potatoes. Hot dogs and hamburgers have gone up, but when you account 
for the almost 16-percent hike on ketchup and mustard, a 9.4-percent 
hike on lettuce, the 13-percent hike on pickles, and a ridiculous 12.5-
percent hike on the bun to put it all on, you can cross your main 
course off the menu also.
  There is no reason why a meal like this should suddenly be out of 
reach of many families, but it is, and it is not just due to the price 
of the hamburger bun. That is just something that really is adding 
insult to injury.
  Since Joe Biden became President, grocery prices have increased 20 
percent, which is something every single person serving in Congress has 
seen in action. You cannot deny this. Any trip to the grocery store 
tells the story.
  Energy bills have gone up 36 percent since Joe Biden and the 
Democrats took power. Rent is up 15 percent; clothes, 12 percent more. 
A tank of gas is up 51 percent, and a used car to put that gas in is 
going to cost you 33 percent more today than it did last June.
  To counteract all of this, the Fed has raised interest rates at the 
fastest pace since the 1980s, which has in turn destroyed access to 
consumer credit and made it harder for small businesses to take out the 
loans they need to grow.
  The problem isn't limited to a holiday celebration; our President and 
the Democrats have made life too expensive to afford every single day 
of the year.
  Needless to say, spending has been out of control for over a decade. 
Regardless of what this administration believes, we cannot spend our 
way to prosperity. It does not happen. But we can directly trace this 
crippling inflation back to the reckless spending policies of this 
administration. So let's take a look at some of the things they have 
chosen to prioritize over the good of the country and the good of the 
people.
  They used the 6,825-page Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 to 
set a new precedent for wasteful spending that, frankly, continues to 
baffle most Tennesseans. This bill, which no one had the opportunity to 
read, included billions in pure waste and authorized over $1.82 
trillion in total discretionary spending authority.
  To make matters worse, the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed last 
August, gave the Internal Revenue Service $80 billion for--guess what--
more IRS agents. They estimate that the resulting increase in 
harassment will take $204 billion from hard-working taxpayers who are 
already struggling to make ends meet.
  The IRA also included $386 billion for Joe Biden's radical climate 
agenda, including $27 billion for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, 
the sole purpose of which is to increase the power of the EPA; $3 
billion in environmental and climate justice block grants; and an 
extension of the Affordable Care Act's premium tax credits.
  This is hundreds of billions of dollars going to pet projects of the 
left, while Americans are struggling to put food on the table.
  But the spending won't stop there. Earlier this year, President Biden 
released a pledge to make things worse. It is in the form of his 2024 
budget request. This exorbitant wish list proved that he has no desire 
to get our national debt under control. It included annual budget 
deficits ranging between 4.6 and 6.8 percent above the baseline. He 
also included trillions in tax increases and added even more funding to 
the IRS. He doubled the tax on capital gains; increased the corporate 
income tax rate to 28 percent, which is the second highest rate in the 
developed world; and then made sure the IRS could find ways to take 
even more money--not exactly a taxpayer-friendly approach.
  This path is not sustainable and will only lead to our children and 
grandchildren bearing the full brunt of our massive national debt 
burden. In my opinion, this is immoral.
  This is why every Congress I introduce legislation to cut spending by 
1, 2, and 5 percent all across the board. These small changes would 
make a big difference and help us return to a path of fiscal stability 
and fiscal sanity.
  The Consumer Price Index rose 4 percent in May. Incredibly enough, 
the Biden administration celebrated this as a win, which leads me to 
believe they are still counting on the American people somehow ignoring 
what a mess they made in continuing to fork over the money.
  Let's be clear. Four percent inflation is still double the target 
rate. This is not a win. It is not normal. The day Joe Biden came into 
office, inflation was at 1.4 percent.
  Now, what this does do, it does guarantee that Tennesseans will face 
yet another month of groceries that are too expensive to afford and 
unsustainable spending on programs they did not vote for and do not 
want.
  If we were to pass a 1-percent across-the-board cut to Federal 
spending, then there is a chance we can reverse this trend and ease the 
impossible burden that the Biden administration has placed on the 
American people. But if we continue to ignore the problem and spend 
even more money, that will lead us even further down the path to 
economic collapse.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
permitted to speak for up to 7 minutes and that Senator Grassley be 
permitted to speak for 5 minutes prior to the scheduled vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.