Today President Biden made it clear that he was going to tackle the Inflation crisis by meeting with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
Biden has said that inflation is his “top economic priority” as he outlined his three-part plan to lower costs for Americans who are feeling the pain from the gas pumps to the grocery aisle.
We now have a chance to build on a historic recovery with an economy that works for working families,” Biden wrote. “The most important thing we can do now to transition from rapid recovery to stable, steady growth is to bring inflation down.”
The White House knows that the president needs to address the current inflation crisis as his approval rating rest at 42%, as more Americans are frustrated with high prices and record-high inflation over the last year.
Employment rates are at the highest level in half a century. The May Jobs report is set to deliver a slowdown in hiring and a steep jump in unemployment claims. May also saw the largest interest rate hike in more than two decades which will make borrowing more expensive for businesses and for the average American looking to buy a home, car, or other loans.
As a run-up to the mid-terms, the Democrats see that they need to address this current crisis or risk losing a majority in the house and senate.
The crisis in Ukraine has been given the majority of the blame for our recent spike in prices, yet this is only a fraction of the real story. The massive spending throughout the pandemic mixed with free vaccines, tests, and rent relief programs have left us all with a hefty deficit to deal with.
Most Americans are feeling the pain, Gas prices are at record levels, homes process are out of reach for the majority of the middle class and we face shortages in essentials like baby formula as supply chain issues cause problems.
Biden also has attacked what he calls “ultra-MAGA” Republicans and highlighted a plan by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chair of the National Republican Senate Committee, that would raise income taxes on low-income Americans.
As part of the three-pronged approach toward inflation detailed in his Journal op-ed on Monday, Biden pledged that he would first refrain from improperly weighing in on the Federal Reserve’s actions or attempting to influence its decision-making processes.
“I have appointed highly qualified people from both parties to lead that institution,” Biden wrote. “I agree with their assessment that fighting inflation is our top economic challenge right now.”
Second, Biden called on Congress to “help right away by passing clean energy tax credits and investments.” He also demanded that lawmakers take up his plan to make housing more affordable, reduce the price of prescription drugs and work to lower the cost of child and eldercare.
“I’ve done what I can on my own to help working families during this challenging time — and will keep acting to lower costs where I can — but now Congress needs to act too,” Biden wrote.
Third, Biden insisted that the United States must “keep reducing the federal deficit,” which he argued would “help ease price pressures.”
Biden’s deficit reduction plan, he wrote, would make “common-sense reforms to the tax code,” including discouraging companies from shifting jobs overseas and requiring higher-earning Americans to pay more in taxes.
“The economic policy choices we make today will determine whether a sustained recovery that benefits all Americans is possible,” Biden wrote. “I will work with anyone — Democrat, Republican, or independent — willing to have an open and honest discussion that delivers real solutions for the American people.”