On Wednesday, President Biden said his social spending bill will aid in lowering prices following the Labor Department’s report showing annual inflation hit a 30-year high.
Biden claimed the “human infrastructure” bill would beat inflation by bringing Americans back into the workforce. “Going forward, it is important that Congress pass my Build Back Better plan, which is fully paid for and does not add to the debt, and will get more Americans working by reducing the cost of child care and elder care, and help directly lower costs for American families by providing more affordable health coverage and prescription drugs – alongside cutting taxes for 50 million Americans including for most families with children,” Biden wrote in a statement.
He added that 17 Nobel Prize winners in economics noted that his Build Back Better plan would “ease inflationary pressures” and will not add to the national debt as the wealthiest Americans and big corporations will be taxed according to what constitutes their fair share of payment.
Data released by the Labor Department on Wednesday showed that consumer prices grew at a faster rate than anticipated last month. The Consumer Price Index tracks inflation for a variety of popular goods and services and shows a rise by 0.9 percent in October and 6.2 percent in the year-to-date period ending in that month. This is the highest rate the U.S. has seen in 30 years.
Rising inflation has hurt Biden’s popularity, and the president has emphasized his efforts in curbing it. “Inflation hurts Americans’ pocketbooks, and reversing this trend is a top priority for me,” he commented.
As the social spending package travels through Congress, it is expected to pass the House next week. Moderates like Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, though, are still hesitant about supporting the measure.
He relayed his concerns about the bill’s true impact on inflation on Wednesday: “By all accounts, the threat posed by record inflation to the American people is not ‘transitory’ and is instead getting worse,” he wrote. “Form the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and D.C. can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.”
ARTICLE: ELIZABETH HERTZBERG
MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE
PHOTO CREDITS: KESQ.COM
