Washington, D.C. – Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer is taking on the Biden administration over policy moves that have caused higher prices and the return of noticeable inflation.
“Gas, milk, fruit, televisions, furniture, washing machines, car rentals, hotel rooms – what do all of these things have in common? Their prices have gone up under the Biden administration,” Luetkemeyer, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Small Business wrote in an op-ed published Friday by Fox Business.
Data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed prices up 5.4 percent last month over June 2020, the highest jump since the economic difficulties that began when the market for sub-prime home mortgages collapsed in 2008. That’s higher than the interest rate setting U.S. Federal Reserve expected and marks the sixth straight month in which prices have risen.
“While Democrats in Washington bulldoze a path for reckless government spending, small businesses and middle class working American families alike are left to pay the bill,” Luetkemeyer wrote, singling out the damaging impact the newest round of inflation is having on family-owned business.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the United States economy, and they were making huge economic strides before the Biden administration took over. Now, small businesses nationwide are facing the consequences of the Democrats’ massive government spending agenda in all sectors,” he wrote.
The U.S. says government nearly half the country’s small businesses were forced to increase prices in May, which Luetkemeyer said was “the largest percentage reported in 40 years.”
“From increased gas prices for delivering goods to rising food costs for restaurants, small business owners are bearing the brunt of Democrat-induced inflation,” he continued. “As more American consumers are spending and patronizing small businesses following the COVID pandemic shutdowns, this increased immediate spending has given our economy a bit of a shock. But rather than acknowledge this problem and correct the course, President Biden and Congressional Democrats are doubling down.”
“Make no mistake – inflation is taxation. Prices of the goods you buy go up, meaning the dollars in your pocket are worth less. It then takes more of those hard-earned dollars to purchase these goods.
“The Democrats’ proposed $3.5 trillion package will severely exacerbate the inflation problem for middle-class families and further crush Main Street U.S.A.
“Simply put, small businesses cannot afford the inflation tax that comes with the Democrats’ failed economic policies.
“As Republican Leader of the House Small Business Committee, my colleagues and I have worked tirelessly to provide much-needed relief for small businesses across the country as they regain their footing and reopen their doors to local communities.
“Unfortunately, there is no single COVID relief package that can simply fix inflation – the Democrats must stop their spending spree. As if the pandemic didn’t create enough of an economic burden for American families and workers, they now face an increased cost of living and consumer prices across the board with no end in sight.”
Luetkemeyer’s criticisms are being echoed by economists and others concerned about the effects ongoing inflation will have on the post-pandemic recovery.
Writing in mid-July for the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire, Michael Ettlinger and Jordan Hensley observed that “As measured by Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 35 states and the District of Columbia have smaller economies, as of the first quarter of this year, than they did before COVID-19, while 14 states have seen a modicum of economic growth. Nationally, GDP remains 0.9 percent lower than it was before the pandemic struck.”
President Biden and others in his administration seem happy to claim credit for the good economic news but are rather cavalier about the impact the bad news is having, saying the spike in inflation is at worst temporary.
Biden himself recently dismissed the issue, saying his multi-trillion-dollar spending initiatives will “reduce inflation, reduce inflation, reduce inflation.” Some economists and business leaders fear, however, it is that very spending that is driving the hike in prices and that they will not stabilize or return to the levels at which they were at before the pandemic struck any time soon.
Peter Roff can be reached at RoffColumns AT GMAIL.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeterRoff.
Peter Roff
Peter Roff is affiliated with several Washington, D.C. public policy organizations and is a former U.S. News and World Report contributing editor who appears regularly as a commentator on the One America News network. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PeterRoff.
Stop all wars. Repeal all trade agreements. Eliminate “Global Climate Change” mandates. Seal our borders. Repeal the Federal Reserve Act and repudiate our debt to that agency. Hold elected officials to Constitutional Limitations. Implement Annual Automatic Budget Reduction Cycles, and quit carting our ruling classes around in opulent, hugely expensive, carbon-spewing jets. Put them on military planes (Preferably C-130s. Snick Snick..) with comfort pallets, and maybe they’ll experience how the One Percenter’s get around.
OOOPS. The 99 Percenter’s!
And stop foreign aid except for helping out after a natural disaster
Actually, we’re the ones who need foreign aid. That’s why Trump told us he was going to make Mexico pay for the border wall. China has also stepped up as a holder of U.S. debt, and it seems there will be no end to our leadership raising the Debt Ceiling. Our government is bankrupting the country, and they have permission from their Useful Idiots to drown us in red ink.
Communist’s acting as democrats from big joey on down!!! This COMMUNIST REGIME, doesn’t care at all about AMERICA AND AMERICANS, NOT ONE SINGLE BIT!!! Nobody take my word for it, all you need do is watch & listen, you’ll hear HYPOCRISY, YOU’LL HEAR THE LIES, THIS IS SO BAD RIGHT NOW!!! But I look towards 2022 and ultimately 2024, fingers crossed, PRAYERS SAID!!!
But all these people supposedly voted for all of this stuff, they wanted inflation and higher unemployment clearly because it did not take an MBA to figure out what all of these policies would do to the country. Free college, free healthcare, illegal aliens pouring over the border, defunding the police,… you name it, these were going to be disastrous policies that would make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer, and yet all these people voted for this, so this is what they deserve. Smart people have planned accordingly, if these people voted to destroy themselves that is their fault, maybe they will finally learn, but I doubt it because they are being taught the opposite of this in schools right now and these are the results that will follow.
This is the plan and has been for years and we are letting them do it. Yes it is all politicians. This problem we let get out of hand by not holding our politicians accountable.No we need to stop this hard. Hopefully we could do this using our legal system but when the super rich have bought politicians, the media, big tech (whom some of these leaders are super rich), school administrators,the alphebet soup of govt agencies, you get the idea. We have a problem. What will we do about it? Become Venezeula? Will we fight back and take our country back. We let a presidentual election go to an unfit, corrupt, bought and paid for, racist, idiot and the election, voting, was full of fraud/cheating and much of it was obvious.We let that go. OH that little protest at the capital wasn’t an insurrection. If there was an inspiration none of those police, politicians would have made it out unscathed. Just sayin cause the consitutionalist never wanted to hiurt anyone, unlike the policie that shot an unarmed womaan armed forces veteran and got away with it. Now a cop that was holding down, and he didn’t even have his weight upon this suspect, the suspect had to be removed from a patrol car brcause of his eratic/violent behavior, who had a record a mile long and had a number of violent convictions. who was high on fentanyl, in fact had enough fentanyl in him to kill like 10 houses (ok maybe a bit of exaggeration there but you get the idea) is convicted of intentionally killing this idiot, well you get the idea.We let that go. How much will we let go?
That’s where ‘terrorism’ factors into our political processes. (Extremism is also acceptable, and now “Nationalism” is suspected.) Our leadership traipses around the globe stirring up hatred against America, and when those people retaliate with hijackings, bombings, etc. on our real estate, the government postures as a force against such violence. That force includes their ‘authorization’ to investigate Americans as being potential terrorists. Of course, that means the government can monitor what we say, or who we talk to on the street, which books we research at libraries, and who we call on our phones. As you may surmise, the ‘unfortunate’ aspects of terrorism entail the expansion of government authority beyond the limits of our Constitution. Oh well, at least they’re keeping us safe………..
Joe Biden, do your best to fxxx up the Country, soon, the 2022 elections will be here, the forensic audits will be completed, Everyone in the world, will know you cheated to get elected, the American people will insist on your impeachment, the Republican House will comply. You can retreat to your basement, or old man’s home but you will go down in history as the Clinton did as liar’s, and traitor’s for all of history to be remembered ,enjoy your ice cream and neglect of our Country for now, but your choices will return to bite the Biden family forever, your own words will condemn you, it’s not who get’s voted for, it’s who does the counting. God Bless America.
But Joe Blow hasn’t raised taxes just like he promised.