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House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday is suing President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats for their “radical and reckless spending,” which he says is responsible for the steep 8.3 percent inflation spike in August.
The minority leader told DailyMail.com his party has a plan to cut back on “lavish spending” if they win the House of Representatives in November — a likely outcome, according to multiple forecasts.
Inflation rose steadily for most of the year, reaching a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June. It fell slightly to 8.5 percent in July, mainly due to a drop in gas prices after a sharp peak in the summer. But the 8.3 percent increase in consumer prices in August shows that inflation is still high, while wages are not keeping pace with rising costs.
The cost of living is up 8.3 percent from last year, has risen further this month despite Democrats’ victory round in July, and is up nearly 13 percent since January 2021, McCarthy told DailyMail.com. “Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress are to blame, and they have no plan to fix it.”
He focused specifically on Biden’s pandemic package known as the American Rescue Plan, which several economists say will help drive inflation.
Real wages have fallen every month since Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus spending is over. Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress are to blame, and they have no plan to fix it,” McCarthy said.
‘The pay slips cover less. Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress are to blame, and they have no plan to fix it.”
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told DailyMail.com that ‘Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress are responsible’ for rising inflation
McCarthy argued Biden’s celebrated rise in worker wages is being outdone by rising costs
Meanwhile, in his own statement on Tuesday, Biden praised that “real wages” would rise, while hailing the slight decline in consumer costs.
‘This month we saw a number of lower price increases at the supermarket than the month before. And real wages are up for the second straight month, giving hard-working families a little breathing room,” the president said.
“It takes more time and determination to reduce inflation. That’s why we passed the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce the costs of health care, prescription drugs and energy.”
But McCarthy highlighted the negative effects of the Democrats’ inflation-spending bill, which budget models like Penn Wharton’s have shown will fail to deliver on its promise to ease rising costs.
Democrats repeatedly started spending radically and recklessly and stabbing the American people with the bill. They voted to double the size of the IRS and hire 87,000 new agents to harass more hardworking Americans trying to comply with a complex, cumbersome tax code,” the GOP leader said.
August’s inflation rate of 8.3% was down from a 40-year high of 9.1% in June and 8.5% in July, but showed that inflation is still high and well above its target. the 2% Fed
They even voted to raise taxes and cut jobs during a recession. This is the priceless record and the unacceptable reality of Democrat-controlled Washington.”
Without going into further detail, McCarthy said his party has “a plan to build a strong economy and responsible government.”
“House Republicans are determined to fight inflation and lower the cost of living by curbing wasteful spending,” he said.
Meanwhile, Biden called inflation “progress” in a White House statement on Tuesday
McCarthy has led the GOP in packaging their agenda as a set of goals and agenda items for Americans to weigh at the polls in November.
Titled “Commitment to America,” it follows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s famous Contract to America. Gingrich’s plan was introduced six weeks before the first interim term of Bill Clinton’s presidency and is credited with helping spark a massive red wave across both houses of Congress in the 1994 election.
As in July, plummeting gas prices have pushed the consumer price index down again — after hitting a record high of $5 a gallon in mid-June.
Despite a 10.6 percent drop from last month, pump prices are still as much as 25 percent higher than in August last year.
Americans are also likely to feel the financial pain in their monthly utility bills, with total energy costs rising more than 23 percent from last year.
The cost of groceries rose 13.5 percent last year, the highest increase since 1979.
Core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.6 percent in August.
Biden had welcomed a 0 percent increase in that measure last month.