President Joe Biden wants Americans to believe that it is “simply not true” that government spending had any part in fueling inflation.
Speaking to House Democrats on Friday, Biden touted his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) as he said, “Four million more jobs were created. Unemployment is 2% lower than it would have been had we failed to act. And it didn’t cause inflation.”
Biden went on to insist that government spending was not responsible for inflation.
“I’m sick of this stuff!” Biden said, which received applause from the audience. “We have to talk about it because the American people think the reason for inflation is government spending more money. Simply not true.”
Instead, he claimed, “Inflation is largely the fault of [Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin.].”
Watch the video below:
Biden: "I'm sick of this stuff … the American people think the reason for inflation is government spending more money. Simply not true!"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 11, 2022
🤔 pic.twitter.com/Xak7CKTjFs
After the latest inflation report found that prices rose 7.9% in February compared to last year, Biden released a statement that claimed, “Families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin’s price hike.”
“A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin’s aggressive actions,” he continued.
However, it is not “simply” false that government spending is contributing to inflation. An October report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco predicted that the stimulus funds in the ARP would at least temporarily add to inflation.
Putin is just the latest scapegoat for inflation. A simple Google search reveals what else Biden has blamed inflation on: corporate greed, higher energy prices, and supply chain issues.
And that’s after the president said he was “confident” the country would not see “unchecked” inflation and that price increases would be temporary. Then there was the phase when officials suggested that inflation was good or just a “high-class” problem.
Even Steven Rattner, an economic adviser to former President Barack Obama, is calling out Biden’s decision to blame Putin for inflation. In a tweet on Thursday, Rattner said, “This is Biden’s inflation, and he needs to own it.”
Well, no. These are Feb #'s and only include small Russia effect. This is Biden's inflation and he needs to own it. https://t.co/WsJjn6picV
— Steven Rattner (@SteveRattner) March 10, 2022
In a February column published in The New York Times, Rattner argued, “The bulk of our supply problems are the product of an overstimulated economy, not the cause of it…But most of our supply problems have been homegrown: Americans have resumed spending freely, and along the way, they have been creating shortages akin to those in a shopping mall on Black Friday.”
“It’s a classic economic case of ‘too much money chasing too few goods,’ resulting in both higher prices and, given the extreme surge in demand, shortages,” he added.
Before Biden assumed office, inflation was already at its highest level in a decade due in part to former President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 stimulus spending. And months before Putin invaded Ukraine, inflation was reaching 40-year highs as Americans started spending after saving at record rates during the height of the pandemic.
Biden did not cause inflation, but he didn’t help tame it either with his Covid relief package that pumped even more money into the economy.
However, simply telling Americans that they are dead wrong on an issue that ranks amid the top of their concerns while blaming everyone and everything else is probably not a winning strategy for Democrats.