While the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI) report indicates U.S. inflation has continued to print perpetual new highs, U.S. president Joe Biden is losing ground on his climate bill. The Biden administration’s recent budget negotiations and tactics toward dealing with inflation have been criticized by West Virginia’s senator Joe Manchin who thinks specific parts of the climate bill could wait. Amid the political tussle, the U.S. government and Federal Reserve have been accused of massive spending, as bureaucrats continue to fuel weapons contractors, war, and the Fed’s balance sheet has not been reduced.
Political Strategist Says Inflation Knocked the Biden Administration and Democrats Down, but Not Out
U.S. president Joe Biden and his administration have been catching a lot of flak over the most recent CPI report, which detailed consumer prices in June increased at the fastest yearly rate since 1981. In the United States, the cost of oil, gasoline, electricity, food, and cars has continued to rise month after month.
While noting that rising inflation has been an issue for Americans, The Hill opinion contributor, Brad Bannon, believes “inflation has knocked Democrats down — but not out.” In an opinion editorial, Bannon says that Republicans face “political headwinds” that could challenge the party’s prospects.
Despite the knockdown from inflation, Bannon claims that the “continued visibility of Trump,” and the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade may lead to Republicans failing to appeal to voters. “If that wasn’t enough, the ongoing congressional investigation of the failed Jan. 6 Capitol coup keeps Trump in the middle of the media screen when the GOP wants the focus to be fixed on the incumbent president,” Bannon wrote.
Senator Joe Manchin Claims ‘Inflation Is Absolutely Killing Many People’
The Biden administration is also dealing with senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who explained to a West Virginia radio host on Friday, that he was still “engaged” in Biden’s budget negotiations. Manchin told the radio host that “inflation is absolutely killing many, many people,” and he’s been against specific parts of Biden’s climate plan.
“Can’t we wait to make sure that we do nothing to add to that?” Manchin asked on the radio program. The West Virginia Democrat stressed that inflation is a “clear and present danger to our economy.”
“No matter what spending aspirations some in Congress may have, it is clear to anyone who visits a grocery store or a gas station that we cannot add any more fuel to this inflation fire,” Manchin said. “We can’t afford mistakes in the highest inflation we’ve seen in 40 years,” the senator added.
On the same day, Biden conceded to the lack of backing he needs for the administration’s climate change legislation. Biden remarked, however, that he plans to use “every power” that he has as president to continue his fight against global warming.
Congress Increases Military Spending, Gives 1.7 Billion to Ukraine, Federal Reserve Accused of Not Tapering the Central Bank’s Balance Sheet
Amid the scorching hot inflation, government spending continues to rise higher and higher. While Biden and the Democrats fight with Republicans in front of the media, bipartisan efforts have fueled the American government’s expenditure a great deal.
The journalist Glenn Greenwald explained on Saturday how the “establishment wings” of the two bickering political parties seem to agree on military expenditure regularly without much debate. Greenwald highlighted how Biden requested $803 billion to fund military spending in 2023 and Congress “arbitrarily increased it by $37 billion, to $840 billion.”
The House just passed a record-high $840 billion Military budget, the same amount as all the stimulus checks combined.
Huh, guess when they print money for people it’s “socialist,” but when they do it for Military contractors it’s “bipartisan.”
— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) July 15, 2022
Five days ago, the U.S. Treasury and the Agency for International Development (USAID) gave the Government of Ukraine another $1.7 billion in aid. Estimates show that the American government has given Ukraine at least $6.8 billion and other benefits like access to Mi-17 helicopters, M777 howitzers, MANPAD systems, anti-tank guided missiles and Cheetah, Javelin, MILAN, and Harpoon missiles as well.
NOW – U.S. announces additional $1.7 billion in aid to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/gy3a3HjnMh
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 12, 2022
In addition to the U.S. government’s spending, the country’s central bank has been accused of continuing to print massive sums of U.S. dollars as reports show the Federal Reserve’s assets grew by $4 [billion during] the past week to $8.896 [trillion].
At the end of June, the gold bug and economist Peter Schiff remarked that the Fed has not stopped expanding the balance sheet. Schiff has been a critic of the Fed for years and has always been quite vocal against excessive government spending.
The #Fed has already stopped the shrinking of the balance sheet. Total assets grew by $4bn the past week to $8.896tn. Fed balance sheet now equal to 36.5% of US’s GDP vs #ECB‘s 81.9% and BoJ’s 135%. pic.twitter.com/XOQtydBZNF
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) July 15, 2022
“The Fed’s balance sheet just expanded for the third week in a row in June,” Schiff wrote on Twitter. “The rise of $1.9 billion increased the size of the Fed’s balance sheet to $8.934 trillion. I wonder when the Fed will stop creating inflation by ending [quantitative easing] and actually start fighting it by beginning [quantitative tightening].”
Although, some individuals have said the Fed’s balance sheet is shrinking correctly. “They need to keep buying because their assets mature,” one individual noted on Twitter. “They are buying less than is maturing to reach the planned balance sheet shrinkage. To follow it day by day you need to know the exact maturities, but it is definitely still shrinking at the correct rate.”
However, people disagreed with that assessment and stressed that the Fed has “shown repeatedly that they’re buying far more than their own estimates from March.” The Biden administration said after the CPI report came out that because gas prices have dropped the recent CPI numbers were already out-of-date.
High Gas Prices Push Americans Toward Clean Energy, Biden’s Administrations Inflation Arguments and Economic Remedies Have Not Convinced Americans Its the Right Direction
On the other hand, a video of Biden’s Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg during an interview shows Buttigieg bragging about how high gas prices are forcing Americans to lean toward electric vehicles. Jennifer Granholm, Biden’s Energy Secretary recently highlighted that the high gas prices are “accelerating our progress toward clean energy.”
Biden’s approval rating falls to 33% and fully 64% of Democrats want someone else to represent the party in 2024, according to @nytimes @SienaResearch poll. The top reasons? Age (33%) and job performance (32%). @ShaneGoldmacher https://t.co/G3cwiLMMoa
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 11, 2022
Despite the White House saying the CPI numbers were out of date, Americans don’t seem to be convinced by the excuses. The New York Times published a national poll that shows three-quarters of the public believe the country is heading in the wrong direction.
A survey from the University of Michigan indicates that American citizens have one of the worst outlooks about the U.S. economy in years and another poll shows inflation is the biggest concern to date. In the midst of the gloomy economic outlook, the senior White House correspondent Alexander Nazaryan noted that inflation has become “Biden’s political nightmare.”
What do you think about the rising inflation in America and the flak Joe Biden and his administration have received over the gloomy economic outlook? Do you agree that inflation has become a ‘political nightmare’ for Biden? Let us know your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.