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Speaking to supporters in Philadelphia, US President Joe Biden reassured Americans that tackling the worst inflation the nation has seen in decades remains a top priority for him and his administration.
The speech comes oner day before the Fed could raise interest rates as much as three-quarters of a percentage point in an extra attempt to get inflation under control. The issue has been confusing Biden and the White House for months after they downplayed inflation concerns last year under “transitionary” slogan.
Biden acknowledged inflation is “sapping the strength of a lot of families,” as the price of gas and food skyrockets; an issue being made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But even as he sought to emphasize his administration is fully focused on the problem, the President conceded he is left without many options to fight the price hikes, particularly in a narrowly divided Senate that has blocked the bulk of Biden’s domestic agenda.
“The problem is Republicans in Congress are doing everything they can to stop my plans to bring down costs on ordinary families. That’s why my plan is not finished and why the results aren’t finished either,” Biden said, adding that “Jobs are back but prices are still too high. Covid is down but gasoline prices are up”.
The President on Tuesday focused on drawing a contrast between his economic policies and the plan put forward by the leader of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Under Scott’s plan, which has been rebuked by Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, all federal legislation would have a sunset provision five years after it passes.
“Really ask yourself, how are they going to sleep at night knowing that every five years, Ted Cruz and the other ultra-MAGA Republicans are going to vote on whether you’ll have Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid?” Biden said.
He said, “That’s what this is about. They’ve always wanted to cut Social Security. They’ve always wanted to cut Medicare. They’ve always wanted to cut Medicaid.”
The President in recent months has been leaning into criticizing what he describes as an “ultra-MAGA agenda” on the right as part of his messaging heading into November’s midterm elections as he tries to help Democrats hold onto power in the House and Senate.
“Look, I believe in bipartisanship, but I have no illusions about this Republican Party, the MAGA party. I’ve been able to bring some Republicans along on parts of my plan, but the fact is Republicans in Congress are still in the grip of the ultra MAGA agenda,” Biden said.
Biden on Tuesday touted his administration’s efforts to aid the nation’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, including the Covid-19 relief bill and the bipartisan infrastructure law.
“Now not only is it infrastructure week, we’ve arrived at infrastructure decade,” Biden said. “People are going to see a lot of it. We have to remind them where it’s coming from.” The President argued his economic policies have “put America in a position to tackle a worldwide problem that’s worse everywhere but here — inflation.”
