As the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that US inflation has continued to post new perpetual highs, US President Joe Biden is losing ground on his plan to climate law. The Biden administration’s recent budget negotiations and inflation-fighting tactics have been criticized by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who thinks specific parts of the climate bill could wait. Amid the political struggle, the US government and the Federal Reserve have been accused of massive spending, while bureaucrats continue to fuel contractors with arms, war, and the Fed’s balance sheet has not been reduced.
Political strategist says inflation toppled Biden administration and Democrats, but not eliminated
US President Joe Biden and his administration have caught a lot of flack compared to the latest CPI report, which detailed consumer prices in June increase at the fastest annual rate since 1981. In the United States, the cost of oil, gasoline, electricity, food and cars continued to rise month after month.
While noting that rising inflation has been a problem for Americans, The Hill op-ed contributor Brad Bannon believes that “inflation has knocked the Democrats down – but not knocked them out.” In a editorial noticeBannon says Republicans face “political headwinds” that could challenge the party’s prospects.
Despite the reversal in inflation, Bannon says Trump’s “continued visibility” and the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade could prevent Republicans from appealing to voters. “If that weren’t enough, the ongoing congressional investigation into the failed Jan. 6 coup on Capitol Hill keeps Trump in the middle of the media screen as the GOP wants attention focused on the outgoing president,” Bannon wrote.
Senator Joe Manchin says ‘inflation absolutely kills a lot of people’
The Biden administration is also dealing with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who told a West Virginia radio host on Friday that he was still “engaged” in Biden’s budget negotiations. Manchin told the radio host that “inflation absolutely kills many, many people,” and he took issue with specific parts of Biden’s climate plan.
“Can’t we wait to make sure we don’t do anything to add to this?” Manchin asked on the radio show. The West Virginia Democrat stress that inflation is a “clear and present danger to our economy”.
“No matter the spending aspirations of some members of Congress, it’s clear to anyone who visits a grocery store or gas station that we can’t add 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 support he needs for the administration’s climate change legislation. Biden, however, noted that he plans to use “every power” he has as president to continue his fight against global warming.
Congress increases military spending and gives 1.7 billion to Ukraine, Federal Reserve accused of not reducing Central Bank’s balance sheet
In the midst of searing inflation, government spending continues to increase more and more. As Biden and Democrats battle with Republicans in front of the media, bipartisan efforts have fueled much of US government spending.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald Explain Saturday how the “establishment wings” of the two bickering political parties seem to regularly agree on military spending without too much debate. Greenwald pointed out 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 military budget of $840 billion, the same amount as all the stimulus checks combined.
Huh, I guess when they print money for people it’s “socialist”, but when they print money for military contractors it’s “bipartisan”.
— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) July 15, 2022
Five days ago, the US Treasury and the Agency for International Development (USAID) gave the Ukrainian government another $1.7 billion in aid. Estimates show that the US 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 – The United States announces an additional $1.7 billion in aid to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/gy3a3HjnMh
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 12, 2022
In addition to US government spending, the country’s central bank has been accused to continue printing massive amounts of US dollars as reports show Federal Reserve assets increased by $4 [billion during] last week at $8,896 [trillion].
In late June, gold bug and economist Peter Schiff noted that the Fed kept expanding the balance sheet. Schiff has been critical of the Fed for years and has always spoken out against excessive government spending.
The #Feed has already halted the contraction of the balance sheet. Total assets increased by $4 billion last week to $8.896 billion. Fed balance sheet now equal to 36.5% of US GDP vs #ECBis 81.9% and BoJ is 135%. pic.twitter.com/XOQtydBZNF
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) July 15, 2022
“The Fed’s balance sheet just rose for the third straight week in June,” Schiff said. wrote on Twitter. “The $1.9 billion hike brought 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 start fighting it by starting [quantitative tightening].”
However, some people said the Fed’s balance sheet is shrinking properly. “They need to keep buying because their assets are maturing,” one individual said. Noted on Twitter. “They’re buying less than is coming due to hit the projected balance sheet shrink. To track it day-to-day, you need to know the exact maturities, but for sure it’s still shrinking at the right pace.
However, people disagree with this assessment and pointed out that the Fed has “repeatedly shown that it is buying much more than its own March estimates”. The Biden administration said after the CPI report was released that because gas prices had fallen, recent CPI numbers were already out of date.
High gas prices are pushing Americans toward clean energy, Biden administrations’ inflation arguments and economic remedies haven’t convinced Americans this is the right direction
On the other hand, a video of Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in an interview shows Buttigieg bragging about how high gas prices are forcing Americans to switch to electric vehicles. Jennifer Granholm, Biden’s energy secretary recently Underline that high gas prices are “accelerating our progress towards clean energy”.
Biden’s approval rating drops to 33% and 64% of Democrats want someone else to represent the party in 2024, according to@NYTimes @SienaResearchsurvey. The main reasons? Age (33%) and job performance (32%).@ShaneGoldmacher https://t.co/G3cwiLMMoa
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 11, 2022
Although the White House has said the CPI numbers are outdated, Americans seem unconvinced by the apology. The New York Times published a national poll it shows that three-quarters of the public think the country is heading in the wrong direction.
A investigation of the University of Michigan indicates that American citizens have one of the worst outlooks on the American economy in years and another survey shows that inflation is the biggest concern so far. Amid the gloomy economic outlook, Senior White House Correspondent Alexander Nazaryan noted that inflation has become “Biden’s political nightmare.”
What do you think of rising inflation in the United States and the criticism Joe Biden and his administration have received over the bleak economic outlook? Do you agree that inflation has become a “political nightmare” for Biden? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments section below.
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