Biden Sick of Being Blamed for Inflation
As inflation produces rates of price increases not seen in 40 years, polls now show more than 60% of respondents holding the Biden Administration responsible. President Biden has denounced this opinion of Americans as “simply not true. I'm sick of being made the scapegoat. Putin is the one they should be blaming.”
Former Treasury Secretary for Barack Obama Larry Summers disagreed with Biden's effort to blame the war in Ukraine, saying that “government intervention in the economy since Biden took office has to bear most of the blame. Biden's orders shutting down a lot of fossil fuel drilling and transport made gasoline and transportation more scarce and expensive. At the same time dramatic increases in federal spending increased the demand for resources and pushed prices higher. This was the least responsible economic policy implemented in our country in the past 40 years.”
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said “budget-busting levels of federal spending are the root cause of the current surge of inflation. When government spends too much it pushes prices higher. This makes the necessities that families must buy more expensive. When this is combined with the impediments to the supply of a key factor of production—energy--that the President has implemented, the consumers' suffering is magnified.”
Biden labeled these fellow Democrats “turncoats and deviants. Now is no time for Democrats to be breaking ranks. We must remain unified behind a single explanation like we were during the pandemic. The increased government spending was funded by the creation of new money. This was cash that we put into the hands of favored beneficiaries allowing them to be able to purchase the things they need. This mitigated inflationary pressure. In contrast, the war forced us to sanction Russia by reducing access to their petroleum products. In my mind, that makes Putin the villain. I am calling on our friends at Facebook and Twitter to crackdown on any disinformation that suggests otherwise.”
Meanwhile, Vice-President Harris offered advice suggesting that consumers could cut their cost of transportation by buying electric cars or riding public transit. “If you drive a Tesla you don't need gas,” she said. “You can just plug in and go. Public transit is even easier. You just wait on a street corner and a bus will pick you up and take you wherever you need to go. For that matter, if you have a smart phone you could call for an Uber or Lyft ride. The idea that gasoline is essential to get around is a myth. All we need is the will power to make the transition away from fossil fuels and initiate the green future the voters elected us to implement.”
Former Obama Administration “car czar” Steven Rattner pointed out that “Teslas cost about $75,000 each and the electricity they use is largely produced by burning fossil fuels. Almost all of Uber rides are in vehicles that burn gasoline. And the inconvenience and limited destinations served by public transit are why it accounts for only 1% of urban travel. The VP's glib suggestions are not a viable solution for the inflationary environment we are in. The war could end tomorrow, but American consumers will still be hammered hard by trends made inevitable by actions already taken by President Biden.”
