From OFFICE OF CONGRESSMAN ROBERT E. LATTA FIFTH DISTRICT OF OHIO
Gas, groceries, and used cars. What do these have in common?
Unfortunately, the prices for these essentials have risen every single month since President Biden assumed office, and my constituents are suffering because of it. After a year and half of the COVID pandemic, the last thing Ohio families should be facing are higher costs that make their life more difficult.
Over the past year, inflation rose a whopping 3.5 percent – the largest price spike in three decades. The PCE Price Index, a measurement of prices for personal consumption, shows that Americans are paying the highest prices for goods since 2008. Recently, the American Action Network commissioned a poll that found that 86 percent of Americans are worried about inflation.
Gas prices are the highest they’ve been in seven years and up 45.1 percent since this time in 2020. Hardworking families are paying more for their groceries and the cost for eating out has gone up more than 4 percent since last year. The cost to buy a family car has gone through the roof – up more than 45 percent since a year ago.
When it comes to keeping the lights on, filling up the tank, or putting food on the table – inflation is hitting Ohio families hard. It’s been especially difficult for our seniors who are living on fixed incomes. They’ve worked their whole lives and are seeing the value of their retirements, pensions, or social security checks shrinking through no fault of their own.
It’s no secret why inflation is increasing. Unfortunately, big government spending has gone into overdrive with the far-left running things in Washington.
During my time in Congress, I’ve been a staunch fiscal conservative who has often sounded the alarm on our government’s proclivity to spend. This stance doesn’t always make me a lot of friends as both parties have not shown a commitment to fiscal responsibility. That’s why I have voted against massive spending bills and supported a Balanced Budget Amendment. The free spending way of the Federal government needs to stop.
With Bernie Sanders as the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, the rest of the Democratic party is falling in line. Since taking over, they’ve already passed a so-called “covid relief” bill that cost $1.9 trillion with another $1.5 trillion to be tacked on if its provisions are made permanent. They are now trying to ram through $3.5 trillion legislation that they claim is for transportation, but the bill is chock-full of liberal wish-list items. In fact, Bernie Sanders is pushing for an additional $2.5 trillion on top of that!
Republicans aren’t the only ones sounding the alarm.
Larry Summers, a top economist in the Obama Administration, has been warning since February that this Administration’s policies could lead to big risks, including inflation. After months of signaling that inflation was under control, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell finally admitted that, “inflation could turn out to be higher and more persistent than we expect.” Joe Biden’s Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, says that she expects inflation to rise for several more months. When even the defenders of the Biden Administration are saying to expect higher prices, it’s time to buckle up.
With a slim majority in the House and a 50/50 split in the Senate, we need to keep the pressure on Democrat leaders in Congress and ensure they know that the American people are watching closely. I’ll continue to do all I can to slow the Democrats down, but the people upset with higher prices need to let President Biden and the Democrats know how it’s hurting them.
