(Washington) Republican American elected officials on Tuesday strongly denounced the economic policy of Joe Biden which, according to them, will fuel high inflation in the long term.
While two gigantic investment plans are under discussion in Congress and could be adopted soon, the opposition believes that the money poured into the economy by the Democratic administration has already contributed to the rise in prices.
“Inflation overwhelms the country […] which is inundated with money ”, denounced the leader of the Republicans in the Senate Mitch McConnell, during a press conference in Congress, in reference to the aid plan of 1900 billion dollars that the Democrats had already voted in the spring.
“The last thing we need to do is add a new tax and spending frenzy,” he added.
The Democratic majority is hastening to find an agreement on the investment plans of President Joe Biden, before the latter leaves, Thursday, for the meeting of the G20 in Rome (Italy), then the COP26, the great international conference on climate, in Glasgow (Scotland).
“I think the only thing that worries the American people is not what is happening in Glasgow but what is happening to gas prices,” said Senator John Thune.
“This year, Christmas and Thanksgiving are going to be much more difficult […] because prices are going up for everything from groceries to gasoline, ”worried another elected member of the House, Bill Johnson.
Washington “spending”
The current inflation “is caused by spending (in) Washington,” lamented Republican number two in the House of Representatives, Steve Scalise, at an energy conference.
“And that inflation would only get worse if we had billions in additional spending and additional taxes hit families,” he added.
Democrats are working on two programs spanning 8 to 10 years: one concerns investments of $ 1.2 trillion to modernize infrastructure; the other is in favor of social and environmental measures amounting to around 2000 billion.
These expenses, although high, have already been largely revised downwards to rally all sections of the Democratic Party. And an agreement could be reached as early as this week.
Joe Biden argues that these plans will make it possible to reform the country in depth while ensuring long-term growth.
For the Biden administration, the high inflation is explained by a sustained economic recovery and strong demand.
The inflation rate should remain high “until next year” and then “(improve) by half or the end of next year,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday.
But some economists point to the risk of overheating.
Consumer prices jumped 5.4% in September, compared to a year ago, according to the CPI inflation index.
And oil prices keep on rising, driven by the recovery. They circled around their highest level since 2014 on Tuesday.