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I hope you saw my latest weekly column.

 

ROGER WICKER: Cost of Living Soars as Possible Recession Looms
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By now we have all experienced sticker shock, the sense of disbelief that
prices have risen so incredibly high. This time last year, we were paying $2.70
for a gallon of gas in Mississippi. Today we are paying over $4 per gallon,
taking a huge bite out of our budgets. Meanwhile, diesel has hit a national
average of $5.57 per gallon, driving up prices for almost anything that moves
by rail or truck. Food prices have also shot up. Groceries are up 10 percent
from last year, and restaurants are having to raise menu prices or cut
portions. In addition, hotel rates have risen 40 percent
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 since last year, and airfares are up 40 percent since January
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, forcing many to rethink travel plans. It seems we have escaped the pandemic
only to be stuck in the mire of a Biden inflation crisis.

 

This out-of-control inflation is starting to slow our economy, causing fears
that a recession may be coming. In the first quarter of this year, our gross
domestic product shrank by 1.4 percent. We can expect further dips as the
Federal Reserve continues raising interest rates to fight inflation. As we
enter the summer, we are still worlds away from the recovery President Biden
promised.

Biden's Plan: Tax and Spend Even More

The President and his party should have foreseen these inflationary impacts
from their own spending policies. Last year, Republicans warned Democrats that
their enormous $1.9 trillion “stimulus” bill would overheat the economy. Yet
they did not listen. Even as prices began to soar last fall, the President
refused to face reality, saying the inflation was “transitory.” Instead, he led
Democrats in trying to pass even more reckless spending. His $3.5 trillion plan
was stopped only when Democrat Senator Joe Manchin, out of concern for
inflation, joined all 50 Senate Republicans in opposing the bill. If it had
passed, inflation would be even worse than it is now.

Many on the left are now admitting that Democrat spending stoked inflation.
Yet President Biden remains in denial. Recently, he insisted that “government
spending more” had no effect on inflation. Instead, he blamed Vladimir Putin’s
invasion of Ukraine, which took place 10 months after prices had already been
soaring across our economy. He then said the solution is to impose more taxes
on job creators. Until the President takes responsibility for this crisis and
shifts course, we will all quite literally be paying the price for his mistakes.

Biden Continues War on American Energy

With record-breaking gas prices, we should be taking full advantage of our
abundant domestic energy resources. Unfortunately, the President has
continually waged war on American energy. One of his first steps was killing
the Keystone XL pipeline project, which would have brought Canadian oil to Gulf
Coast refineries. He also halted new drilling leases on federal lands and
waters, making us more dependent on foreign powers for energy. Now, faced with
record gas prices of his own making, Mr. Biden has chosen to drain our
Strategic Petroleum Reserve and seek oil from the socialist dictator of
Venezuela. Yet he is doing everything in his power to block new drilling
permits here in America.

The President’s refusal to correct his own missteps is why we are all paying
more for gas and basic necessities. This is not the light at the end of the
pandemic tunnel we imagined. Americans did not endure two years of COVID just
to end up losing our savings to inflation. The President would do us all a
favor by doing some soul searching, abandoning his far-left agenda, and working
with Republicans to fix our economy.

 

You can click here to share my Op-Ed with your friends on Facebook!
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Thank you for your support,

Senator Roger Wicker

 

 


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