Over the last year and a half, the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats have made it their mission to spend as many taxpayer funds as they possibly can, leading to skyrocketing inflation. Weekly Column - October 4, 2022 To Grow the Economy, We Need to Shrink the Government By Congressman Dan Newhouse Over the last year and a half, the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats have made it their mission to spend as many taxpayer funds as they possibly can, leading to skyrocketing inflation. Now, the American people are suffering the consequences. Gas prices have hit all-time highs, inflation has skyrocketed, and families are struggling to afford groceries—if they can even find them. Yet, despite such a clear cause-and-effect relationship between bloated government spending and these challenges, Democrats in Congress are trying to take a victory lap on their spending packages while American families are struggling. It's shameful. On the same day the poorly named Inflation Reduction Act was being touted as a win for the Democratic Party, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 8.5%. Just a couple weeks ago, the Federal Reserve announced a 75-basis point interest rate hike in an attempt to curb the skyrocketing inflation we’re seeing. Now, prices at the pump are on the rise again—up about 30 cents a gallon in the past week in Washington State—thanks to President Biden’s failed anti-American energy policies. And amidst all the damage inflationary spending and bloated bureaucracy has created, congressional Democrats are vying for even more of it. Simply spending taxpayer dollars will not generate the type of economic growth we need right now. The federal government’s fiscal policy and actions must focus on expanding access to capital, providing flexibility for investment, and allowing small businesses to address the unique needs of their workers and communities. We live in the greatest country in the world and have the power of American innovation at our fingertips—we just need to get government out of the way. During the last administration, we put forth policies to grow the economy, like tax reform, which encouraged investment in our workforce and created record wage and job growth. Under this administration, we’ve seen endless increases to our deficit. And in exchange, real average hourly wages have fallen for 17 months because inflation has outpaced wage growth. And on top of the havoc inflation has wreaked in our communities, supply chain disruptions are affecting everyone—especially in rural America. But there is still hope. We know that by reducing burdensome regulations, we can provide flexibility to our communities, enabling small businesses to flourish and our local economies to grow. By getting our fiscal house in order, we can get our economy back on track. By getting government out of the way of the American people, we can truly thrive. And come November, Republicans are ready to take back the House so we can begin acting on the many solutions we have to hold our government accountable, protect our freedoms, secure our safety, and make the American economy the powerhouse it should be. View on my Website ‌ ‌ ‌ newhouse.house.gov Congressman Dan Newhouse | 504 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]