Only in Bidenland is 8.5 percent inflation actually “zero” inflation. And Sen. Rick Scott is not going to let the president forget how wrong he is.
The Florida Republican criticized President Joe Biden’s characterization that inflation was “zero” in the Labor Department’s report this week.
Biden told reporters on Wednesday after the numbers came out that “we received news our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July. Zero percent.”
“Here’s what that means: while the price of some things went up last month, the price of other things went down by the same amount. The result: zero inflation last month. But, people are still hurting. But, zero inflation last month.”
That was true of what the Labor Department calls “urban consumers,” who, according to the Florida Department of Revenue represents about 87 percent of Americans nationwide.
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Yet Biden overlooked the millions of Americans who comprise the other 13 percent and he chose the smallest and most immediate window of time: one month of price data.
In reality, the inflation rate for the past year was 8.5 percent and remained among the highest seen in four decades.
Sen. Scott reminded Biden of this in a statement.
“Washington is broken and backwards. While I have been demanding an end to reckless spending, Democrats in Washington have responded to a 40-year high in prices by greenlighting another nearly $1 TRILLION in deficit spending in just the last two weeks through the CHIPS Act and so-called ‘Inflation Reduction Act’” said Scott, who has been calling Biden out on the inflation numbers almost since the Democrat entered the White House.
“You can’t fight inflation with a non-stop spending spree, but that’s all we can expect from Joe Biden and the radical socialist Democrats here in Washington.”
“Even as Biden drives the country into a recession, all the Democrats seem capable of is cutting Medicare, spending your money, and raising your taxes,” Scott continued. “The Biden administration has made clear that it is waging a war on our seniors, a war on American families and a war on our economy. Until this incompetent president is out of office, Florida families will continue to suffer.”
On Thursday, the Labor Department released its data on inflation for producers, instead of consumers. That picture was bleak too.
The inflation rate for producers of economic goods was 9.8 percent over the past 12 months, ending in July.
That retreated from the 11.3 percent year-over-year figure recorded in June. But that was primarily to a drop in gas prices, which fell largely because demand declined as people altered driving habits.
“Job creators in Florida and across America are struggling. Prices aren’t dropping, hiring is harder than ever and now Democrats are pouring salt in the wounds of our businesses by raising taxes and greenlighting even more inflation-fueling spending,” Scott said Thursday in a statement.
“This is what happens when you have a president who has never run a business, an administration filled with lifelong bureaucrats, and a Congress led by career politicians. The only way things will get better is if we stop the reckless government spending, balance the budget, and put folks who have commonsense and give a damn back in charge.”
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“Joe Biden and the other so-called ‘leaders’ in Washington right now haven’t got a clue and it’s time they put our country first and step aside,” Scott added.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Free Press.
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