President Joe Biden downplayed inflation concerns and touted his plans for the country during Wednesday remarks about his Build Back Better agenda.
Biden brought up recently released economic reports, specifically pointing to one on inflation that shows the consumer price inflation for July is still extremely high but has slowed. Despite the slower increase, prices are still on an upward trend in what’s become the quickest rise since August 2008.
“Jobs are up and monthly price increases have come down. Economic growth is up – the fastest in 40 years – and unemployment is coming down. So I would argue that the Biden economic plan is working,” Biden declared Wednesday.
The president admitted that Americans are feeling rising consumer costs and announced various efforts aimed at easing “the burden on families.” Biden promised to “keep a careful eye on inflation each month” and urged the country to “trust” the Federal Reserve “to take appropriate action” if necessary.
Biden said his administration plans to target what “major players are doing” that are “keeping prices higher than they need” to be. This initiative includes an executive order intended to help boost competition for agriculture, CNN noted.
Biden also spoke about gas prices, which has been another major concern across America. He assured viewers that the administration plans to monitor the market and hone in on “any illegal conduct” sparking increases at the pump. (RELATED: The Numbers Are In, Biden’s Inflation Is Not Going Away)
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“Jobs are up and monthly price increases have come down,” the president said, highlighting his administration’s accomplishments while trying to ease inflation fears. “Economic growth is up, the fastest in 40 years, and unemployment is coming down. So I would argue that the Biden economic plan is working.”
Biden called these accomplishments “historic investments” and promised that his economic plan is working. Some of the president’s comments echoed ones made yesterday, where he propped up the advancement of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“One key thing about the infrastructure bill that just passed the Senate is there’s no gas tax increases,” Biden said. “No gas tax increases. I made that absolutely clear that I would not raise gas taxes. I’m glad everyone in the Senate seemed to agree with that.” (RELATED: Psaki Defends Pelosi’s Decision To Sit On ‘Vital’ Infrastructure During Ongoing Budget Battle)
Biden called his Build Back Better agenda “fiscally responsible” and said that “economists across the board” have “confirmed this.” Despite Biden’s comments, critics of his agenda have expressed concern over the massive spending goals. In addition to the bipartisan infrastructure package, the Biden administration is pushing a separate, larger and more partisan reconciliation bill to the tune of $3.5 trillion.
“Adding trillions of dollars more to nearly $29 trillion of national debt, without any consideration of the negative effects on our children and grandchildren, is one of those decisions that has become far too easy in Washington,” Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said in a press release earlier Wednesday.
