Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Thursday on CNN that Democrats have done a “truly impressive” job on the economy, despite record-high inflation rates.
“CNN This Morning” host Don Lemon noted a recent CNN poll that found the most important issues for voters are the economy and inflation and asked whether Democrats have failed in their messaging.
“What I wish we could convey more effectively, is that if you look at what has been accomplished in the first two years of the Biden presidency, with the Congress, working hand in hand, there has been an enormous amount of commitment of new building, new infrastructure, new investments and manufacturing, new ways to lower health care costs. I mean, insulin prices going down, drug prescription price going down,” Clinton said.
“In fact, the work that has been done by the Democrats in helping the economy and helping people deal with what is global inflation, not just American inflation, is truly impressive. And we got to get that message across more effectively.” (RELATED: ‘The Mood Of The Country Is Not Good’: CNN Political Director Describes Signs Of Dem Wipeout)
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 8.2% year-to-year in September after rising 8.3% in August, 8.6% in July, 9.1% in June and 8.5% in May. Meanwhile core inflation rose 6.6% year-over-year.
Several economists have pointed to the American Rescue Plan as one of the drivers of rising inflation, despite Clinton’s claim that Democrats have helped stop inflation. Biden signed the nearly-$2 trillion American Rescue Plan in March 2021. Economist Dean Baker of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated the plan increased inflation by about two percentage points, Politifact reported.
Adviser for former President Barack Obama, Lawrence Summers, said the plan contributed to the rise in inflation, according to The Washington Post.
Democrats also passed a new spending bill dubbed the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” which will ultimately have an insignificant impact on inflation. The legislation will only cut the deficit by $248 billion without any measurable impact on inflation, an analysis by the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model found.
“The Act would slightly increase inflation until 2024 and decrease inflation thereafter,” the analysis found. “These point estimates are statistically indistinguishable from zero, thereby indicating low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation.”