WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has called on his colleagues in Congress to address high inflation, as it remains a serious problem for Louisiana families. During a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Kennedy noted that Louisianians are paying an average of $798 more every month because of the inflation that has occurred under President Joe Biden’s watch.
Key comments from Kennedy’s remarks include:
“My purpose in rising today, Mr. President, is to suggest that we should keep our eye on the ball. We are faced with many difficult issues in the Senate today. We always are. But I think that’s especially true today. . . But I don’t want my colleagues to forget about one of the most important issues of all facing the American people today, and that is the cost of living in our extraordinary country.”
. . .
“I say this with no joy whatsoever: Inflation in America today is man-made, and that man’s name is President Joe Biden. In my state, where the mean household income is $55,000, the average [Louisiana] family is paying $800 a month more—a month, not a year, a month—more to live in this wonderful country as a result of Bidenomics. That’s $9,600 a year that a family of four making $55,000 a year has to find.”
. . .
“Falling inflation just means prices are still going up every month, every day, but they’re not going up as fast as they were. We call that disinflation.
“Falling inflation also means that prices overall are not going down. (That’s deflation.) My point is, even though inflation is falling—and I am so glad it is—all that means is that prices are not going up as fast as they were and we’re going to be stuck with these high prices. They’re going to be permanent even if inflation goes to zero.”
. . .
“We have a lot of the issues that we’re struggling with right now, but among the five things that moms and dads in America worry about when they lie down to sleep at night and can’t is the cost of living in our wonderful country. . . President Biden’s inflation is strangling a free people. The American people deserve better, and I don’t want us to lose sight of that fact as we grapple with other issues.”