WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding inflation:
“On the campaign trail, Candidate Biden made some big promises for America’s economic recovery. His campaign published ‘The Biden Plan to revitalize Main Street and invest in small businesses’ and another ‘to give America’s working families the tools, choices, and freedom they need to build back better.’
“So, just how have working families and small businesses fared with President Biden and the Democratic Party calling the shots?
“Well, 69% of Americans say our economy right now is bad. Even more – 77% — say they’re pessimistic about costs rising even more in the coming months.
“And last month, one longstanding measure of optimism among small business owners reached its lowest level on record.
“Month after month, the historic high inflation Democrats helped unleash with runaway spending last spring is taking its toll on Americans’ hope for the future.
“But more immediately, it’s taking its toll on their wallets. More than a third of Americans say they’re having difficulty paying for usual household expenses.
“Last month, the price of a gallon of milk was 16% higher than a year before. Gas prices are scraping the stratosphere.
“In Kentucky, the average price for a gallon of regular reached an all-time high two weeks ago. Today, it’s another 20 cents higher than that.
“In Lexington, one resident who drives a ride-share put it this way, ‘I’m not trying to be a billionaire, I’m just trying to pay some bills.’
“She’s facing more pain at the pump. And so are the folks paying even more to fill up trucks, tractors, or delivery vans with diesel. The costs behind small business owners’ headaches are behind consumers’ hardship, too.
“But somehow, as our nation reaps the effects of their first year of one-party control, Washington Democrats are operating as if the exact opposite conditions were afoot.
“After their spending bonanza helped kick off historic inflation, they want to pile on the biggest tax hikes in history.
“After their radical Day One climate agenda hammered the most affordable forms of American energy, they want to double down on far Left fantasies.
“Mr. President, as the Biden Administration passed its 100th day in office, I urged the President to ‘recommit to solving our nation’s actual problems.’
“Well, here we are, approaching his Administration’s 500th day in office. By now, America’s working families have figured out for themselves that the so-called ‘Biden Plan’ for them is just a fast track to historic hardships.”