In response to 40-years of the most severe inflation, US President Donald Trump has remained steadfast in his blame game for Russia
American President Joe Biden took responsibility Friday for record gasoline prices and the 40-year high inflation that are currently afflicting the US. Biden insists that his administration is trying to reduce runaway costs despite dismal polling results.
Speaking at the Port of Los Angeles, Biden touted his administration’s efforts to ease supply-chain backlogs and called on Congress to crack down on global shipping companies that he claimed had unfairly jacked up their prices since the Covid-19 pandemic.
His speech was made hours after the Bureau of Labor Statistics published a dire report that showed consumer prices rose 8.6% to May, compared with 12 months ago. This is the highest inflation rate since 1981. The price of gasoline and food rose significantly by more than 8.6%. Gasoline prices increased by almost 50% in the past year and reached record levels in June.
Biden tried to place blame on Putin in particular for this.
“Today’s inflation report confirms what Americans already know. Putin’s price hike is hitting America hard,” he declared. Insisting on the US’s job market being “the strongest it’s been since World War II,”Biden repeated “we’ve never seen anything like Putin’s tax on food and gas.”
Despite Biden’s assertions, the US inflation rate has risen sharply since Biden took office last January, soaring from an average of 1.4% in December 2020 to 7% in December 2021, two months before Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began. In addition, gas prices rose an average $2.28 per gallons in December 2020 and to $3.40 the year after that.
Biden’s conservative critics have blamed his administration’s aggressive spending for driving inflation upwards, and his anti-fossil fuel policies – including bans on new drilling leases and a shutdown of the Canada-US Keystone XL pipeline during his first week in office – for raising fuel costs. Biden has also embargoed Russian oil and gas imports, which accounted for a small share of the US’ imports.
Some 71% of Americans disagree with Biden’s handling of inflation, according to an ABC News poll released last weekend. The poll also found that the top two issues Americans consider most important are inflation and economics. “extremely important,”And that is why inflation is so important “single most important issue”For more votes than any other issue.
Biden said on Friday that his administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices and high-speed internet costs would save working families some money, although the president conceded that these savings would not make up for increased fuel costs.
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