The White House disagrees with the criticism that price inflation has the same effect as a tax, given President Joe Biden’s campaign promise not to hike levies on people earning less than $400,000 a year.
The Biden administration is dealing with a “historic” and “evolving” pandemic that is having economic repercussions, including “outsized” supply chain consequences, according to spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
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At the same time, Jean-Pierre pointed to the “progress that we’ve made” from the “mess that we inherited from the previous president.” For instance, she cited the 5 million jobs created since Biden’s inauguration despite many of those opportunities linked to reopenings after the lockdowns.
“Democrats came together, and they passed the ‘American Rescue Plan,’ put checks into pockets,” she told reporters Thursday, alleging the $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending package is one reason for increased demand.
Of Biden’s possible $2 trillion social welfare and climate spending package, Jean-Pierre contended some of its programs would “give that economic relief, that middle-class tax cut, for everyday people.”
But Jean-Pierre repeated that Biden understood the “squeeze” families were experiencing because of rising prices.
“That’s why we’ve been using every tool in our tool belt,” she said of efforts to “fix this short-term problem that we’re having.”
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The annual inflation rate of 5.4% in September was a 13-year high, up from 5.3% in August. Economists had indicated the rate would remain a steady 5.3%. Analysts also suggest the sticker shock will continue until next year.
