<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654884015324,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07c3-d172-a563-4feb224a0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654884015324,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07c3-d172-a563-4feb224a0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54883897", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1030046"} }); ","_id":"00000181-4e9f-d405-a3e7-dfbfcc9d0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedPresident Joe Biden released a grim statement in response to the latest Consumer Price Index report.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday that year-over-year inflation rose to 8.6% in May, ahead of the 8.2% projections. Prices across nearly all sectors, including energy, food, and housing, saw increases.
INFLATION UNEXPECTEDLY TICKS UP TO 8.6% IN MAY, OUTPACING EXPECTATIONS
“Today’s report underscores why I have made fighting inflation my top economic priority. While it is good to see critical ‘core’ inflation moderating, it is not coming down as sharply and as quickly as we must see,” the president wrote. “Even as we continue our work to defend freedom in Ukraine, we must do more — and quickly — to get prices down here in the United States.”
Biden yet again pointed to Russia’s war in Ukraine as a key driver of price increases, specifically regarding energy and food costs, but he offered few new solutions toward decreasing the financial burden placed on U.S. residents.
He called on Congress to take multiple steps aimed at lowering prices, including passing legislation that will cut shipping costs, decrease the price of prescription drugs, and reform the tax code to “make the wealthiest Americans and big corporations pay their fair share. Furthermore, the president urged “the oil and gas and refining industries in this country not use the challenge created by the war in Ukraine as a reason to make things worse for families with excessive profit taking or price hikes.”
“We all have work to do to get inflation down. What will not help is the plan by some Republicans in Congress to raise taxes on the middle class and working families,” Biden said. “That would be a step in the wrong direction, and I strongly oppose it.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Friday’s report came as Biden is facing down his worst poll numbers since entering office. His approval ratings, driven in large part by the nation’s negative perception of the economy, slipped in a Morning Consult poll published Wednesday to 39%, the same rating posted by former President Donald Trump in June 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
