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   From: NOT-SURE@idiocracy.gov   
      
   On 7/28/22 3:53 PM, RINO Liz Cheney death spiral wrote:   
   > In article    
   >  wrote:   
   >   
   > President blames 'Putin's price hike' for 8.5% US inflation   
   >   
   > President Biden has gone through painstaking efforts to shirk   
   > responsibility for the state of the economy, blaming everyone   
   > from Russian President Vladimir Putin to meat conglomerates for   
   > record inflation that hit a new 40-year high last month.   
   >   
   > The consumer price index rose 8.5% in March from a year ago,   
   > marking the fastest increase since January 1982, when inflation   
   > hit 8.4%, according to a new Labor Department report released   
   > Tuesday. In a speech addressing the dismal report, Biden blamed   
   > "Putin’s price hike" for the rising prices.   
   >   
   > BIDEN PREDICTED INFLATION HIT ITS ‘PEAK’ IN DECEMBER, BUT MARCH   
   > NUMBERS SHOW CPI AT 40-YEAR HIGH   
   >   
   > "Putin's invasion of Ukraine has driven up gas prices and food   
   > prices all over the world," Biden said. "So everything is going   
   > up. We saw it in today's inflation data. Seventy percent of the   
   > increase in prices in March came from Putin's price hike in   
   > gasoline."   
   >   
   > Biden’s blame game has evolved over the past several months.   
   > When inflation started accelerating a year ago, the White House   
   > largely downplayed it as "transitory."   
   >   
   > "The overwhelming consensus is it’s going to pop up a little bit   
   > and then go back down," Biden said in June 2021 after inflation   
   > increased to 5%.   
   >   
   > "These disruptions are temporary," Biden said in July 2021 after   
   > inflation jumped another 5.4%.   
   >   
   > "It’s the peak of the crisis," the president said in December,   
   > after inflation hit a whopping 6.8%. "You’ll see it change   
   > sooner, quicker, more rapidly than people think."   
   >   
   > At the time, Biden was primarily blaming the COVID-19 pandemic’s   
   > effect on global supply chains and corporate greed for the   
   > rising costs.   
   >   
   > At a Dec. 13 press briefing, White House press secretary Jen   
   > Psaki pointed a finger at "the greed of meat conglomerates" for   
   > hiking prices on food during the pandemic. The North American   
   > Meat Institute later slammed the White House for distorting the   
   > "fundamentals of supply and demand."   
   >   
   > Biden’s own economic advisers also reportedly objected to claims   
   > that corporate greed is the problem. In February, members of the   
   > White House Council of Economic Advisers pushed back against the   
   > administration’s claims tying inflation to corporate   
   > consolidation and monopoly power, the Washington Post reported.   
   >   
   > Then on Feb. 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, presenting the White   
   > House with two new villains to blame for rising prices: Putin   
   > and the oil and gas industry.   
   >   
   > Less than two weeks after the invasion, Biden coined the phrase   
   > "Putin price hike" to further cushion the blow from rising   
   > inflation and energy prices.   
   >   
   > "I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike   
   > here at home," he said in a March 8 speech announcing a ban on   
   > U.S. imports of Russian energy.   
   >   
   > INFLATION SURGES 8.5% IN MARCH, HITTING A NEW 40-YEAR HIGH   
   >   
   > But gas prices at home were already soaring to levels not seen   
   > since the Great Recession before the Russian oil ban.   
   > Republicans have blamed the rising prices on Biden’s green   
   > energy agenda, including his axing of the Keystone XL pipeline,   
   > for bolstering America’s reliance on global oil markets.   
   >   
   > After gas prices hit an all-time high in the country last month,   
   > Biden responded by tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve   
   > (SPR) and calling on Congress to force oil companies to pay fees   
   > for unused leases, accusing energy producers of "hoarding" wells   
   > on federal lands.   
   >   
   > "For U.S oil companies that are recording their largest profits   
   > in years, they have a choice," the president said on March 31.   
   > "One, they can put those profits to productive use by producing   
   > more oil, restarting idle wells, or producing on the sites they   
   > already are leasing, giving the American people a break by   
   > passing some of the savings on to their customers and lowering   
   > the price at the pump. Or they can, as some of them are doing,   
   > exploit the situation, sit back, ship those profits to the   
   > investors while American families struggle to make ends meet."   
   >   
   > In addition to his energy policies, critics have also blamed   
   > Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan for the inflation   
   > crisis, arguing that the $1,400 stimulus checks sent to   
   > Americans overheated the economy. Just before the legislation   
   > passed in March 2021, former Obama economic adviser Larry   
   > Summers warned the plan could "set off inflationary pressures of   
   > a kind we have not seen in a generation."   
   >   
   > Former Obama economic adviser Steven Rattner slammed the White   
   > House’s inflation messaging in a tweet last month, saying Biden   
   > needs to "own" his part in the crisis.   
   >   
   > Biden fired back at his critics one day after Rattner’s tweet,   
   > denying that his policies have anything to do with inflation.   
   >   
   > "So, I’m sick of this stuff. We have to talk about it because   
   > the American people think the reason for inflation is the   
   > government is spending more money. Simply not true," Biden said   
   > on March 11, The Associated Press reported.   
   >   
   > "Make no mistake, the current spike in gas prices is largely the   
   > fault of Vladimir Putin – it has nothing to do with the American   
   > Rescue Plan," the president declared on March 14.   
   >   
   > Months earlier, however, Biden appeared to acknowledge that his   
   > own legislation contributed to the crisis, saying the stimulus   
   > checks were partly to blame for consumer demand exceeding the   
   > supply of goods.   
   >   
   > "The irony is people have more money now because of the first   
   > major piece of legislation I passed," Biden said in November.   
   > "It changes people’s lives. But what happens if there’s nothing   
   > to buy and you got more money to compete for getting [goods]? It   
   > creates a real problem."   
   >   
   > Meanwhile, Democrats are still trying to advance portions of   
   > Biden's Build Back Better agenda and trillions of dollars in new   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)