RALEIGH — North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley and U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Ted Budd (NC-13) slammed the Biden administration over the state of the economy and the “Inflation Reduction Act” recently signed into law by the president during a media call about the 2022 campaign.
Whatley criticized the White House’s attempt to redefine the term recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. He drew attention to the fact the consumer price index is up 8.5% compared to last year before going on to name a lengthy list of items being hit by 40-year high record inflation under Biden.
Some of the increases listed by Whatley included fuel-oil up 75.6%, gas by 44%, eggs increased 38% and airline tickets up nearly 28%.
“This inflation is very real and it is wiping out wage gains,” said Whatley. “In fact, real wages have fallen every month since Joe Biden and the Democrats passed their $1.9 trillion dollar stimulus.”
Whatley, referring to the Inflation Reduction Act, said Biden’s response was to “pass legislation that will increase costs, increase the deficit, and increase inflation.”
“By voting for this bill, every single House Democrat and Senate Democrat voted to raise American taxes during a recession,” Whatley said.
He went on to add that a number of groups including the Congressional Budget Office, the Penn Wharton Budget Model, The Tax Foundation, Moody’s Analytics, the Minneapolis Fed CEO, as well as some Biden White House staffers have all said the Inflation Reduction Act would have no impact on inflation. Additionally, The Tax Foundation has said that legislation will actually worsen inflation.
Budd said the bill will “make life worse” for people in North Carolina and across the country and that his opponent, Democrat Cheri Beasley, would serve as “a rubber stamp for Joe Biden.”
“She supported the Inflation Reduction Act, which should really be called the Inflation Acceleration Act,” said Budd. “Because it does nothing to reduce inflation and creates taxes on the middle class.”
Budd said inflation under Biden has “cost working families in our state $7,800 per year.”
“Bottom line, the choice couldn’t be more clear,” Budd said. “Democrats just want to raise your taxes and Republicans want to lower them. Democrats want to hire more IRS agents and Republicans want to hire more police. Democrats want to help rich folks buy a Tesla; Republicans want to lower the price of gas for working families.”
Referring again to what he calls the Inflation Acceleration Act, Budd went on to say, “this is not good for our country or for our state.”
According to an inflation tracker created by Republicans on the Joint Economic Committee, inflation under the Biden Administration has risen every month for the last year and cost the average North Carolinian household $651 this past July.
The Inflation Reduction Act has also faced criticism as including a laundry list of ideological wish-list items supported by Democrats such as $370 billion by imposing taxes on the oil and energy industry for “fighting climate change.”
“Democrats’ Inflation Acceleration Act is deceptive,” RNC spokeswoman Taylor Mazock told North State Journal. “Whether it’s talking about fighting climate change or reducing inflation, these are all just additional bullet points to add to their long list of lies.”
In a letter sent to House and Senate leadership last September, industry experts warned a methane tax included in the bill would increase natural gas costs by 17%, or “over $100 a year for the average American family.”
