The president’s speech at the White House was touted by his advisers as focusing on his plan to fight inflation. Although Biden spoke of inflation, he spent considerable time attacking Republicans for a plan drafted by the Senate Republican Party’s campaign leader instead of making new proposals to fight the worst inflation the country has seen in 40 years.
Biden said fighting inflation was his top domestic priority and acknowledged that “families across America are hurt.”
“They’re disappointed. I don’t blame them. I really don’t blame them. There are a lot of things we need to do,” Biden said.
Asked by CNN’s Jeremy Diamond if his administration was responsible for rising prices, the president said: “I think our policies help, not hurt.”
During his speech, the president outlined several steps his administration has already taken to reduce gas prices, including targeting the release of one million barrels of oil a day from the strategic oil reserve and introducing urgent measures to boost biofuel sales. during the summer. He also cited proposals to raise taxes on billionaires and other super-rich Americans and to lower the prices of prescription drugs for millions of Americans, allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, saying the ideas could help to reduce inflation.
However, many of these proposals are facing a dead end in Congress, and the president has expressed disappointment that Democrats do not have the required 60 votes in the Senate to pass the bill he proposed. The Senate is currently divided into 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.
“We control all three branches of government – well, we don’t really do that,” Biden said.
Biden’s speech comes at a time when bad economic news seems to be piling up and Democrats are worried about what it could portend for their chances in the mid-term in November.
A study by CNN conducted by the SSRS found that less than a third of Americans believe that the Democratic Party’s economic visions are in line with their own. Gas prices also jumped to new record levels, with the AAA announcing on Tuesday that the average national price per gallon of regular gasoline was $ 4.37 – a 17-cent jump last week. Last week, the Federal Reserve announced it was taking aggressive action to reduce inflation and raise interest rates by half a percentage point, something it has not done in 22 years.
The administration has repeatedly blamed rising Russian gas prices and energy on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the president again called it a “rise in Putin’s prices” on Tuesday.
Biden spent much of his speech repeatedly cracking down on MAGA Republicans and the ultimate ultra-MAGA policies he said he would take if the party gained control of Congress in the midterm elections.
“Americans now have a choice between two paths that reflect two very different sets of values,” Biden said.
In the past week, Biden has stepped up his rhetoric against Republicans, arguing that the far right is ahead of the party as it seeks to sharpen the contrast between its administration’s policies and what Republicans have to offer. This is a significant change in the announcements of a president who is campaigning for unification and lowering political temperatures, and comes as Democrats fight for an effective campaign message six months after election day.
The president has taken advantage of a plan proposed by Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, head of the Senate Republican Electoral Commission, as a prime example of right-wing leaders fitting in with former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again.”
Scott’s plan, Biden said, will raise taxes on working-class Americans and closure programs such as Social Security and Medicare. It includes several Trump proposals and even calls for the completion of a border wall and the former president’s name. Republican leader Mitch McConnell has publicly condemned the plan and wants to keep the focus on criticism of the Biden administration, which is targeting interim mandates.
“My plan is to reduce the daily costs for hard-working Americans. And to reduce the deficit by asking the big corporations and the richest Americans not to take part in raising prices and to pay their fair share of taxes, “Biden said. “The Republicans’ plan is to raise taxes on middle-class families, let billionaires and big companies get away with increasing profits, raising prices and reaping record profits. And it’s really that simple. “
This story was updated with additional developments on Tuesday.
CNN’s Donald Judd and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
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