US President Joe Biden arrives to make remarks on expanding high-speed Internet access during a White House Rose Garden event in Washington, DC, USA, May 9, 2022. REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque / File Photo
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WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden will use his speech on inflation on Tuesday as an attempt to turn his Democratic Party’s main political responsibility ahead of congressional elections later this year into an attack on the Republican opposition.
As Americans worry about rising inflation, which has boosted annual consumer prices by more than 8%, the president will highlight his administration’s steps to curb inflation, including releasing oil from strategic oil reserves and pressuring companies to return record high profits. consumers in the form of lower prices.
He is not expected to announce new policies in a speech coming a day before new consumer price data show inflation remains high until April.
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inflation
But Biden is expected to sharpen his attacks on Republicans six months before the Nov. 8 congressional election, where Democrats hope to retain control of the Senate and House of Representatives.
“Republicans like to use inflation as a political topic of conversation, but does anyone have any idea what their plan is to lower prices?” Said a White House official who asked not to be named.
Demand driven by government spending and savings accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic did not meet squeaky supply chains and labor shortages, leading to higher inflation worldwide.
This has created a political problem as US consumers look down on higher food and gas bills, exacerbated by measures to block Russian oil and gas following the invasion of Ukraine, an action Russia calls a “special operation.”
Less than half of adults in the United States – 44% – approve of Biden’s work with the presidency and see the economy as the country’s most important issue, according to a Reuters / Ipsos poll last week.
Republicans are working to take advantage of the congressional election issue by encouraging steps, including loosening regulations for oil and gas producers and cutting some taxes and government spending. But the party has not approved any political document outlining the steps it would take against inflation.
Biden has sharpened his attack on Republicans in recent days, including dismissing former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement outright. Read more
“Voters know that Republican-led states are at the forefront of economic recovery and job creation, and will vote for Republicans and our proven program in November,” said Emma Vaughn, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee.
REPUBLICAN TAX PLAN
Biden also plans to focus on a proposal to save America from Rick Scott, a U.S. senator from Florida, which includes a federal minimum income tax that the White House says would cost middle-class families $ 1,500 a year.
Scott said the plan was his alone, despite his role as chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee, the branch of the Senate Republican Assembly campaign. Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected Scott’s calls to tax Americans who do not pay income taxes and end Social Security and Medicare rights.
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Report by Trevor Hanniat; Additional reports by David Morgan; Edited by Kenneth Maxwell, Heather Timmons and Paul Simao
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