WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) spoke on the Senate floor about the rising inflation that President Biden’s economic policies have caused and its impact on Louisianians’ lives.
Below are key excerpts from the speech:
“From December of 2020 to December of 2021 . . . gasoline is up 49.6 percent. In my state, in Louisiana, it costs Louisianians $27 more than it did last year to fill up the tank of a Chevy truck. That’s every time they fill up the tank. Used cars and truck prices have increased by 37.3 percent. In New Orleans . . . used car prices were up 38.2 percent through last September.”
. . .
“The truth is that most Americans are having to spend, on average, about $3,500 more per year because of President Biden’s inflation. Now, to some people, that may not sound like much—that’s a lot of money to the people in my state. An extra $3,500 out of the budget of most working Americans is a lot.
“Now, I wish it weren’t so, but this inflation has been caused by the Biden administration’s economic policies. Inflation is not complicated: It’s too much money chasing too few goods.”
. . .
“The Biden administration wants to throw another 5 trillion—not billion, not million—trillion dollars of gasoline on the fire in the Build Back Better bill. And, if we pass that, there’ll be another trillion dollars. I mean, this administration spends money like it was gully dirt. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
. . .
“It’s hurting the least among us the most. Yes, we’re seeing inflation in terms of services, but we’re seeing inflation more in terms of goods, and low-income Americans, as you well know, spend proportionately more of their income on goods than they do on services. The president’s policies, I regret to have to say, have administered a sucking chest wound on the budgets of the people of my state and the people of America, and it’s got to stop.”
Video of Kennedy’s comments is available here.