Analysis: Republican National Committee
INFLATION REMAINS AT A 40-YEAR HIGH
- With the economy in recession, historically high inflation, and taxes poised to rise on middle-class families, Biden's relentless attack on working-class Americans is showing no signs of slowing down.
- The Consumer Price Index soared in July by 8.5 percent compared to last year, meaning inflation remained at the highest levels in 40 years.
- Core consumer prices – excluding food and energy – rose by 5.9 percent from last year.
- Real average hourly earnings fell 3.0 percent over the last year, marking the 16th month in a row under Biden in which inflation has outpaced wages.
- Real wages have fallen every month since Biden and Democrats passed their wasteful $1.9 trillion "stimulus."
- July's Producer Price Index rose by 9.8 percent since last year.
- This marks the 16th straight month that wholesale inflation has been above 5 percent year-over-year.
- Core producer prices – which takes out food, energy, and trade – increased by 5.8 percent from last year.
- With the economy sinking into a recession, 69 percent of Americans say the economy is "getting worse."
- 59 percent of Americans say Biden and Democrats are responsible for historically high inflation.
MORE PAIN AT THE PUMP
- To deflect from his economic failures, Biden is trying to gaslight Americans into thinking they are saving on gas when in reality prices reached new record highs on his watch.
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<li>Nationally, average <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">U.S. gas prices</a> remain near $4 per gallon – <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210121050022/https:/gasprices.aaa.com/">$1.60</a> higher than when Biden took office.</li>
<li>Under President Trump, national average gas prices <a href="https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts">never once exceeded $3.00 a gallon</a>.</li>
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<li>Biden's gas hike is causing working-class Americans to make sacrifices they shouldn't have to.
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<li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/10/food-prices-rising/">Carolyn Jemison</a>, an 83-year-old retiree living on Social Security: "I can't afford to drive my car to visit [my] kids."</li>
<li>64 percent of Americans report having changed their "<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/high-gas-prices-leading-american-drivers-shift-lifestyle-habits">driving habits or lifestyle</a>" to offset high prices at the pump.</li>
<li>52 percent of Americans say they have altered their "<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/official-polls/fox-news-poll-over-8-10-saudi-arabias-human-rights-record-problem">summer travel plans because of gas prices</a>."</li>
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BIDENFLATION IS COSTING FAMILIES THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
- With Bidenflation hovering around a 40-year high, 64 percent of Americans consider themselves "financially unhealthy."
- Even if inflation stopped rising today, Biden's price hike would cost the average U.S. family more than $8,600 over the next year according to Congress' Joint Economic Committee.
- In July alone, inflation cost the typical household an extra $717.
- As prices continue to rise, millions of Americans are risking their financial security to pay their bills.
- 48 percent of hourly workers do not have a "single cent" in emergency savings, marking a seven percent increase since last year and indicating inflation is having a "severe toll" on workers.
- An even higher percentage – 80 percent – report having "less than $500" saved for emergencies, with workers citing "rising energy, food and housing costs" as the main factors impacting their finances.
- Credit card debt has jumped 13 percent over the last year, marking the largest increase in more than 20 years.
- A Northwestern Mutual study found Americans now have an average of $11,000 less in savings than they did last year.
AMERICANS ARE STRUGGLING TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE
- Bidenflation is hitting grocery bills especially hard, forcing many Americans to either resort to store brands, cut back on essentials, or do without certain types of food altogether.
<ul>
<li>In July, groceries jumped <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-10/eggs-prices-in-us-jump-47-as-food-inflation-soars-iri-says#xj4y7vzkg?sref=ohmtMHdW">13.1 percent</a> since last year, marking the largest increase in <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-10/eggs-prices-in-us-jump-47-as-food-inflation-soars-iri-says#xj4y7vzkg?sref=ohmtMHdW">over 43 years</a>.</li>
<li>Prices for eggs are up an astounding <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm">38 percent</a> while items like chicken, milk, and lunchmeats have soared <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm">17.6 percent</a>, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm">15.6 percent</a>, and <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm">18 percent</a>, respectively.</li>
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<li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/10/food-prices-rising/">Nikki Jones</a> of Monrovia, Maryland: "I definitely don't want to be spending $1,600 a month on groceries."</li>
<li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/10/food-prices-rising/">Susan Pynchon</a> of Colville, Washington: "Groceries are going up a heck of a lot faster than [my cost-of-living adjustment]."</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/nyregion/inflation-nyc.html?smid">Margaret Rodgers</a> of Queens, New York: "For the first time in my life, I am really feeling the effects of the increasing cost of food."</li>
AMERICANS ARE STRUGGLING TO KEEP A ROOF OVER THEIR HEAD
- Under Biden, working-class Americans are seeing the highest increase in housing and rental costs in decades, leaving many struggling to afford their mortgage or rent.
- Rental prices are up 6.7 percent since last year, jumping at their fastest rate since 1986.
- In June, 13.7 million Americans reported having fallen behind on their rent or mortgage payments – a 7 percent increase since April.
- 4.6 million Americans say they are "very" or "somewhat" likely to face eviction or foreclosure in the next two months, marking a 32 percent increase since April.
- Jeannie Jansen of Wyoming, New York, who received a foreclosure notice in early July: "I busted my butt for years to have what we have. I went without heat this winter. I've gone without everything. And it's still not enough because prices are so high."
- Venus Lopez of Tucson, Arizona: "With prices of everything going up, it's becoming a challenge to even maintain what we have. Finding an affordable apartment keeps getting more unrealistic."
BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS SLAM WORKERS WITH HIGHER TAXES AND IRS AUDITS
- As Americans struggle to afford gas, groceries, and housing, Biden and Democrats are on a mission to raise taxes on working families and bombard them with a supersized IRS.
- Under Biden and Democrats' bill, average tax rates would increase for nearly every income group with Americans making less than $200,000 a year facing a $16.7 billion tax increase.
- 26.5 percent of the tax burden – about $136 billion – would fall on Americans making less than $75,000 a year according to the Heritage Foundation.
- Biden's bill also includes $80 billion to the IRS for additional audits and an army of 87,000 new IRS agents – a policy which would target low-income and minority communities disproportionately.
- Last year, the IRS audited Americans earning $25,000 a year at five times the rate of other groups and directed "more than half" of its audits at those making less than $75,000.
- A 2019 study found that the five counties with the highest audit rates are all predominantly Black.
BIDEN'S RADICAL POLICIES ARE TO BLAME FOR INFLATION
- Biden's radical tax-and-spend agenda is responsible for inflation.
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<li>A <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/30/bidens-big-spending-policies-helped-fuel-inflation/">report</a> from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that Biden's $1.9 trillion "stimulus" <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2022/march/why-is-us-inflation-higher-than-in-other-countries/">fueled inflation</a>.</li>
<li>Since Biden's failed $1.9 trillion "stimulus" was passed, inflation has outpaced wages <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000013?output_view=pct_12mths">every single month</a>.</li>
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<li><a href="https://www.vox.com/23036340/biden-american-rescue-plan-inflation">Marc Goldwein</a> of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: "We put gasoline on the fire. That's basically what the [$1.9 trillion stimulus] did."</li>
<li>Even liberal economists say Biden's spending fueled inflation:
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<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/opinion/biden-inflation-spending-manchin.html">Former Obama economic advisor Steven Rattner</a>: "The original sin" was passing the $1.9 trillion, which has "contributed materially to today's inflation levels."</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1397236381970206727">Former Obama economist Jason Furman</a>: Biden's spending is "too big ... don't know any economist" who supported that much.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1466135387882016774">Biden's Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen</a>: "Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus was one of the "factors that are involved in inflation."</li>
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