“Whether it’s families tired of sticker shock at the grocery store, small businesses struggling to stay open or afford a loan with a sky high interest rate, or farmers buying new equipment, Americans need relief.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the release of the Consumer Price Index for December 2023 showed prices have risen 17.3 percent since Joe Biden became President:

“President Biden’s inflation crisis continues to rob the wallets of working families. Parents are spending thousands more every year just to feed, house, and take care of their children. Americans know that when Democrats took over Washington and began spending trillions is exactly when life became increasingly unaffordable. The continuation of President Biden’s failed policies has now caused inflation to rise even faster, which means American workers and businesses can expect more pain in the future. Whether it’s families tired of sticker shock at the grocery store, small businesses struggling to stay open or afford a loan with a sky high interest rate, or farmers buying new equipment, Americans need relief.

“Republican economic policies have a track record of providing relief to working families, promoting higher wages and a more dynamic economy, and helping small businesses expand and create jobs. We need to build on those successes to give working families and small businesses relief from three years of high prices and an economy that doesn’t work for them.”

Key Background

• Prices have increased 17.3 percent since President Biden took office.
• Real wages and benefits have fallen 3.7 percent since President Biden took office.
• Inflation has become so deeply ingrained in the economy that core inflation (3.9 percent) is even higher than headline inflation.
• Inflation outpaced wages for 26 straight months of Biden’s presidency.
• Mortgage rates reached a 23 year high of 7.8 percent in October. The average monthly mortgage payment has increased by $1,091 and is 96 percent higher than when President Biden took office in January 2021.
• Credit card interest rates are at the highest level in nearly three decades, while consumer credit debt has reached an all-time high of just over $1 trillion and the number Americans struggling to pay credit card bills has increased sharply.