“The last thing families need is more ‘Bidenomics’ that robs the pockets of working families while making America’s job creators less competitive with China.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed prices rising 18.6 percent since President Biden took office:

“Today’s report showing the degree to which working families have and continue to pay the price for the Washington Democrats’ spending spree, comes one day after President Biden announced his latest budget plan which doubles down on those same reckless tax-and-spending policies that sparked today’s inflation crisis. Families are already spending over $10,000 more to take care of their families. The last thing families need is more ‘Bidenomics’ that robs the pockets of working families while making America’s job creators less competitive with China. 

“Instead of raising taxes, we should be giving tax relief to working families and small businesses stretched by high prices. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act gives more help to working parents still struggling to put food on the table, even after working a job in Biden’s price spike economy. I urge my Senate colleagues to join the overwhelming majority in the House and pass this legislation.”

Key Background:

• Prices have increased 18.6 percent since President Biden took office.
• After inflation, wages have fallen 4.2 percent since President Biden took office.
• Inflation has become so deeply ingrained in the economy that core inflation (3.8 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 $1,078 and is 95 percent higher than when President Biden took office in January 2021.
• The average monthly payment on a new car reached a record $739 in the latest calendar quarter, according to Edmunds, up nearly 30 percent since Biden took office. Down payments also exceeded $7,000 for the first time, up from $4,729 in Q1 of 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 more than $1.1 trillion and the percentage of Americans struggling to pay credit card bills is now back up to the same level as during the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic.