Republican Leader of the Ways and Means Committee Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued the following statement on a key inflation measure climbing for the ninth month in a row under President Biden:

“Higher prices this year under President Biden are on track to be the highest in 40 years. Major increases in food, energy, and soon, housing, are crushing families and small businesses.

“This is a tax hike on family budgets, driven by massive Washington spending that will grow even worse if Democrats ram through trillions of dollars in more spending along with crippling tax hikes on Main Street businesses.”

Background: 

The Federal Reserve Bank’s preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE), increased over a 12-month period from August from 4.2 percent to 4.3 percent. It is the highest rate since 1991 (30 years). Core PCE remained the same at 3.6 percent. These increases matched expectations.

However, when annualized PCE data since the Biden presidency (starting in February):

• PCE inflation increased to 5.77 percent. If that rate remains this high at the end of the year, this is the highest rate since 1982 (nearly 40 years).
• Core PCE inflation rose to 5.06 percent, respectively. If that rate remains this high at the end of the year, this is the highest rate since 1983 (nearly 40 years).

Also, energy prices increased 24.9 percent while food prices increased 2.8 percent.

Democrats’ trillions of dollars in new government spending will only fuel inflation even further – shrinking paychecks and family budgets, killing jobs, and putting American families and small businesses even further behind.

READ: WSJ: Dems’ Welfare Expansion: “Steep Taxes on Middle Earners” and “Slam the Poor