The Inflation Numbers

Matthew Continetti at The Washington Free Beacon discusses last week's inflation report for September:

Last Thursday the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that consumer price inflation, at an 8.2 percent annualized rate, was higher than expected through September.

The rate has been 7.9 percent or higher each month since last February and is the highest it's been in over 40 years. When Mr. Biden took office the rate was 2.5 percent. Mr. Biden sees no evil, however. Continetti writes that the White House...

...doesn’t see any troubles. According to President Biden, the most recent BLS data are superfluous. After all, everybody already knows that "Americans are squeezed by the cost of living: that’s been true for years, and they didn’t need today’s report to tell them that."

As a matter of fact, Biden said in a statement, rising costs are "a key reason I ran for President." And anyway, the situation is under control. "My policies—that Democrats delivered—directly tackles [sic] price pressures we saw in today’s report."

As is his inveterate habit, our Fabulist in Chief is spinning another yarn here. Continetti explains:

I don’t remember Biden staking his 2020 candidacy on inflation. He couldn’t have. The inflation hadn’t happened. It didn’t arrive until the spring of 2021. By which time Biden was living—during weekdays, at least—at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Nor do I recall Biden warning the country about the coming threat of rising prices. To the contrary: Varsity Joe was captain of "Team Transitory." The "temporary" inflation would subside, he and his teammates argued, as kinks in the supply chain got worked out and the Federal Reserve tightened the money supply.

Also as is his custom, the finger of blame gets pointed everywhere but at his own self:

By the winter of 2022, Biden was blaming high prices on corporate greed and "Putin’s price hike." Now he says inflation is the fault of the opposition party.

No reason is provided; this president isn’t into causality. "If Republicans take control of Congress," Biden warns, "everyday costs will go up—not down."

This is a very odd claim to make since gas averaged about $2.17 in 2020 before Democrats took over in January 2021 and prices soared.

Here's a chart showing the inflation rate over the last few years:



Find more statistics at Statista.

What caused inflation to rise so fast and so far? Government spending and a policy of trying to strangle oil and gas production. Continetti explains President Biden's spending in more detail at the link.

It's ironic that Mr. Biden promised that no one earning under $400,000 will have their taxes increased, but inflation is a tax and it's hurting everyone, especially those on fixed incomes.

It's also ironic that the Biden administration has done everything it can to kill the fossil fuel industry, but they're outraged at the Saudis for not selling us cheaper gas. They've also decided that the Venezuelan tyrants are not such bad guys after all and are seeking to relax sanctions on Venezuela so that they'll sell us their petroleum.

Our energy policy certainly seems weird.