President Joe Biden yesterday launched a new boost of reports on inflation and the US economy, part of a planned one-month boost to address key US concerns and try to reverse the brutal polls ahead of the midterm elections. Efforts began Tuesday with Biden’s publication in The Wall Street Journal outlining a tripartite plan to tackle inflation, as well as a meeting in the Oval Office with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and a series of media appearances by administration aides reinforcing the economic message.
The latest push “comes after Biden personally grumbled to senior White House officials about tackling inflation by the administration, expressing disappointment over the past few months that aides have not done enough to tackle the problem directly,” Tyler Pager and Jeff Stein of The Washington Post report, citing two people familiar with the president’s comments. Pager and Stein added that “Biden has complained to aides that they are not doing a good job, explaining the reasons for inflation and what the administration is doing about it.”
Asked about inflation after Wednesday’s White House shortage of infants, Biden acknowledged that there were very limited opportunities to achieve immediate results. “A lot is happening right now, but the idea that we will be able to click on a switch to reduce the price of petrol is unlikely in the near future. Not even in terms of food,” he said, adding: “We cannot take immediate action. which I am aware of to find out how we will reduce the price of petrol back to $ 3 per gallon. And we can’t do that immediately in terms of food prices either. But we can compensate by providing other necessary expenses for families by reducing them. That reduces inflation for this family. “
Biden also called for higher tax rates for corporations and the rich, saying it would not be inflationary and would reduce the deficit.
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Will it be enough? The Post notes that Biden’s staff is also stepping up efforts to bill to revive key elements of the failed Build Back Better plan, including measures to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and childcare. But amid democratic debates over other actions and political messages the administration may adopt, Biden “has never been comfortable with a sharply anti-corporate stance,” the Post notes, and mostly avoids populist and progressive rhetoric blaming inflation. on corporate greed. .
Where does this lead to the White House? “They seem to have given up on doing anything and are trying to figure out what is the best thing to say,” said an unnamed man who is in close contact with senior White House economists. “There is almost more debate about the right story than the right political position.
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