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The White House took another push Tuesday to limit the political damage caused by inflation after President Biden complained for weeks to aides that his administration was not doing enough to publicly explain the fastest price hike in about four decades.
To demonstrate to the public that he was responding to his concerns, Biden met with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell in the Oval Office, wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal on inflation, and sent leading aides to major networks to push for the economic message. of the administration.
The uproar comes after Biden complained in private 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, two people said. familiar with the president’s comments, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe personal conversations.
The shock of the action reflects a new urgency in the White House as it struggles with the growing likelihood of high inflation continuing in the midterm elections, overshadowing Biden’s agenda and undermining his ability to publicize his achievements – and that there may be little Biden who can to do about it.
With prices rising to 8 per cent in April, pressure seems unlikely to ease soon amid the continuing effects of the war in Ukraine, the blocking of the coronavirus in China and the rise in gas prices, which are likely to worsen from the summer driving season. , all factors beyond presidential control.
Fuel prices hit record highs on Tuesday, costing an average of $ 4.62 a gallon, up 52 percent from a year earlier, according to the AAA, after the European Union announced progress on a deal to ban Russian energy imports.
How politicians have repeatedly misjudged inflation
This leaves Biden struggling to show that he at least understands that Americans suffer and does what he can.
On Tuesday, the administration’s top economic officials circulated on cable news channels and appeared in the White House briefing room to highlight their efforts to fight rising prices.
Although it has not announced new measures to fight inflation, the White House has insisted that the US economy is in a strong position for the Federal Reserve to curb high prices, as high growth and low unemployment create a buffer against future interest rate hikes.
Speaking with Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen at the Oval Office, Biden said he and the central bank share a “laser focus” on tackling inflation. “My top priority … is tackling inflation to move from a historic recovery to stable growth that works for American families,” Biden said.
But the message was complex, as as the president tried to attribute the Fed’s credit for being well-positioned to tackle inflation, he also stressed that he was not interfering in its policies, as President Donald Trump has been accused of doing.
Biden said his inflation plan began with a simple proposal: Respect the Fed and respect the Fed’s independence, which I did and will continue to do. … I will not interfere in their extremely important work. “
The new activity comes after Biden complained to aides that they were not doing a good job, explaining the reasons for inflation and what the administration was doing about it. A White House spokesman declined to comment on Biden’s instructions to his aides on inflation.
A NBC News poll released earlier this month found that 33 percent of Americans approve of Biden’s management of the economy, while 23 percent approve of his cost-of-living.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll in early May found that more than 9 out of 10 Americans are least concerned about the 40-year high of inflation. This includes 44 percent who say they are “upset” by the problem.
In what could be worse for the president and his party, 68 percent said they disapproved of Biden’s tackling of inflation, compared with 28 percent.
The White House has struggled unevenly with how to respond to this threat since it emerged last summer. The administration initially downplayed the problem, saying it would be “temporary”.
As price increases continued, the administration turned to recognizing inflation last fall, but arguing that the Democrats’ Recover Better Legislative Agenda was the best way to respond to family pressure on spending.
Ever since Build Back Better collapsed after opposition from Senator Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) and Republicans in late December, the White House has struggled to find new answers to inflation, highlighting its efforts to improve bottlenecks in the supply chain and their investments through the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
The White House also highlighted all the ways in which the US economy is recovering rapidly as unemployment falls and gross domestic product rises. But it is also a complex message, as the administration seeks to both celebrate a thriving economy and acknowledge that people are suffering.
White House reports were also inconsistent, in part because it drew attention to events as powerful as the Russian aggression and several horrific gun massacres. Still, relentless inflation threatens to undermine a central part of Biden’s political identity – that he knows and understands the problems of working-class Americans.
This week, the White House is making a “concerted effort” to “communicate our achievements so far in the economy,” while emphasizing Republican economic proposals that the administration believes will help create a favorable contrast, according to a White House official who described the planning of the administration on condition of anonymity to disclose internal discussions. Democrats say Republicans accept low taxes for the rich, while paying little attention to the needs of ordinary Americans.
The administration’s top economic officials – including Yellen, Commerce Minister Gina Raimondo and Deputy Finance Minister Wally Adeimo – will appear on television this week as part of the push. These performances began in earnest on Tuesday.
In recent weeks, Biden and his allies have targeted Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Who is leading the Republican campaign in the Senate, and his conservative 11-point political platform, which includes language that White House officials can raised taxes for all Americans.
“This is the ultra-MAGA agenda,” Biden said in a speech in early May.
Biden aides are also stepping up their efforts in Capitol Hill for an economic bill to address the high cost of prescription drugs, child care and other items, remnants of Biden’s once-expansive Build Back Better program. The bill is likely to be backed only by Democrats, and party leaders believe it will allow them to say they are fighting to help ordinary Americans while Republicans remain indifferent.
But even those close to the administration acknowledge that the changes in the messages may not be enough to deal with voter unrest, and some in the White House orbit are pushing for more dramatic action.
The White House openly toyed with the adoption of a federal gas tax to relieve pump drivers, but eventually abandoned the idea. Domestic debates have erupted among the administration’s allies over whether to accept a fuller populist message and blame corporate greed for higher inflation.
While Biden has occasionally criticized consolidation in industries such as meat, he has never been comfortable with a sharply anti-corporate stance and has largely deviated from the rhetoric used by such liberal leaders as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) .
The White House has taken some action to ease inflation, including a major exemption from the nation’s oil reserves and a waiver of ethanol rules to generate more fuel supplies. It seems that these steps have not significantly changed the trajectory of high prices.
But much of the answer is rhetorical. Biden called the rising fuel price a “rise in Putin’s prices”, for example, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and tensions over gas prices from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“They seem to have given up on doing anything and are trying to figure out what is best to say,” said one man in close communication with senior White House economists, speaking on condition of anonymity to cover private conversations. “There is almost more debate about the right story than the right political position.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the Biden administration “is doing the best it can.” But rising prices are “psychologically exhausting” for Americans, he added, and the White House must be adamant to explain to the public why inflation is so high.
“People are using inflation as a political stick, so it’s just difficult for people to understand what’s going on,” Zandi said. “But I think the American people understand that this is the number one financial problem. They will not feel good about anything until inflation returns to something that is more comfortable. “
Republicans say the Biden administration lost credibility on the issue of inflation long ago when it initially dismissed it as a “transitional” effect of economic recovery after the pandemic, only to make high prices a long-term and persistent problem.
Conservative economists and many centrist experts also say Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan last year exacerbated inflation by boosting the economy and boosting demand. GOP economists have rejected the idea that Biden’s promise to allow …
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