March 29, 2024

More than a high-class problem

By Mariannette Miller-Meeks

Following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans were ready to return to work and provide for their families. Unfortunately, families have faced significant obstacles due to the Biden Administration’s policies.

In January 2021, inflation was 1.4 percent. Today, inflation is at 8.6 percent, the highest in forty years. The Administration has been stating that the rising inflation would be a “temporary problem”, but the data does not reflect these claims. Even members of the President’s cabinet have realized that the Administration was wrong about the path of inflation.

Supply chain issues, surging demand following the pandemic, increased production costs, and bloated legislative spending, such as the unnecessary $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, have caused the American people to pay extra for essentials.

Inflation is hurting most of the country. Recent studies have shown that two-thirds of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Rising prices are impacting Americans coast to coast. As prices skyrocket, many families are having to make sacrifices to make ends meet.

It is unacceptable that this Administration is continuing to push spending and policies, such as student loan forgiveness, that will further increase inflation. The Biden Administration should focus on the self-made border crisis, supply chain issues, and energy independence instead of spending more of the taxpayer’s dollars.

To combat the growing inflation, we need to immediately increase domestic energy production, address supply chain issues and labor shortage and stop wasteful government spending. The alternative means to address inflation, higher taxes, and even higher interest rates, is more painful to families. By spending trillions of dollars on unnecessary programs and expanding the power of the government, the Administration is hurting the very people it is meant to serve.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks is a resident of Ottumwa who currently represents Iowa’s Second District in the United States House of Representatives.