Here's What Action the Biden Administration has in the Works to Combat Inflation

     America's economy has made remarkable progress since President Biden took office. Nearly 7.5 million jobs have been created as unemployment rates near a return to their pre-pandemic levels. Unemployment insurance claims have dropped to levels near a 60-year low. America's GDP has grown 5.7 percent, the fastest rate since 1984. New manufacturing jobs have reached a 30-year high, farmers are feeling more relief with the end of the Trump trade wars, and small business applications are up 30 percent over pre-pandemic levels. Even with inflation, Americans have more money in their pockets today than they did a year ago thanks to investments like the American Rescue Plan Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and, for the first time in January, real wage growth was in the positive, outpacing inflation.

     However, inflation is still an insidious threat to working families, and the White House has taken action and will be taking action to combat it:

1. A strategic release from America's petroleum reserves will cut the cost at the pump, which has been one of the most irritating aspects of inflation.
2. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act will create hundreds of thousands of manufacturing and STEM jobs (in addition to the two million jobs created by the IIJA), with perhaps the most important provision being a $50 billion investment in semiconductor chips, technology used in things like cars and appliances. A shortage of these chips, many of which are made in China, is responsible for more than a quarter of inflation, and this investment will strengthen America's supply chain and end this shortage, cutting inflation dramatically.
3. Expanding workers' rights has been a priority since day one. Income inequality reaches its highest point when collective bargaining is at its lowest, and, in April 2021, President Biden signed an executive order that has produced 70 policy recommendations to expand the right to organize for millions of workers; this, combined with the Democratic majorities President Biden secured on the National Labor Relations Board and National Labor Relations Authority, has and will result in giving power to the Striketober movement by helping millions of workers join unions and millions more union members see massive wage increases that will offset inflation.
4. Combating trusts and other unsavory market practices will ease inflation. Just a few companies control America's meat market, which is the main reason for price increases at the grocery store. With the most ambitious antitrust enforcement in nearly a century, Americans will pay less at the grocery store, the hospital, and at the bank. For example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announcing a crackdown on overdraft fees led to numerous major corporations with tens of millions of customers halting the practice.
5. Utilizing the power of the Federal Reserve by confirming President Biden's nominees will play a major role in combating inflation by raising interest rates by 0.5 percent and taking other necessary actions to control America's money.
6. Passing the Build Back Better Act is the best action Congress can take to cut costs for American families: this legislation, combined with President Biden's executive actions, will provide cheap healthcare to more than 10 million eligible Americans, make the largest investment in affordable housing in American history, cut the cost of childcare in half while providing universal Pre-K, lower education costs by expanding the Pell Grant and investing in MSIs, make the largest investment in elder care in 40 years, cap the cost of insulin and lower prescription drug prices, expand the child tax credit and earned income credit, invest in millions of jobs providing affordable clean energy to tens of millions of homes, and more. This legislation would cut average household costs for American families by 10 percent, the largest such cut since the Great Society.

     If these six strategies all work, America should create more jobs with better wages than any administration in history while also cutting costs for American families. I'm also calling on President Biden to cancel student debt. His targeted debt relief, when combined with a crackdown on student loan scams, is providing relief to millions of Americans, but canceling student debt is popular, important, and good for the economy, especially when it comes to cutting costs for Americans.