President Biden's Economic Agenda Far Outweighs Negative Impacts of the Global Problem of Inflation

     Today, an economic study revealed that the Inflation Reduction Act would live up to its name and save the average family $1,800 on healthcare and energy by making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share, all while keeping President Biden's promise of not raising taxes by a single penny on anyone making less than $400,000 per year. This, however, is far from the only bill to provide relief to working families that President Biden is on track to pass.

     Congress recently passed the Honoring Our PACT Act in spite of Republican attempts at obstruction. This bill will provide $400 billion in benefits to 3.5 million veterans and their families, or an average of  $3,200 per family in the United States, albeit to only a small percentage of families. The American Rescue Plan Act provided a combined $3,000 in extra money with the Child Tax Credit and $1,400 stimulus checks to two in three American families, or an average of $2,000 per family. That's on top of the fact that state and local governments received hundreds of billions of dollars to prevent budget shortfalls, money many states used to cut taxes on the middle class. In my home state of Wisconsin, for example, a 15 percent middle class tax cut was enacted. In California, residents received a fourth, $500 stimulus check, with more benefits expected. Kansas eliminated the food tax thanks to the bipartisan leadership of Governor Laura Kelly. Financial benefits like these were nearly universal in red and blue states alike.

     Congress has already passed a slew of bills to fix supply chains and infrastructure. The CHIPS and Science Act will restore made-in-America manufacturing, fix supply chains, keep America competitive with China, invest in scientific breakthroughs, and much more. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act invested $1.2 trillion in repairing roads and bridges, cleaning our water and nature, securing universal broadband, investing in clean energy, and much more. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act cracks down on unfair shipping practices

     If the Inflation Reduction Act is passed this week, President Biden is free to cancel student debt before the end of the month. Even the least ambitious plan possible, $10,000 per borrower, would wipe out roughly $500 billion in student loan debt, or $4,000 for the average American family. At the same time, Congress is not even done. In his budget, President Biden has proposed doubling the Pell Grant, securing universal Pre-K and cutting the cost of childcare in half, and much more. While these provisions are unlikely to be included as-is, this 2023 budget, combined with the 2022 budget, has the potential to put thousands of dollars in the pockets of working families while also reducing the deficit by trillions of dollars, easing inflationary pressure further.

     Aside from these budgets, Congress could take action on the INSULIN Act, which would cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month and save the average American family nearly $500 per year. Congress is also considering the Social Security Fairness Act, which would increase benefits for millions of Americans by repealing outdated provisions in a similar way the Postal Service Reform Act did for the U.S.P.S. As I have mentioned before, Congress is also considering a handful of bills to build on President Biden's historic executive actions to bust up trusts that increase prices on American families. At the same time, as America recovers from the pandemic, President Biden is on track to create 12 million jobs in his first two years in office. These jobs come parallel to an increase in wages brought about in no small part by the strongest labor movement in a century, a movement President Biden has taken strong executive action on and Vice President Harris has taken a leading role in supporting, from heading the labor task force to casting tie-breaking votes for National Labor Relations Board nominees. If Congress passes only one other bill this year, I'm calling for it to be a minimum wage increase: 15 years is far too long.

     Gas prices are undergoing their fastest decline in modern history, on track to be down by at least a dollar from their June peak within the next few weeks. This is not normal: during the summer, as demand peaks, so too does the price of gas. Usually, gas prices fall most during the winter. If gas prices continue to fall through Labor Day, it is likely that this decline, while slowing down at some point, could continue for months rather than just being a fluctuation. This comes at a time when President Biden is on track to release more barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve than any president in history and as American energy production is on track to hit a record high. Even as this relief saves families hundreds of dollars, President Biden is still calling on Congress to temporarily suspend the tax on gasoline, which would save families hundreds of additional dollars. 

     Inflation is a global problem: from Europe to Asia to Latin America to Canada and, yes, the United States. It's on track to cost the average family $6,000. When he ran for office, President Biden promised to build back better. Even with inflation, which is not unprecedented, not unexpected, and not the result of any Biden policy, we're on track to do that. Inflation could cost families up to $6,000: I estimate President Biden's economic agenda to bring the average family in the United States about $16,000, or a net positive of at least $10,000. That's the difference between making it and not. That's restoring the backbone of this nation: the middle class. That's building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out. That's fighting for the soul of America. That's building back better.