CNN anchor confronts Biden official for abdicating responsibility on inflation crisis: 'You don't use these tools'
CNN anchor Jake Tapper grilled a top Biden official Wednesday over dismal inflation numbers that show the U.S. economy is continuing its downward spiral.
The consumer price index showed that year-over-year inflation spiked 9.1% in June, a worrying figure that outpaced every expert prediction. The Biden administration downplayed the seriousness of the figure, repeatedly claiming it is "backward-looking" and does not reflect present-day reality.
What happened on CNN?
Tapper directly confronted Cecilia Rouse, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, over why the Biden administration is only talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
"I just feel like every month, one of you nice people from the White House comes on the show to talk about inflation, and you talk about these tools in the president's tool kit and you don't use them. You don't use these tools," Tapper confronted. "Meanwhile, prices are still going up."
In response, Rouse deflected responsibility from the Biden administration. She explained that Biden is doing everything in his power to help the economy and said it is time for Congress "to act."
"[Biden is] the Democratic president and the Congress is controlled by Democrats," Tapper shot back. "So, it's not as though you guys don't have each other's phone numbers."
\u201cAs inflation surges to its highest level in more than 40 years, CNN's @jaketapper\u00a0speaks to Council of Economic Advisors Chairwoman Cecilia Rouse about what the Biden White House is doing to combat rising prices across the country.\u201d— CNN (@CNN) 1657750115
Tapper even confronted Rouse over the Biden administration's repeated insistence that inflation has hit its peak, reminding Rouse that last December Biden told reporters inflation would go no higher.
"It just seems clear that the Biden administration has misjudged how bad inflation was going to get — for months and months and months," Tapper noted.
Instead of assuming some responsibility for the inflation crisis or admitting the administration was wrong about the trajectory of inflation (the administration claimed for months that it was only transitory), Rouse recycled the administration's overused talking points: The war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic are to blame for inflation.
Rouse ended the interview by saying Americans are fighting economic woes from a "position of relative strength," words that ring hollow to most Americans, especially when coming from a high-paid government official.
Top Biden economic adviser actually blames inflation crisis on Biden's 'effective response to the pandemic'
Cecilia Rouse, the top economic adviser to President Joe Biden, suggested this week that Americans are facing an economic crisis because Biden expertly handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the details?
Americans are battling skyrocketing prices across the market in the face of record levels of inflation. But Rouse claimed on CNN's "New Day" Tuesday that the crisis is a net positive because adequately addressing the pandemic resulted in these economic woes.
The remarks came after CNN host Brianna Keilar asked Rouse about concerns from some Democrats about Biden's policies. Specifically, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Larry Summers, a top economic adviser to Barack Obama and treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, have attributed the inflation crisis to Biden's spending.
"I wonder, looking back, were Larry Summers and Joe Manchin right about spending and inflation?" Keilar asked.
Rouse responded that she was "not sure what the right is" and charged that economic problems facing Americans today are directly caused by the pandemic. When Keilar asked again, Rouse blamed an "effective" pandemic response.
"What we've seen is that all advanced countries are trying to address inflation, and they have historic levels of inflation. That has been the consequence of mounting an effective response to the pandemic," Rouse said, "because while we supported households and businesses, got shots into arms, which allowed people to start to come out of their homes and regain their lives, our supply chains could not support that demand."
"We are not alone; all advanced countries are addressing with this," she reiterated. "So this is a consequence of having an effective strategy against the pandemic."
Biden to announce inflation plan as gas prices hit new record today. WH Council of Econ Advisors Chair @CeciliaERouse tells us:\n- National gas tax holiday is "on the table"\n- "Possible" Biden may end Trump-era tariffs on China \n- The US is not in a recessionpic.twitter.com/U5YtCjsozH— Brianna Keilar (@Brianna Keilar) 1652185543
With each passing month, inflation has trended in the wrong direction.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed Wednesday the consumer price index rose 8.3% last month compared to April 2021, which means inflation remains at a near 40-year high. The increase of inflation surpassed the Dow Jones prediction of 8.1%, CNBC reported, and was slightly less than the 8.5% seen in March.
The San Francisco Federal Reserve published a study in late March attributing the inflation crisis, in part, to Biden's spending policies.
"Estimates suggest that fiscal support measures designed to counteract the severity of the pandemic’s economic effect may have contributed to this divergence by raising inflation about 3 percentage points by the end of 2021," the study said.
The study also found that inflation is a problem in many developed nations. But the rate of inflation in the U.S. is significantly higher than in those countries.
This is Bidenflation. SF Fed chart literally shows the impact on inflation of Biden\u2019s $1.9T 3/21 gov\u2019t spending spree. It shows US inflation vs that in Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, & the UK - the chart ends before Russia invaded Ukraine.pic.twitter.com/aEJyglsI0Q— Andy Puzder (@Andy Puzder) 1648637140
Because of inflation, Americans should expect to spend an "extra $5,200 this year ($433 per month) compared to last year for the same consumption basket," Bloomberg reported.
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