Obama 'car czar' slams Biden for 'outrageous' visit to UAW picket line — then striking workers bat cleanup



Not everyone is thrilled with President Joe Biden's visit to the United Auto Workers picket line on Tuesday.

Biden visited the picket line in Belleville, Michigan, where he allegedly offered his support for striking auto workers. Biden was on the ground at the picket line for just 12 minutes, and he spoke to UAW members for less than 90 seconds.

Steven Rattner, whom then-President Barack Obama tapped as "car czar" in February 2009, strongly denounced the visit, which the media celebrated as "historic."

"For him to be going on a picket line is outrageous," Rattner told NBC News.

"There's no precedent for it. The tradition of the president is to stay neutral in these things. I get the politics. The progressives all said, 'We don't want a mediator; we want an advocate.' And he bowed to the progressives, and now he's going out there to put his thumb on the scale. And it's wrong," he declared.

Meanwhile, well-paid UAW brass love Biden (because he is a Democrat). But some rank-and-file workers who spoke with Fox News shared concerns about the Biden administration's far-left climate agenda and electric vehicles push.

"We have been the backbone of these companies for so long. Trying to push us out to these electric vehicles — it won't last," one UAW member told Fox News. "We're hard-working. We have families. We need this."

— (@)

That pro-climate electric-vehicle initiative is problematic for union workers because auto executives are outsourcing parts of the manufacturing process, both overseas where labor is cheaper and to non-unionized regions of the country.

Other workers who spoke with local news stations in Michigan expressed concern that Biden's visit will over-politicize the negotiating process and distract from worker grievances.

"This is between the UAW and the corporations, and just securing a good contract. Everything [Biden's] had his hands in — it's all failed," one worker told WLNS-TV. "Election year is just around the corner. Maybe [his visit] is a way to gain some more votes."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

'This is Biden's inflation and he needs to own it': Ex-Obama official drops truth bomb as Biden blames Russia



President Joe Biden is trying to blame February's record-high inflation numbers on Russia — but a former Obama administration official is not having it.

Steven Rattner, a former counselor to the treasury secretary under President Barack Obama, called out Biden on Thursday for misleading the American people on the record high inflation rates seen in February.

"This is Biden's inflation and he needs to own it," Rattner tweeted after the president released a statement blaming Russia for rising prices.

Earlier, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 7.9% increase in the consumer price index over the past year — representing a 40-year high inflation increase.

Biden referred to the price increases as "Putin's price hike," claiming the Russian invasion of Ukraine is behind the surge in fuel prices punishing American pocketbooks.

"A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin’s aggressive actions. As I have said from the start, there will be costs at home as we impose crippling sanctions in response to Putin’s unprovoked war, but Americans can know this: the costs we are imposing on Putin and his cronies are far more devastating than the costs we are facing," Biden said in a written statement.

The president pledged to take further action to ease the supply chain logjams that have contributed to inflation and to "reduce the huge federal budget deficit that I inherited from my predecessor."

But Rattner said the president was wrong.

"Well, no. Those are Feb #'s and only include small Russia effect," he explained.

Well, no. These are Feb #'s and only include small Russia effect. This is Biden's inflation and he needs to own it.https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1501949244319559695\u00a0\u2026
— Steven Rattner (@Steven Rattner) 1646927902

Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24. The BLS report covered price increases for the entire month of February. And inflation is an issue the Biden administration has struggled to address for months. Last year, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and others dismissed rising prices as "transitory" and expected inflation to subside as the economy recovered from COVID-19 lockdowns.

But inflation never slowed down, and over the past year it rose at the highest rates seen in 40 years. In response, the Fed has made plans to raise interest rates in order to combat rising prices, with the first rate hikes expected to come next week.

Before blaming Russia, Biden blamed disrupted supply chains for rising prices, but Rattner also called this excuse "simplistic and misleading" in an op-ed for the New York Times three weeks ago.

"Blaming inflation on supply lines is like complaining about your sweater keeping you too warm after you’ve added several logs to the fireplace," Rattner wrote.

"The bulk of our supply problems are the product of an overstimulated economy, not the cause of it," he stated, explaining that as pandemic restrictions eased, Americans began spending more money — aided by generous COVID-stimulus payments started by President Donald Trump and continued under Biden's American Rescue Plan.

"All that consumption has resulted from vast amounts of government rescue aid (including three rounds of stimulus checks) and substantial underspending by consumers during the lockdown phase of the COVID crisis," Rattner wrote, chocking inflation up to "a classic economic case of 'too much money chasing too few goods'" once the pandemic began to end.

He suggested that Biden "make deficit reduction as important as [his] other initiatives" to combat inflation, noting that "smaller deficits reduce net spending by government, thus helping offset demand by consumers."

However, Biden and Washington Democrats have shown no appetite for reduced government spending. The president has instead prioritized a multi-trillion dollar Build Back Better plan projected to add at least $750 billion to the deficit, which has already eclipsed $1.3 trillion for this year.

If Biden follows Rattner's advise he has too options: Compromise and work with Republicans to reduce spending, over the protestations of his progressive base, or attempt to raise taxes ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Neither seems likely to happen.

Obama-era adviser calls out Biden for 'dishonest' excuses on record inflation, economic problems



An Obama-era economic adviser rebuffed President Joe Biden on Thursday for blaming record inflation and growing economic woes on supply chain problems.

What is the background?

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Thursday the consumer price index rose to an annual rate of 7.5% in January, the highest rate in 40 years.

NBC News anchor Lester Holt later confronted Biden over his assertion in July 2021 that inflation would be "temporary," asking the president what his "definition of temporary is."

Biden responded by calling Holt "a wise guy," and then he proceeded to blame continued supply chain issues for growing inflation. Biden also claimed that advisers tell him that inflation "ought to be able to start to taper off as we go through this year."

What happened now?

Steven Rattner — an economics expert who served as counselor to the Treasury Department early in the Obama administration — explained in an essay for the New York Times that Biden's excuse is "dishonest."

Explaining that Biden's excuse is both "simplistic and misleading," Rattner declared, "supply issues are by no means the root cause of our inflation."

"Blaming inflation on supply lines is like complaining about your sweater keeping you too warm after you’ve added several logs to the fireplace," Rattner explained. "The bulk of our supply problems are the product of an overstimulated economy, not the cause of it."

According to Rattner, the true cause of inflation is a significant increase of spending on durable goods — items, Rattner explained, "for which production and distribution capacity is limited" — which he said has been caused by "vast amounts of government rescue aid," a reference to three stimulus bills passed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, the problem in the U.S. economy boils down to "too much money chasing too few goods," Rattner explained, "resulting in both higher prices and, given the extreme surge in demand, shortages."

In addition to product shortages, Rattner also pointed to the so-called "Great Resignation" and labor shortages. "Note to Mr. Biden: You can’t blame clogged ports for that," Rattner quipped.

So what should Biden do?

According to Rattner, the White House "needs to be more honest" and "should make deficit reduction as important as its other initiatives," which includes not lying about his legislative agenda, like the since-killed Build Back Better Act. The Biden administration claimed BBB did not cost anything, but that was not true.

Rattner also suggested the Federal Reserve take "robust action," presumably a reference to raising interest rates. Larry Summers, a Democratic economist who served as treasury secretary for Bill Clinton and a top adviser to Barack Obama, has also said the Fed should immediately end quantitative easing.

Obama Treasury Official Blames Federal Spending For Inflation Crisis

'Simplistic and misleading'