Source: United States Senator for Wyoming John Barrasso
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) spoke on the Senate floor about the Democrats’ liberal agenda for 2022 at a time when Americans are already struggling.
Excerpts from Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
“I come to the floor today to talk about the Democrat agenda for the New Year.
“The American people have just come back from the most expensive Christmas in our nation’s history.
“Coronavirus cases are breaking records all around the country. And many Americans spent their Christmas with their travel plans canceled.
“Joe Biden now enters his second year in office with record high inflation record high coronavirus cases and a record low approval rate.
“Now, Joe Biden is breaking all kinds of records and each of these records reflects in America that is heading in the wrong direction.
“The American people have two major concerns right now, Coronavirus and what it costs to live their daily lives at these two issues are not even on the radar of Democrats in Washington, DC.
”In fact, Democrats have only made these problems worse. First Democrats have one question really driven up the cost of living on American founders.
“Inflation shot up after Democrats put $2 trillion on America’s credit card. This spring Democrats told us inflation was transitory. They said it month after month after month.
“On the day after Christmas, Margaret Brennan of CBS news asked the vice president. A very basic question she asked, was it wrong to consider inflation transitory?
“It’s not a gotcha question. It’s a question American families have asked themselves month after month after month, as they’ve heard Democrats say it was transitory well, to the American people, the answer is very clear.
“It’s obvious. Of course it was wrong by the administration, by the president, by the vice-president to try to mislead the American people by claiming that inflation was transitory.
“So what did we hear from the vice-president in response to this question has been a great concern to the American people.
“What we heard was 118 words of incoherent rambling, like a deer in the headlights on a basic question on the top issue of the day, either the vice president is out of touch with the needs of the American people, or she just didn’t want to admit that the Biden administration had been wrong month after month after month until the inflation numbers hit a 40 year high.
“What’s going on now for nine months. And, you know, it’s only going to get worse. That’s what the experts are telling us.
“In October, we saw the worst. Inflation in 30 years, and then in November it became the worst inflation in 40 years.
“Prices have going up faster than wages means the average American family can purchase a lot less today than they could when Joe Biden took office, the biggest price increases of course, have been in energy.
“In November, we saw the biggest energy price increase in 10 years.
“CNBC reports that one fifth of American families couldn’t afford to pay an energy bill this past year, roughly the same percentage have kept their home at an unhealthy temperature because they can’t afford the cost of providing heat people who traveled for Christmas face some of the highest Christmas day prices in history.
“Gas cost a dollar a gallon more than this Christmas than it did last Christmas. One year, a dollar a gallon more.
“Many people couldn’t travel at all because of coronavirus.
“America broke records for coronaviruses cases twice last week. Ohio, Maryland, here in the District of Colombia, all broke records for hospitalizations due to coronavirus.
“Remember when Joe Biden ran for office, he said he was the cure for coronavirus. This guy ought to be sued for medical malpractice.
“He came into office with two safe and effective vaccines. Millions of people had already been vaccinated.
“Yet more Americans have now died from coronavirus under President Joe Biden than under the previous president.
“From day one of this administration, this president has been inconsistent, incoherent, and incompetent.
“The flip-flop on masks for the vaccinated has continued. The administration kowtowed to the teachers unions on mask mandates for toddlers.
“They flip-flopped on booster shots. They’ve flip-flopped again on testing.
“For months now, countries like the United Kingdom have sent rapid tests to their citizens through the mail.
“On December 23, President Biden told ABC News: ‘I wish I had thought about ordering at-home test kits two months ago.’
“It turns out—the White House did think about it. The media is reporting the White House turned down a plan to mail tests in October.
“In early December, the White House Press Secretary was asked why the Biden administration was not mailing out tests.
“After all, the Democrats in a straight party line vote in March, put 2 trillion dollars on our nation’s credit card, under the guise of COVID relief, but only 9 percent of the money went for healthcare. Where did that money go?
“Billions and tens of billions of dollars, so-called for ‘testing’ in the bill. But the Democrats forced a party line vote and yet there aren’t tests in the country because people are lined up around the block waiting for tests that the president wished he had thought about.
“That’s what he told the world. That’s what he said on ABC News.
“In early December, the White House Press Secretary was asked why the Biden administration was not mailing out tests. She mocked the idea.
“Then just a few weeks later, it became the policy of the same administration. It’s too little, too late. Another flip-flop.
“Another example of the hypocrisy and incompetence of this administration. Someone in the press ought to ask Joe Biden if he still believes what he said as a candidate.
“In September of 2020 Joe Biden said, ‘if the President had done his job from the beginning, all the people would still be alive. ALL the people. I’m not making this up.’
“Joe Biden once again telling the world he’s not making it up.
“I don’t know of a single doctor or public health official anywhere in the world who would agree with that statement by Joe Biden, then candidate for president.
“Yet Joe Biden said it repeatedly. As a candidate, Joe Biden said, ‘any president who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president.’
“And to that I say, Joe Biden you are right now responsible for that many deaths, so maybe you shouldn’t remain as president.
“Joe Biden attacked the previous administration for letting governors manage the response to coronavirus.
“Yet last month Joe Biden admitted, ‘there is no federal solution’ to coronavirus.
“Does Joe Biden still believe what he said as a candidate? Did he ever believe it? Or was he just running for president on the big lie?
“Even for Democrats in Washington, the hypocrisy and the incompetence are astonishing.
“Now the American people all across this country are suffering the consequences of the mismanagement by this administration.
“Flights, train departures, and public events are being cancelled, due to the resurgence of coronavirus.
“Cancellations continue today because of coronavirus under the president who said he would solve the problem.
“Joe Biden’s lies and flip-flops continue.
“Joe Biden said he wouldn’t issue a vaccine mandate. He said it on several occasions and then he broke his word.
“In the process, he took a sledgehammer to the American workforce, forcing people out of their jobs.
“The Biden administration has also issued a mask mandate for children as young as two years of age in preschools.
“Just before Christmas, Senator Lummis, also from Wyoming, and I introduced a bill to stop this mandate.
“There is no scientific basis for forcing toddlers to wear masks.
“This wasn’t about the science.
“It’s been shown the teachers’ unions lobbied for mask mandates in schools.
“On May 13, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued its mask guidance for vaccinated people.
“The guidance said fully vaccinated people could stop wearing masks indoors.
“What happened the very next day? Well the very next day the head of the National Education Association, the teachers’ union, called the director of the Centers for Disease Control.
“The day after that, the Centers for Disease Control released new guidance saying vaccinated people should wear masks in schools.
“Maybe it was a coincidence. It doesn’t look like it or sound like it to me.
“This flip-flop looks like the kind of political pandering to union bosses this administration has engaged in since day one.
“The American people have two big concerns right now: coronavirus and the cost of living.
“Democrats on Capitol Hill continue to ignore the two biggest concerns of the American people.
“What are the Democrats in this body focused on instead?
“For five months, Democrats in this body have tried to pass the largest spending bill in history.
“What’s it focused on? Not inflation. Not Covid. Not crime in the cities or murder rates that are at an all-time high. Not border security where the number of people coming in illegally carrying disease and drugs is at an all-time high.
“The Democrats want to focus instead on climate change and new entitlements.
“Their bill included trillions and trillions of dollars in new taxes and trillions and trillions of dollars in new debt.
“President Biden and nearly every Democrat in Congress went on record in support
of this socialist budget bill.
“Not a single Republican supports it. Not even every Democrat supports it.
“Now Democrats are fighting among themselves. It’s an absolute disgrace.
“Democrats ought to be thankful that that bill didn’t pass.
“If it passed, inflation would get even worse, just in time for an election year.
“This is not what the American people want.
“The American people have many concerns right now about the direction of this country and the direction that the president is trying to lead the nation.
“The two biggest concerns are the coronavirus and their communities and the cost of living that impacts on the people every day.
“Democrats are failing on both.”