Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding inflation:
“The painful story of Washington Democrats’ runaway inflation is playing out in hardworking communities all across America.
“We learned last week that food inflation is now at its highest level since 1979.
“For folks in the Phoenix metro area, where inflation already outpaces the national average, that’s meant a 3% inflation tax on food in just the last two months.
“According to one Arizona shopper, ‘It’s all almost $300, I used to get the same groceries like around $150 before.’
“Across the border in Nevada, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported recently how local coffee shops are caught between eating higher costs for supplies and chasing their customers away with higher prices. The owner of one shop says that as everything from coffee beans to cups gets more expensive, they’ve had to raise prices about 10%.
“‘We’ve done our best not to pass this on to our customers, because we do understand that we’re all in the same boat together.’
“The Colorado Sun spoke with one new resident of Westminster who said he had moved towns to, ‘lower the impact of an 18% rent increase.’
“He’s cut back on cable, driving, and buying meat at the grocery store.
“In Washington state, the Seattle Times is reporting that four in ten area renters are now spending more than 30% of their paychecks on rent.
“When one resident learned her rent would be increasing nearly 10%, she said, ‘I just wanted to cry. I’m barely making it — I’m just a senior citizen.’
“In Georgia, the Augusta Press reports that local small businesses are still facing a rocky road. According to the owner of one power-washing business in Evans, ‘materials are getting more expensive,’ and that potential clients are, ‘more hesitant to get any work done right now.’
“And further north, with winter cold fast approaching, one resident of Manchester, New Hampshire told the local news that heating oil subsidies were appreciated, but, ‘I feel like it’s a Band-Aid after they’ve stabbed you.’
“Madam President, these are the real-world consequences of Washington Democrats’ inflation. Every corner of every state is writing its own painful story.
“But the ones I just mentioned have something unfortunate in common. Every resident of Arizona, Washington, Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado, and Georgia is represented by two Senators who each cast the deciding vote to set this historic inflation in motion.
“If just one single Senator from Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire, or Washington State had refused to give their vote to President Biden’s reckless spending, the working families and small business owners of those states would not be dealing with this much inflation. Period.
“But every one of those states’ Senators cast tiebreaking votes to bring on the worst inflation in four decades. And now every American is paying the price.”