President Joe Biden participates in a change of command ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard headquarters, Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Washington. Adm. Karl L. Schultz is being relieved by Adm. Linda Fagan as the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 10:23 AM PT – Wednesday, June 1, 2022
President Joe Biden is reportedly upset with his administration’s handling of the highest inflation in decades. According to a Washington Post report published on Wednesday, over the past several months Biden has privately sounded off about how White House aides are not sufficiently addressing inflation.
Biden was said to have told aides they are not doing enough to explain what is causing inflation and what they are doing to reduce it. The President’s reported frustration comes as recent polls indicate most Americans do not approve of his handling of inflation or the economy as a whole.
Despite this, Biden administration economists have said the looming economic recession is nothing to worry about. Administration officials appear to be keeping their heads in the ground as the US economy is on its way to catastrophe. At the White House and on corporate networks Tuesday, several of President Biden’s economic advisors tried to downplay the severity of rampant inflation and chocked supply chain.
Director of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese echoed the long defunct talking point that the economy is in a “transitory period.” Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell blasted officials for using that term last year. At that time, he said it was too late in the game to call the crisis transitory. That didn’t stop Deese from downplaying the economic woes experienced at the hands of the Biden administration while also claiming the US economy is in a good place.
“The economy we have right now is in a transition from this period of historical economic growth to a period that can be more stable, resilient growth,” he stated. “That required focusing on inflation and doing so from a position of relative strength. The US is in a better position to do so in part because of the strength of our labor market recovery, the strength of household balance sheets.”
National Economic Council director Brian Deese speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
However, the numbers show the economy is not in a good place. Economists have lamented the inflation rate is at a more than 40-year high. Additionally, gas prices have soared since Biden occupied the Oval Office with national averages exceeding $4.00 and in California more than $6.00. It appears that those prices keep hitting record highs week after week. Other experts have pointed to the problems with the supply chain that is causing store shelves to run dry and is keeping baby formula from nurturing children.
Recently, Powell warned Americans are going to feel some more pain while the central bank posits to fight inflation. However, the Biden administration appears to be incapable of admitting its mistakes. Instead, Biden officials have continued to blame COVID-19 and Russia’s Vladimir Putin for America’s crumbling economy.
“What we understood about inflation at the time was that it was tied to the pandemic, said chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, Cecilia Rouse, PH.D. “We are still in the midst of this pandemic. Russia’s war on Ukraine disabled not only gas prices and food prices, but also disrupted supply chains. We didn’t foresee Delta, we didn’t forsee Omicron. And So, yes, there have been unexpected challenges, which have disrupted getting us back to the natural equilibrium that would help bring down those prices.”
There is one Biden administration official who is taking responsibility for her miscalculations. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters that she was wrong to say inflation would not snowball in several interviews last year. She admitted there were several Biden administration programs, including massive spending bills, energy cutting policiesand insufficient supply chain, that contributed to the economic crisis.
However, Yellen and President Biden have said the administration is not ready to correct course and is deferring responsibility to the Federal Reserve. The Treasury secretary said the fed will have to lead the way on combatting inflation and the rest of the Biden administration will follow suit.
“And for our part, President Biden is focused on supplementing what the Fed does with actions we can take to lower the costs that American face for important expenditures they have in their budgets,” Yellen stated.
In the meantime, Powell has vowed to wage war on inflation until the Consumer Price Index returns the Fed’s target at 2 percent. Some economists and lawmakers warned a recession could come in the coming months if the Biden administration fails to take hold of inflation.
