Republicans Desperately Try to Ignore Damning Inflation Report

As inflation reached 3.5% in March – its highest rate in three years – congressional Republicans are urging Americans to cover their eyes and ears.

The Commerce Department revealed Thursday that prices have increased 3.5 percent since last year, thanks to soaring gas prices amid the war in Iran. Even excluding volatility in energy and food prices, the inflation rate still stands at a shocking 3.2 percent.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina suggested that the public should live more in the future than in the depressing present. “The fact is, all cylinders are firing,” he says. said Fox Company. “You can even feel in our environment how much things are improving. Gas prices continue to fall, which means your groceries will also go down a little. We have a lot of good signs in the economy.”

Rep. Tim Burchett of Texas admitted gas prices were rising, but claimed Republicans were innocent in the matter.

“It has to do with the greed of the oil companies,” he said. said. “We don’t buy any oil from Iran. They sell 90% of their oil to China. They’re just ripping us off. I blame Congress.” (Burchett is a member of Congress, where Republicans hold majorities in both branches.)

He continued: “Stop telling me, ‘Oil is a commodity, Burchett, you don’t understand that.’ We don’t support every other product with billions of dollars in offsets, rebates and all that crap. »

Do But does Burchett understand global markets? Even though the oil companies lobby Congress aggressively (they mostly lobby Congress) Republicanswho massively support fossil fuels), the price of oil is rising right now because the Strait of Hormuz is closed, making it harder to export. Burchett seemed to understand this point until fairly recently. In 2022, it went to Newsmax and loudly blamed the war in Ukraine and the Biden administration for high gas prices.

Steve Scalise from Louisiana spoke at a Interview with CNBCeven if he wasn’t entirely right in his numbers. Asked about inflation by host Joe Kernen, Scalise said: “Two years ago we were paying close to $6 a gallon for gas. Right now it’s in the 3s…It’s still $50. [percent down].”

“When did we pay $6?” » asked host Joe Kernen. Gas peaked at a monthly average of $4.93 per gallon under Biden in June 2022.

“Two and a half years ago,” Scalise said.

“It wasn’t the average price,” Kernen said.

“Today we are 30 percent below where we were two years ago,” Scalise counters, reducing his estimate by 20 points from the figure he had just used. “We are reducing inflation.”

“You must have been on vacation in California,” Kernan said. “Two years ago, in April 2024, we were at about $3.65. We’re actually above where we were then.” (Correct.) Scalise then generalized his assertion by saying that gas prices “are well into the high fives under Biden.”

Another Texas Republican, Brian Babin, said MeidasTouch prices have “dropped dramatically” since Trump took office. “The president keeps his promises,” Babin said. When asked to assess Trump’s economic policies, he responded: “He has a B average right now. He had an A, he went to a B, and he’s going to go back to an A.” Most Americans disagree with Babin’s assessment, but gave him a little breathing space; his net worth is more than 2 million dollarsso it’s a little disconnected.