House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is arguing that government spending is not fueling inflation or increasing the national debt.
At a meeting of House Democrats, Pelosi claimed that the Build Back Better social spending package is “non-inflationary because of the way it is written.”
“When we’re having this discussion, it’s important to dispel some of those who say, well, it’s the government spending. No, it isn’t. The government spending is doing the exact reverse, reducing the national debt. It is not inflationary,” Pelosi said on Friday.
She continued, “We’re paying very close attention to it, but this starts with Putin because of the global inflation for reasons beyond the gas price. Global inflation is something that we have to deal with globally, but we have our responsibility to deal with it at home, and we have legislation that does just that, by increasing supply and, again, creating jobs in a way that is not adding to inflation.”
Watch the video below:
PELOSI: "When we're having this discussion, it's important to dispel some of those who say, well it's the government spending. No, it isn't. The government spending is doing the exact reverse, reducing the national debt. It is not inflationary." pic.twitter.com/petrpksVgO
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 13, 2022
Those comments are similar to ones made by President Joe Biden the same day.
Speaking to House Democrats, Biden touted his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) as he said, “Four million more jobs were created. Unemployment is 2% lower than it would have been had we failed to act. And it didn’t cause inflation.”
“I’m sick of this stuff!” he added. “We have to talk about it because the American people think the reason for inflation is government spending more money. Simply not true.”
Biden: "I'm sick of this stuff … the American people think the reason for inflation is government spending more money. Simply not true!"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 11, 2022
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The two Democratic leaders’ arguments about inflation follow shortly after the inflation report for February showed that prices increased at 7.9% — their highest pace since January 1982 — over last year.
Gas prices rose 6.6% and accounted for roughly a third of the inflation increase in February. They increased 38% from last February.
