Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN’s State of the Union that inflation came from Trump mishandling three crises during his administration which turned into catastrophes for the American people.
Tapper discussed Kamala Harris’ initial release of her economic agenda, but the only part the Beltway press is interested in is price gouging.
The food lobby is in an uproar, as you might imagine, so they didn’t bother to talking about her plans to of cancelling medical debt, a cap on prescription drug costs, a $25,000 subsidy for first-time home buyers and a child tax credit that would provide $6,000 per child to families for the first year of a baby’s life.”
TAPPER: Isn’t part of the problem here when it comes to high prices and inflation, the fact that you and your colleagues on Capitol Hill, along with both President Trump and President Biden, infused the economy with perhaps too much cash because of the pandemic.
JEFFRIES: The challenge is that President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited three different catastrophes from the prior president at the same time.
There was a public health catastrophe connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There was an economic catastrophe that resulted from the shutdown of our economy.
And of course, there was a democracy catastrophe related to the January 6th violent assault on the Capitol incited by the former president as part of the effort to halt the peaceful transfer of power.
And so in the context of the economic catastrophe, the shutdown of the economy had consequences.
And when demand came back, the supply chain needed to of course catch up. And so that is a process that has been underway that has triggered an inflationary environment.
But it’s fair to say that part of the challenge that many everyday Americans have felt is that price gouging is occurring by some bad actors. And it’s reasonable for us to look into how we can stop it from occurring.
Vice President Harris is simply saying we have to make sure that markets are properly functioning.
That’s the American way.
Harris’ price gouging plan is smart. Americans see price gouging as a big problem for raising prices and she’s speaking to it, nationally.
Some economists are speaking out saying it’s unattainable or not the issue, but putting pressure on the entire food industry is smart.
Time Magazine wrote an article depicting the enormous profits corporations like Conagra Brands and Kraft-Heinz are making. How Food Companies’ Massive Profits Are Making Your Groceries More Expensive
Forbes writes, “Why Your Groceries Are Still So Expensive,”
This is pressure from suppliers to increase prices. How? Professor Isabella Weber explains “that supply shocks allowed corporations to tacitly collude, hike prices, and rake in record profits…This is a form of implicit collusion,” she said. “Firms do not even need to talk to one another to know that a cost shock is a great time to raise prices.”
Alex Turnbull, a commodities analyst, echoes this, “When you go from 15 to 10 companies, not much changes. When you go from 10 to 6, a lot changes. But when you go from 6 to 4 – it’s a fix.”
Tell us again how the food industry is suffering?
It’s not just the food industry that’s taking advantage. They have been reveling in disaster capitalism as much as possible.
