Biden claims his policies ‘help, not hurt’ inflation

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President Biden on Tuesday laid out his plan to tackle inflation, which he says is his “top domestic priority,” claiming that his policies will “help, not hurt,” while warning against Republican plans and what he calls their “ultra-MAGA” agenda.

Inflation numbers released last month revealed a new four-decade high in March as Russia’s war on Ukraine fueled rapid price gains for oil and gas that wiped out the benefits of rising wages for most Americans.

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The consumer price index rose 8.5% in March from a year ago, according to the Labor Department report released Tuesday, marking the fastest increase since January 1982 when inflation hit 8.4%. The CPI, which measures a bevy of goods ranging from gasoline and health care to groceries and rents, jumped 1.2% in the period from January.

The president said Tuesday that he is “taking inflation very seriously.”

“It’s my top domestic priority,” the president said. “I’m here today to talk about solutions.”

The president, though, said he wanted to be “crystal clear about the problem.”

“There are two leading causes of inflation we’re seeing today,” Biden said, referring to the “once in a century pandemic” and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“Some of the roots of the inflation are outside of our control, to state the obvious,” the president explained. “I believe inflation is our top economic challenge right now.”

Biden laid out “two potential paths forward.”

“The first is my plan, the Democratic plan,” Biden said. “The plan put forward by congressional Republicans is the second alternative.”

The president said his plan is “to lower and lower and lower everyday costs for hardworking Americans and lower the deficit by asking large corporations and the wealthiest Americans to not engage in price gouging and to pay their fair share in taxes.”

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In contrast, Biden said Republicans plan “is to increase taxes on the middle class families, let billionaires and large companies off the hook as they raise prices, and rep profits of record amounts.”

“It’s really that simple,” Biden said, noting that his plan “is already in motion.”

The president pointed to his commitment to releasing 1 million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the next 6 months.

Biden also pointed to his approval of E15 gasoline – gasoline that uses a 15% ethanol blend – to be sold in the United States this summer in an effort to expand Americans’ access to an affordable fuel supply amid the surge in gas prices across the nation, which he said will “reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reckless autocrats like Putin.”

Biden slammed Republicans for offering “plenty of blame” with regard to gas prices, which soared to record-highs on Tuesday, but said they have not offered “a single solution to actually bring down the energy prices.”

According to AAA’s average gas price calculator, the national average cost of a regular gallon of gasoline hit $4.374 on Tuesday, the highest ever according to AAA.

Biden pointed to a tax plan rolled out by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., titled the “11 Point Plan to Rescue America,” which proposed raising income taxes on Americans.

“All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount,” Scott wrote in the plan. “Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax.”

Biden presented a “choice” for Americans.

“The bottom line is this: Americans have a choice right now between two paths, reflecting two very different sets of values,” Biden said. “My plan attacks tax inflation and grows the economy, by lowering costs for working families, giving workers well-deserved raises, reducing the deficit by historic levels, making big corporations, the very wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.”

“The other path is the ultra-MAGA plan put forward by congressional Republicans to raise taxes on working families, lower the income of American workers, threaten sacred programs Americans count on like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and give break after break to big corporations and billionaires, just like they did the last time they were in power,” Biden said.

When asked whether his administration would take any responsibility for inflation, the president stressed that his policies and plans are working to address the issue.

“I think our policies help, not hurt,” Biden said.

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When pressed again by a reporter on whether the Biden administration bears some measure of responsibility for the record-high inflation, the president pointed to “power.”

“We control all three branches of the government,” Biden said. “Well, we don’t really.”

The president pointed to the 50-50 party split in the Senate.

“You need 60 votes to get things done. I’ve been pushing the things I’ve been proposing here… since I’ve got in office, and I need to get 60 votes to be able to even pass.”

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Democrats control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House.

“A plan is the culture,” the president said. “Ultra-MAGA agenda. Their plan is to raise taxes on 75 million American families… they’ve got it backwards.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., down the Scott proposal, saying last month that Republicans “will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years.”

A senior Republican source told Fox News that “income tax hikes are never part of the discussion when Republicans are in charge in Washington.”

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Regardless, Biden, on Tuesday said “Democrats want to maintain Social Security.”

“Social Security and Medicaid really ask yourself, how well are we going to sleep at night?” Biden asked. “Knowing that every five years, MAGA Republicans, if they’re still Republican, as I said, is not your father’s Republican Party…If we’re going to have to vote on whether you will have Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and what amounts you have in each of those programs, you know what they’re likely to do, use them as hostages every five years to get their way on other things.”

He added: “It’s outrageous. It’s outrageous. I can’t believe that the majority of Republicans by honest God’s plan, but that’s a plan.”

Scott, R-Fla., on Tuesday, responding to Biden, told Fox News that the president is “confused,” and has made inflation worse, not better.

The president, for weeks, has been taking aim at Republicans–specifically his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, and the “MAGA” movement that he says has taken over the GOP.

Last week, Biden, reacting to the leaked draft majority opinion signaling the Supreme Court’s intent to overturn Roe v. Wade, said: “This MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history—in recent American history.”

Biden’s comments about “MAGA” come after he declared last month that the GOP “ain’t your father’s Republican Party,” saying it has shifted to a “MAGA party,” warning that right-leaning politicians “who know better” are “afraid to act correctly” out of fear of losing a primary election.

The White House, last week, also said the president has been “struck” by the “hold” former President Trump has on the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, the president drawing a contrast between his administration’s policies and Republicans comes as he is ramping up for the midterm elections. The president, in recent weeks, has started rolling out endorsements for Democrats, hitting the campaign trail for fundraisers, underscoring his agenda and working to “sharpen the contrast” between his administration and congressional Republicans, a Biden adviser told Fox News last month.

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“Expect more POTUS,” the adviser said, adding that in the months leading up to the midterm elections, the president will hit the trail with more travel to speak “directly to the American people both about what we’ve done and what we are doing.”

Part of Biden’s key strategy on the campaign trail, the adviser said, will be to “sharpen the contrast” between Democrats and Republicans.

Fox News’ Pat Ward and Hillary Vaughan contributed to this report.