The White House detailed United States President Joe Biden's inflation-fighting strategy on Tuesday that focused on relentlessly rising prices across the nation.
Biden plotted his plans with the chairman of the Federal Reserve as the fate of the economy, and his political prospects became increasingly dependent on the actions of the government's central bank.
Biden's Plan To Address Inflation
The Democratic leader had hoped to demonstrate to voters that he was attuned to their worries regarding higher gasoline, grocery, and other prices. He continued to insist that an independent Fed would act free from political pressure.
Like the U.S. president, the Fed wants to slow inflation without knocking the U.S. economy into recession, a highly sensitive mission that is to include increasing benchmark interest rates this summer. Biden also said he would not attempt to direct that course as some previous presidents have tried.
In a statement, the president said, "My plan to address inflation starts with simple proposition: Respect the Fed, respect the Fed's independence." The meeting between the two officials was Biden's latest effort to show his dedication to containing the 8.3% leap in consumer prices in the last year, as per the Associated Press.
Many Americans have voiced their complaints of rising gas and food costs heading into the midterm elections, putting Democrats' control of the House and Senate at risk. President Biden is running out of options on his own as his past attempts, including releasing oil from the strategic reserve, improving port operations, and calls to investigate price gouging, have fallen short of satisfactory results.
High prices have undermined Biden's efforts to highlight the low 3.6% unemployment, leaving a growing sense of pessimism among U.S. residents. The meeting on Tuesday was the first since the president renominated Jerome Powell in November to lead the central bank. It also came two weeks after his confirmation for a second term by the Senate.
Economic Recovery
According to Fox Business, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden's policies were not responsible for the high inflation in the country. Jean-Pierre said that the new administration's policies have helped the economy get back on its feet. The statements came after the White House predicted inflation would be transitory last year.
The press secretary said that the gas price resulted from Russian President Vladimir Putin's gas hike. She also noted a roughly 60% increase in the past several months because of the amassing of troops and his invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Biden said he was meeting with the chairman and Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss his top priority, which is addressing inflation to transition from historical recovery to steady growth.
The Biden administration is also blanketing airwaves with the president's top economic official in a concerted push to use those aides as spokespeople to push the Democrat's message on the economy as administration economic officials have booked 20 television appearances on Tuesday, CNN reported.
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