You don’t need me to hear from me - our economy is not looking great.  Take one look at your utility bill or your grocery receipt and it’s painfully obvious.  According to the most recent Consumer Price Index report, overall inflation  has gone up 8.3 percent, while the prices of groceries have gone up 13.5 percent.

In an effort to combat inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 5 times in 2022.  Let’s break down what that actually means for you and your family:

By raising the interest rates, the Fed is intentionally making it more expensive for Americans to borrow money, whether that’s using credit cards, taking out loans or applying for mortgages.  The idea is that if it’s more expensive, you’ll borrow less and spend less, and supply and demand means that prices will come down.

However, what the Biden Administration failed to take into account is that - thanks to Biden’s runaway spending - prices on the basic items like groceries and gas have skyrocketed.  Increased prices and stagnant wages have forced more and more people to use credit cards to cover the essentials.  In fact, new reports indicate that 19 million new credit cards were opened in the first quarter of 2022.

The reality is that no matter how expensive the Fed tries to make it, people won’t stop feeding their children or driving to their jobs.  That means the end result of interest rate hikes is not less spending - it’s just a more expensive minimum credit card payment for Americans at the end of the month. 

If the Biden Administration wants to get serious about combating inflation, they need to stop out-of-control federal spending and unleash domestic energy production.  Raising interest rates while still spending trillions of dollars is just more pain without any payoff.  I will keep fighting in Congress to make sure that your tax dollars are spent responsibly and to get our economy back on track.