United States Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Wednesday released the following statement in response to the latest Consumer Price Index release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showing that consumer prices rose again in September more than expected, and even more than they did in August:
“Pay more. Save less. That’s what Americans are getting from the Biden economy," said Senator Hagerty. "Consumer prices have risen another three percent annualized between August and September, and at 5.4 percent year-over-year. Prices for food at home increased more than 14 percent annualized between August and September. Inflation is the most pernicious tax of all, and it has resulted in net wage losses every month since President Joe Biden took office.
"Whether you are a single mom in Johnson City, a small business owner in Murfreesboro, or a truck driver in Jackson, this level of rising prices—not seen since the failed policies of Jimmy Carter—is making life very challenging, particularly for Tennessee’s poorest families and retirees. I warned this winter about raging inflation being fueled by more government spending, and I said this summer that unless supply chains normalized to meet pent-up demand—now we are seeing even more bottlenecks instead of stabilization—this tax hike could go even higher, and that’s exactly what is happening.
"Yet despite this, Democrats still want to pump trillions of dollars of more big-government spending into the economy. Tennesseans are on edge, rightly concerned because they are already paying the price for Biden and Democrats’ failed policies. How high will prices go? Will gas prices keep rising? Will Christmas be ruined because goods aren’t available? They can’t afford more reckless spending sprees. Neither can our country.”