Rep. Walberg: Thank Joe Biden for serving up inflation this summer

Summertime in Michigan is synonymous with cookouts, boating, traveling, spending time at the beach and enjoying the outdoors.

This year, these staples of summer are going to cost a lot more. For many families, it may mean altering or canceling their vacations altogether.

The average cost for a cookout this Fourth of July jumped 17% this year, according to the American Farm Bureau.

In Michigan, the price of gasoline continues to hover around $4.85 per gallon, making travel plans and other recreational activities more expensive.

For those traveling by air, the cost of airfare is up nearly 38% from last year. Booking a hotel will cost 22% more.

With inflation reaching a 40-year high, American families are struggling to make ends meet. Two out of three families report they are draining their savings to stay afloat. A quarter of Americans say they are pushing back retirement to account for price spikes. On top of that, there is widespread belief among Americans that a recession is looming or already arrived.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration spent more than a year downplaying inflation concerns, labeled it “transitory” and pushed through reckless spending that helped fuel the crisis. It was only until a few weeks ago that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen finally admitted that she was wrong about inflation.

Perhaps in the Washington, D.C. bubble, unaffordable goods weren’t a priority, but for the rest of America it has long been a daily reality.

Numerous economists, including former President Barack Obama’s director of the National Economic Council, Larry Summers, have pointed to the $2 trillion American Rescue Plan as a main culprit in the cost of living crisis. 

Just imagine if Democrats were successful in spending trillions more under the Build Back Broke plan.

There is another path forward. 

We can repurpose hundreds of billions in unspent COVID funding to shrink our deficit. There have been too many examples of how this money was misused and spent on projects totally unrelated to the pandemic — from bike paths to golf courses. Let’s be better stewards of taxpayer dollars.

A major bipartisan accomplishment from the Trump administration was scrapping NAFTA and renegotiating a fairer trade deal, emphasizing our priorities. Unfortunately, the focus has turned away from negotiating better trade deals for America.

Additionally, President Joe Biden has implemented de facto trade moratoriums which have hampered our supply chain, increased inflation and left our shelves bare. Let’s reverse this failing policy. 

To bring down sky-high gasoline prices, we need to unleash domestic energy production. Supply can’t keep pace with demand. The Biden administration has talked out of both sides of its mouth on energy, laughably claiming they’ve done everything they could to increase production while also cheering the pain at the pump as a rationale to accelerate their Green New Deal agenda. 

In this case, the White House’s actions — like stonewalling the Keystone XL pipeline — speak louder than words.

We also need to make tax relief permanent. If Democrats get their way, families will likely be paying more in taxes and American jobs could be lost. And when it comes to red tape, we need to review and streamline the burdensome regulations that are stifling small businesses. 

This summer, families across Michigan will be paying the price for Joe Biden’s harmful policies and lack of solutions to lower costs. Before the pandemic, our country was experiencing a booming economy.

Let’s return to the framework that got us there.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, represents Michigan’s 7th District in the House of Representatives.

This op-ed originally appeared in the July 10 edition of The Detroit News.