President Joe Biden claimed on Wednesday that the United States experienced “zero percent inflation in the month of July” while ignoring that the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index Report announced inflation rose 8.5% year-over-year.
On Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index Report revealed that the rate of inflation is down from June’s 9.1% inflation rate. It did show that “zero percent” inflation occurred from June to July but that the country still experienced an increase in prices overall compared to a year ago.
In reaction to the news, an elated Biden told the press, “Today we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July. ZERO percent. Here’s what that means, the price in of some things go up, went up last month, the price of others went down the same amount — the result: zero inflation last month. People are still hurting but zero inflation.”
Biden: "Today we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July. ZERO percent."pic.twitter.com/fQ07bA7KCK
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 10, 2022
Ron Klain, Biden’s White House chief of staff, also retweeted Biden’s claim.
National Public Radio’s Asma Khalid added necessary context to that idea, tweeting, “To be clear, inflation dipped from a 40-year high. The Labor Department reported this morning that consumer prices in July were 8.5% higher than a year ago.”
To be clear, inflation dipped from a 40-year high.
The Labor Department reported this morning that consumer prices in July were 8.5% higher than a year ago. https://t.co/EIp5CkJut8
— Asma Khalid (@asmamk) August 10, 2022
Klain also claimed that wages were up in July. As Oren Cass, the executive director of American Compass pointed out, that is not exactly an accurate statement either.
“I have a lot of tolerance for politicos spinning data,” Cass tweeted. “It’s their job. But saying ‘Wages up’ shows a heckuva disdain for the reality facing working families these days. ‘Real average hourly earnings decreased 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, from July 2021 to July 2022.’ -BLS”
I have a lot of tolerance for politicos spinning data. It’s their job.
But saying “wages up” shows a heckuva disdain for the reality facing working families these days.
“Real average hourly earnings decreased 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, from July 2021 to July 2022.” -BLS https://t.co/ziwYM3OUEp
— Oren Cass (@oren_cass) August 10, 2022
Indeed, a look at the data shows that real wages are still down from a year ago, even though they increased from June to July.
The newest inflation report occurs as the Biden administration endorses the “Inflation Reduction Act” — a $740 billion package that includes $369 billion in spending on climate change. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking ballot in a party-line vote in the Senate earlier this week.
“This bill tackles inflation by lowering the deficit and lowering costs for regular families,” Biden said upon the bill’s passage in the Senate. “It addresses the climate crisis and strengthens our energy security, creating jobs manufacturing solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles in America with American workers… it pays for all this by establishing a minimum corporate tax so that our richest corporations start to pay their fair share.”
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.
Source: Dailywire
