Sam Graves: Inflation hits infrastructure

(From Sixth District Congressman Sam Graves)

There’s no denying that inflation has placed a huge burden on families all over America this past year. It’s estimated to have cost each of our families over $3,500. That’s almost unheard of, and the bad news is it’s only getting worse.

Economists with Bloomberg, hardly a conservative outlet, estimate inflation will cost American families another $5,200 this year. That just isn’t sustainable—especially when you add in the recent surge in gas prices. More than 62 percent of Americans can’t keep up with the rising prices brought on by the President’s out-of-control spending.

Don’t let his fancy rhetoric fool you. His spending policies are directly causing this crisis. Even his Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, admitted under oath that the President’s spending led to the inflation we are seeing.

It isn’t just families that have taken a hit though. It’s virtually every aspect of our way of life that’s under attack. Every link in the supply chain has been stretched beyond breaking point and now even infrastructure is at risk.

The cost of road construction materials is up 21 percent over the last year. When you factor in labor shortages, rising fuel prices, and ridiculous Green New Deal mandates being tied to infrastructure funding, it’s likely that much of this infrastructure bill will be squandered.

We should be tapping the brakes on this mess, but instead the President has his foot firmly planted on the accelerator. His recent $5.8 trillion budget proposal obviously isn’t even remotely fiscally responsible and that’s a shame. Budgets aren’t supposed to be a partisan political talking point. They’re supposed to be about what’s best for America’s future.

The Biden budget is a roadmap to ruin. We simply can’t afford to keep piling on debt, driving up inflation, wrecking the supply chain, and squandering our infrastructure dollars. We have to get this spending spree under control. Until that happens, American families are going to keep struggling just to get by.