Sam Graves: We need a real inflation plan from the White House

(From Sixth District Congressman Sam Graves)

When President Biden took office, the average price for a gallon of gas in this country was $2.38. It's $4.98 now. Gas is expected to top $6 per gallon by August.

Inflation was under 2 percent when President Biden walked into the Oval Office. Now, it's over 8 percent. The Administration told us repeatedly last month that the worst was over and rising prices had "peaked." That was a lie. Inflation just hit 8.6 percent—the highest it's been in a generation.

This isn't just about numbers. This is about people. People are struggling to deal with these rising prices. It's going to cost the average household $5,000 more this year just to get by. I don't know about you, but most folks I know don't have that kind of money just lying around to pay for these price hikes. It's not like any of us are going to find $5,000 in our couch cushions tomorrow.

This is a real problem and it's only getting worse. We need a real plan from the White House, but so far, the President's only plan is passing the buck. That doesn't fly in the Show-Me State.

We know exactly how we got here. Deficit spending drives rising prices and inflation. We've known that for years. When President Biden rammed through his massive $1.9 trillion "COVID" spending bill last year, rising prices took off like a rocket ship. When he shut down new permits for oil drilling on federal lands and pipeline construction, oil prices shot through the roof.

It's not too late to turn this around, but to do that Congress and the President need to get back to work. Instead of ramming through unconstitutional gun control bills and holding prime time hearings on President Trump, we need to get back to working for the American people.

We need to cut off this ridiculous deficit spending and start doing some belt tightening here in Washington because when we can't balance the budget here, it makes it a lot tougher for folks to make ends meet at home.