Finance Committee Republicans on Democrats’ Plans to Hike Taxes, Kill Jobs and Fuel Inflation

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Finance Committee Republicans, led by Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), held a news conference to emphasize why combining massive tax hikes with sky-high inflation is a terrible combination for American workers and the economy.  To watch the news conference in its entirety, click here.

Highlights:

Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho):

“Tax increases would make inflation worse by further suppressing the supply side of the economy, including by depressing investment and productivity growth as well as labor supply when labor force participation remains below pre-pandemic levels.”

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa):

“Iowans are paying $670 more per month on living expenses since President Biden took office.  They're pleading for a reprieve from the Democrats’ terrible economic policies. . . . More government spending and higher taxes are exactly the opposite of what Iowans need right now.  Reckless government spending fueled inflation in the first place--more spending will make it even worse.”

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas):

“It’s the pain, the silent tax you heard about, that hits people most directly.  You would think that the Biden Administration would understand the basic laws of supply and demand.  The one reason why prices are high is because demand is high, but when demand is high if you want to lower the price you increase the supply. . . . We could create more good jobs across America and bring down the price of gasoline at the pump and provide some real relief to American consumers if we would just produce more energy here at home.”

Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma):

“[H]istory is repeating itself.  Literally, the weekend before I’m watching Joe Biden travel to Saudi Arabia to go meet with them about increasing oil production and to try to bring down prices in America, I’m reading a story of Jimmy Carter doing the exact same thing in the 1970s.  This is the Biden economy.  This economy that we have right now of 9.1 percent inflation is directly tied to the Democrats’ policies and the things that they have passed in the past year that have dramatically increased the prices on Americans.”

Senator Todd Young (R-Indiana):

“$5,200 is a lot of money to the average American household.  I know back in Indiana, $5,200 dollars can make or break an Administration.  It can make or break a presidency.  So this President needs to figure out that he's headed in the wrong direction with these proposed tax increases.”

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio):

“[Inflation] is the most punitive tax of all.  We just got the numbers this morning from Ohio--8,300 bucks a year in additional spending on energy; on food; utility bills generally; on clothing.  $8,300 bucks a year, that's based on our numbers that we have in Ohio on January until now in terms of inflation, and extrapolating that out for the rest of the year.  That’s impossible for people to handle if they're on a fixed income.  A lot of lower- and middle-income folks in Ohio are suffering the worst.”

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