President Joe Biden is about to sign off on bills branded as inflation-fighting.
These legislative victories are a last-ditch effort by Democrats to change the narrative surrounding inflation — which hit 9.1 percent in June — hoping that it will reassure voters that these spending packages will decrease inflation.
The announcement by the Department of Commerce that the personal consumption expenditures price index hit 6.8 percent was also partially responsible for the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates by 75 basis points on Friday (July 29).
The 9.1 percent consumer price index increase coupled wth the consumption expenditures price index marks the highest numbers the U.S. has experienced in the last four decades.
Heading into November, campaign strategists on both sides of the aisle also point to the bills — which Democrats have been haggling over for months — impacting voters’ decisions, with voters focusing on those who endorsed the bill rather than whether the bill has any fiscal efficacy.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (W.Va.) is the man behind the Inflation Reduction Act, which has the potential to appease economy-centered voters.
Both Democrat and Republican strategists have lauded Manchin. According to a report by the Washington Examiner, one Republican strategist said, “Throughout Biden’s entire time in the White House, Manchin has been the lone Democrat to push back on his socialist spending ambitions,” adding that “He’s been demonized and attacked by his own party for a year straight, but he’s held the line.”
The GOP strategist continued, “Voters aren’t going to sit down and crunch the numbers on this. They’ll look at [Manchin] alone and say, ‘OK, maybe this thing is getting back on track.'”
The strategist also pointed to the positive impact Manchin’s bill will have on the economy, saying that despite Republicans “hemming and hawing,” they won’t “be able to cancel out the simple impact his blessing grants.”
The strategist continued, noting: “Voters aren’t going to sit down and crunch the numbers on this. They’ll look at [Manchin] alone and say, ‘OK, maybe this thing is getting back on track.'”
