Palmetto State News

U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, in a social media post and statement issued last week, called out the Biden administration to "combat" rising inflation.

"Inflation jumps 5.4% in the month of June," Norman, a Fifth District Republican, wrote July 13 on Twitter. "Still crickets from this Administration. We need a plan to combat this before it’s too late."

In a separate statement issued by Norman's office the same day as his tweet, he said "under Biden's watch prices are rising everywhere we look – housing, transportation, clothing, travel, energy, and everything in between."

"Despite this, the trillions of additional dollars in reckless federal spending that liberals want will only make the problem worse," Norman continued. "You cannot pump that kind of (borrowed) money into the current state of our economy without causing significant inflationary harm to lower and middle-income Americans."

Norman's comments came as cost of living in the U.S. in June was 5.4% higher during the same period last year for the highest annual inflation rate since 2008, according to various economic indicators.

The Consumer Price Index, seasonally adjusted, went up by 0.9% in June, following a 0.6% rise in May, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report issued last week. The June increase was the largest one-month change since June 2008 when the index rose 1.0%.

Over the past 12 months, the all-items index, before seasonal adjustment, rose by 5.4%, the largest 12-month increase since August 2008, when it also hit 5.4%.

The summer of 2008 marked the beginning of the housing bubble burst, and helped fuel the Great Recession.

Another current and closely watched inflation measure, this one omitting volatile food and energy prices, showed a 0.9% increase in June, and a 12-month rate increase of between 4.5% and 3.8%, a 29-year high.

Much of these inflationary increases are due to increases gasoline prices, currently well above levels of last summer, when the pandemic prompted a sharp decrease in driving. 

Now, a year later, gas prices are up 45.1% and inflation is at a 13-year high.

"If your mid-sized car drinks 13 gallons of fuel weekly, you’re now on track to pay $400 more over the next 12 months for gas." Norman added in his statement. "Forget about fuel for a minute – let’s just hope you don’t need to buy another vehicle!  If you’re in the market for a used car or truck, you’ll pay over 10% more today than you would have this time last month, and 45% more today than you would have paid this time last year."