If the Biden administration wants to reduce inflation, it should increase the country's production of energy, but instead, it's pushing for the Inflation Reduction Act, which will have just a "small effect" on the problem, Rep. Michael Burgess said on Newsmax on Friday.
"The administration was out there yesterday, just as they redefined recession, they redefined inflation and said, 'Hey, we don't have [inflation] anymore," the Texas Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "OK, if you don't, then don't do this bill because you proved in February of last year that if you pump this amount of money into an economy that's already going strong, you're going to get inflation."
Burgess said it's "not hard" to know what to do about inflation because the Trump administration left a "road map," that was "undone" in the first 18 months after President Joe Biden took office.
"If you want to affect inflation straight away, you would increase production of energy in this country, not just release it from the strategic petroleum reserve," said Burgess, warning that releasing the supplies could cause problems during hurricane season.
"We're smack in the middle of hurricane season, and if you had a bad one down on the coast, you're going to need all of that strategic petroleum reserve product that you shipped to other countries," said Burgess.
He also called for increasing production by removing obstacles for energy companies, including access to obtaining the capital they need.
"These are investments that are over a long time," Burgess said. "They involve some element of risk. ... We need to invest in American energy. It's not like we ran out. There's still plenty in Texas. Come and get it."
Burgess, also a medical doctor, discussed the growing concerns over monkeypox and accused the Food and Drug Administration, under Biden, of having "really missed the boat."
"There were supplies that were available in Denmark, and they were slow on the switch to begin to do the bureaucratic stuff necessary to bring that into this country," said Burgess. "They are catching up. That's a good thing. No one wants anyone to catch this disease. If someone does catch it, it is miserable, and you do want the treatment to be available."
However, Burgess said the administration "missed the clues early on, just as they did on baby formula and even going back to COVID."
"They've proven their incompetence time and time again," said Burgess. "Really. It's time to change directions, and in about 90 days, we get a chance to do that."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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