Since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, the 13.7% increase in prices and rise in interest rates have cost the average American family $7,400, according to The Heritage Foundation.

Even though consumer price index (CPI) data Thursday shows that inflation has slowed to 6.5% from a 40-year high of 9.1% in June, many consumer staples are up astronomically higher since Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20, 2021, according to the Washington think tank.

EJ Antoni, regional economics research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, says the Biden administration’s spending of American taxpayers’ dollars is to blame:

‘Biden’s Inflation Tax’

“Biden’s presidency has been marked by excessive spending, borrowing and printing of money by the federal government,” Antoni says. “The result has been an appalling rise in inflation to levels not seen in 40 years.

“If you are wondering where the government got the trillions in extra spending over the last two years — they are taking it out of your hide right now through the hidden tax of inflation,” Antoni continues. “Every time you put gas in your tank or groceries in your back seat, you are paying Biden’s inflation tax.”

The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis calculates that since Biden took office, the average U.S. household has lost $6,000 in purchasing power and is paying $1,400 in increased borrowing costs due to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes to cool inflation down.

‘Stop the Profligate Spending’

Bidenflation has caused the price of eggs to increase by 189.9%; gas, by 44.3%; electricity, 21.3%; transportation, 19.5%; and housing, 11.8%, according to the conservative research group.

A benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage currently carries an interest rate of 6.48%, double from 3.22% a year ago.

The U.S. national debt is fast approaching $31.4 trillion.

The Heritage Foundation is calling on “conservatives in Congress to stop the profligate spending, which is the ultimate cause of both the inflation and interest rate hikes plaguing Americans’ finances.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated in remarks Tuesday that the Fed will continue to raise and keep the Fed funds rate elevated until inflation is back down to the Fed’s 2% target.

The Fed is committed to “measures that are not popular in the short term” to achieve this vital goal, Powell said.