Not only is inflation not "transitory" as the Biden administration claimed, but it is only going to get worse and "now it's on steroids," according to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Newsmax.
"It's going to be worse than anybody's predicting," Paul, one of the most staunch fiscal conservatives in Congress, told Wednesday's "Cortes & Pellegrino." "There's no transitory nature to this. This is something that's with us, going to be with us, until we quit borrowing so much money."
It started with the massive stimulus packages during the COVID-19 pandemic that started a year ago, continued under President Joe Biden, and promises to expand under Democrats' "socialist program," Paul added to co-hosts Steve Cortes and Jenn Pellegrino.
"Now it's on steroids," Paul continued. "It's getting even worse under this administration, but I predict that the next year will be even worse, all baked in from this year's borrowing so as they pass their big government socialist program, we will get more inflation."
The Biden administration has already noted cost of living increase is at 5.9% now, but that was still a result of last year's stimulus, Paul noted.
"You've got 6% now from last year's behavior," he said. "This year's behavior can go even higher, so I think we could hit double digit inflation. It's incredibly disruptive. The labor market's screwed up. Every part of the food chain is screwed up, and people think that this is somehow something that's just transient, that's going to get better
"No, my prediction is that it gets worse over time because we aren't learning our lesson."
The Federal Reserve Board needs to start acting to control inflationary pressures on the economy instead of feeding them, according to Paul.
"The Fed is aiding and abetting big government," he said. "They're not trying to put on any kind of restraint. They are actually encouraging this spending spree."
Americans know better, Paul lamented, saying they are currently "functioning," "worrying," and "having to learn to live with this."
"You can't escape this," he said. "This isn't one of those things you can just say it isn't happening, because there's so much evidence of it all around us. I mean, people go to the gas station, they can see it. People go to the grocery store and they can see it.
"People know what's happening, and I think this is reflected in the numbers of people losing confidence in Joe Biden. Some said, oh, he was going to be stability, and then we had the Afghan debacle. He was going to be in this guiding comforting hand to the economy. Now we have inflation rising."
The Americans hurt worst by inflation are those on fixed and limited incomes, those that fell for the "bait and switch" of the Biden campaign's sales pitch.
"They're the ones being offered free stuff," Paul concluded. "So, on the one hand, the Democrats say, 'here's a bunch of free stuff,' but on the other end, they don't tell them you're going to pay for it by higher prices in the grocery store and at the gas pump."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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