On Sunday’s edition of ABC’s This WeekViewers were treated to a strange act of journalism when Jonathan Karl (co-anchor) challenged Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary on the reason the Inflation Reduction Act was called. According to nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office data, it will not have any effect at all on inflation. Karl suggested that the name was Orwellian.
Karl began by shaming the Biden administration’s economic records and before he could get to the question. He bemoaned how “just 37 percent of Americans approve of President Biden’s handling of the economy” and “70 percent say they felt the economy was getting worse.”
“We have since learned that inflation actually abated in July,” Karl proclaimed. “Why is it that if things are getting better, so many Americans are unhappy with President Biden’s handling of it?”
Jean-Pierre repeated the Biden administration’s claim that there was “zero percent of inflation” last month and credited the Inflation Reduction Act for working “to lower costs for Americans.”
Karl was then curious about the misleadingly called Inflation Reduction Act.
It’s the Inflation Reduction Act. But the Congressional Budget Office (which isn’t partisan) said there would be no impact on inflation next year.
Jean-Pierre responded that the legislation is “making sure that billionaires in corporate America are paying their fair share making sure that the tax code is a little bit more fair” and she claimed that “when you put it in its totality, you will see that it will bring down lower the deficit, which will help fight inflation.”
When asked to clarify her answer by Karl whether she disagrees with the CBO’s assessment, Jean Pierre doubled down: “it is going to fight inflation. It has been proven it has been said by economists across the board on the Republican side and the Democrat side.”
While Karl did ask the right question, he’s too late. The time to challenge the Biden administration about the Orwellian named “Inflation Reduction Act” would’ve been before it was passed by Congress and signed into law, not after.
This segment on ABC was made possible by Nature’s Bounty and Verizon. They are linked.
To read the transcript of this portion of the interview click “expand”:
ABC’s This Week
8/14/2022
Eastern, 9:24:41JON KARL Why is it that if things are getting better, so many Americans are unhappy with President Biden’s handling of it?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: So you know we’ll say this. You know we’ve said this before, like get it, we understand what the American people are feeling at this time, this is a number one priority, inflation has been a number one priority for the President. The President’s number one priority has been to lower costs. Everyday this summer, gas prices fell by over $1. That is a saving of about 100 dollars per month. This is partly due to the President’s work. You just spoke out how inflation has decreased.
Look at the CPI data for July. There is zero percent inflation. And so that is the work that we’ll continue to do, and if you look—I know we’re about to talk about what Congress did, what Democrats in Congress did with this Inflation Reduction Act, the work of this President.
The President announced in 2019 that he was going to do everything he could to ensure that America had the best economy possible. When you see the anti-inflation bill, it is clear that this will reduce the costs of American living.
Prescription drugs, energy costs, and also let’s not forget those 13 million Americans on the ACA Affordable Care Act who are now going to continue to see their premiums go down, that is important.
KARL How can you call it Inflation Reduction Act when the nonpartisan experts say—-
[crosstalk]
JEAN PIERRE: We’ve addressed the CBO. I understand your question. This was only the top-line number. But there are more numbers that show it will have money. Also, remember how we’re doing it. It’s making certain that billionaires in America get paid their fair share. Then, when it is all added up, you can see that it will lower the deficit. That will aid in fighting inflation. Look, here’s the thing, we have 126 economists, both Republicans, both Democrats who have said it’s going to fight inflation. We have five former Secretaries of Treasury–
KARL: So you disagree with the assessment of—
JEAN-PIERRE : There’s more. The reason Republicans made that argument was to make it false. They are going to combat inflation. Economists on both the Republican and Democrat sides have proven this fact.
About Post Author
You may also like
-
What Your Startup Should Know About Using a Local SEO Agency
-
The Importance of Professional Tree Removal
-
From Science to Storytelling: How Sara Winokur Brings Forensic Genetics to Life in Ivory Bones
-
What is an Electronic Flight Certificate? A Clear Explanation
-
Faith and Tattoos: Exploring the Intersection of Belief and Body Art