DV Journal

Once upon a time, Michelle Mattus was a Democrat, shaking hands with former President Bill Clinton. She was in her 20s, living in Manhattan with Rudy Giuliani as mayor when she switched sides.

She liked Giuliani’s policies, which made her feel safe to walk in what were the once-dangerous streets of the Big Apple. Under Giuliani’s Democratic successors, those New York streets became dangerous again.

Republicans care about public safety, police, and other first responders.

“Show me a Republican that doesn’t care about first responders. Every Republican cares about that. That’s not unique about me or my campaign,” said the 48-year-old Mattus, a graduate of Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, who has spent the past couple of decades as a registered Republican.

Rep. David Delloso

She believes she is the best choice for the 162nd District and would take the views of her constituents to Harrisburg.

“It’s a personal decision who you’re voting for in November. (Voters) need to be able to trust the person who’s representing their voice. It’s not the Michelle Mattus show,” she said.

Mattus, a Ridley Park Borough councilwoman, is running against incumbent state Rep David Delloso.

Delloso did not respond to the DVJournal’s repeated requests for an interview.

However, during an hour-long interview, Mattus talked candidly about her upbringing and platform.

She is the daughter of a physicist and an English teacher. She is treating the campaign as a job interview with the voters. And though she doesn’t have much time for it anymore, she has an undying love for art, having designed her campaign literature.

“Arts were valued just as highly as sciences in my home,” Mattus said. “It was actually something that my father, an incredibly intelligent man, felt like of all the problems he could solve. Creating out of nothing is not something he could do. It wasn’t seen as less than or frivolous. I like the problem-solving of art. Looking at things holistically and then digging in,”

Mattus’ professional career is as diverse as her politics. She bounced from art to working for nonprofits before marrying into a family that worked in the insurance industry.

Naturally, she switched over to that.

And then she entered the world of politics, where she saw firsthand that the problems faced by constituents during the COVID-19 pandemic weren’t abstract.

Lockdowns shuttered businesses across the country, and many that survived are still recovering. Kids were out of school for almost two years, and their test scores plummeted. Ridley Park wasn’t immune from the ills of the pandemic.

Mattus, who has worked in risk management, witnessed the struggles of mom-and-pop businesses to stay afloat in trying times. Many of the same clients she helped as an insurance risk advisor.

Sweeping state mandates tied local officials’ hands, so sometimes all Mattus could offer was a sympathetic ear.

“I have hugged them as they cried, not seeing any end in sight to the ever-changing restrictions destroying their livelihood,” she said on her website.

“I will never forget facing that fear, uncertainty, and frustration with our business owners.”

Now she wants to craft legislation that makes a difference for her community that, like much of the nation, is suffering from inflation and high property taxes.

Residents whose families lived in the area for generations are being priced out of the area.

“That’s just not right,” she said.

And yet it is still hard to get Democrats and Republicans to agree on much of anything these days.

But Mattus said she hopes to do her part to mend that divide. And she might have the credentials to do it, having once had a stake in both parties.

She has split her ticket before as a voter and said she is not afraid to do that in the legislature. Whoever presents the best ideas and proposes common-sense measures gets her vote if elected, regardless of party, Mattus pledged.

“There’s too much fighting in politics. Everything is so ugly. Act like adults in office and know why we’re there,” Mattus said.

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When news broke that the Consumer Price Index hit a higher than expected year-over-year 8.3 percent rate, the stock market tanked. That was not good news for an incumbent president and his party just weeks before the midterm election.

Even worse, the cost of groceries “rose 13.5 percent over the last 12 months, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending March 1979,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The indexes for shelter, medical care, household furnishings and operations, new vehicles, motor vehicle insurance, and education were among those that increased over the month.”

President Joe Biden amplified the Democrats’ angst by hosting a White House Rose Garden celebration of the $739 billion so-called Inflation Reduction Act the same day the report hit. The celebration featured claims of fiscal success and a song by 1970s singer James Taylor.

Meanwhile, the Penn Wharton Budget Model found the legislation’s impact on inflation would be “statistically indistinguishable from zero.”

So, how are Delaware Valley elected officials and their midterm opponents reacting to the latest inflation news?

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) noted the Biden administration’s positive talk about inflation being under control missed the mark.

“The ‘consensus’ was wrong. Today’s inflation report shows what American families knew to be true: prices are still rising,” Toomey tweeted. “Americans are paying significantly more for essentials than they were one year ago: 13.5 percent more for groceries, 6.2 percent more in rent, 23.8 percent more for energy.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz said, “Pennsylvanians are getting slammed by higher and higher prices everywhere they turn as the inflation rate continues to tick up. There will be no relief in sight as long as we continue electing tax and spend Democrats like Joe Biden and John Fetterman. My opponent, John Fetterman, would only make this worse by funding radical ideas like the Green New Deal while raising taxes on the middle class.”

Fetterman did not respond to a request for comment about the new inflation report.

His fellow Democrat, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Delaware/Philadelphia), attended the White House legislative victory party, tweeting from the scene: “The #InflationReductionAct is a major victory for America’s families and for our planet–advancing the people’s interest over the special interest. Great to mark its historic passage at the White House with my friend @RepDean!”

Scanlon’s GOP opponent David Galluch did not see it that way.

“I grew up with a single mom who sacrificed to make ends meet. The current leadership in D.C. is refusing to provide real solutions at the expense of families like the one I grew up in,” Galluch said.

“While working families continue to be squeezed by inflation, President Biden and Congresswoman Scanlon take a victory lap for passing the ‘Inflation Reduction Act,’ a bill that did not lower inflation or provide ‘immediate relief,'” he added.

Another DelVal Democrat facing a GOP challenger in Congress, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, has publicly complained about the Biden administration’s poor handling of inflation. She responded to the bad news by taking to Facebook and reminding voters she has her own plan.

“A little while back, I asked Dr. Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics, to join me for a telephone town hall to talk about the root causes of inflation and what we can expect in the coming months,” Houlahan wrote. “We discussed the global shockwave of the pandemic and its lasting impact on our global supply chains. As one of the few members in Congress with a background in supply chain management, I used that experience to create my Inflation Action Plan.”

Guy Ciarrocchi, the former CEO of the Chester County Chamber who is challenging Houlahan, was unimpressed. “Inflation is the number one issue to everyone. Well, it’s the number one issue to every not named Biden or Houlahan.

“Biden and Houlahan created this mess with wasteful spending and forcing us to import energy from our enemies.  I campaign every day to offer hope, to change this—and will work even harder in Congress to use common sense to fix their mess that is crushing our family budgets.”

Houlahan posted this message on Facebook: “Yesterday’s inflation report is a reminder that inflation doesn’t go away overnight, and it also confirms what we have been feeling at home—price relief is not where it needs to be, and that’s making things harder for Pennsylvanians.

The report showed that even though gas and energy prices continue to come down, those cost savings were offset by other sectors including medical care.

Christian Nascimento, the Republican running against Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) said, “If we needed any reminding about the challenges our economy is facing, August’s 8.3 percent CPI increase has confirmed one thing: the Democrats’ policies are not working.

“Whether it is increased taxes, increased spending, increased hiring at the IRS, or the redistribution of student debt, Joe Biden’s policies are harming the economy, and Madeleine Dean and congressional Democrats that vote 100 percent of the time with the president are enabling this damage,” Nascimento said.

A frequent criticism of the inflation legislation is that it is actually a green energy and health care spending plan, not a strategy to cool an overheated economy. Dean appeared to confirm that view.

“Grateful to be with my brother and my son as we celebrate the Inflation Reduction Act at the White House,” she posed on Facebook. “This legislation will make our largest-ever investment in climate action; lower prescription costs, including capping Medicare insulin at $35; ensure the biggest corporations pay their fair share; and reduce our nation’s deficit.

“For our families. For our planet. For our future.”

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Pennsylvanians are feeling the pinch of record-high inflation and energy costs. The global mismatch between energy demand and available supply has put upward pressure on prices, which isn’t helped by the current policy and regulatory environment.

What’s needed now to help boost supply, as well as bolster our economy and U.S. energy leadership, are policies that encourage investment in energy exploration and infrastructure build-out. And in Pennsylvania, with its abundance of shale gas, policymakers should embrace energy as part of the state’s economic competitiveness and create a climate that attracts additional investment.

Natural gas development in Pennsylvania has proven to be an economic boon for the state, bringing in billions of revenues annually, generating over $2.2 billion in impact fee funding during the last decade, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and signaling to other companies, both large and small, that they should invest here.

Natural gas and oil activity has not only contributed directly to Pennsylvania’s economy but has also boosted manufacturing, logistics, banking, construction, and many other sectors in the state – more than $78.3 billion in total economic impact.

Research has shown that every direct job in the natural gas and oil industry – over 102,000 – generated an additional 3.7 jobs in Pennsylvania. Good jobs mean family-sustaining wages that are spent on homes and at restaurants, retail stores, and small businesses.

Pennsylvania has prospered in many ways from a strong energy sector. But more can – and should – be done to ensure the commonwealth is one of the best places to do business and continues to grow its energy economy.

This year, state lawmakers advanced measures to bring more investments and jobs to Pennsylvania, while continuing to hold the line on policy proposals that could harm our state’s national standing as a top energy producer.

Pennsylvania is clearly making progress. Yet, to embrace all that Pennsylvania has to offer, we need predictable regulations and efficient permitting, as well as a business climate that keeps the Keystone State competitive.

In June, the American Petroleum Institute (API) unveiled a 10-point policy plan that would strengthen U.S. energy leadership and unleash investment in America. These policy solutions, like removing obstructions to permits for natural gas projects, accelerating liquid natural gas (LNG) exports, approving applications for new export terminals, and designating critical energy infrastructure projects, would create new energy access while avoiding harmful government policies and duplicative regulations.

These solutions offer energy producers ways to supply more American-made natural gas and oil to consumers here at home and our allies abroad–not to mention generate good jobs, increased tax revenues, and economic development.

Rather than rely on foreign regimes for natural gas and oil, we should encourage domestic production in Pennsylvania. And that starts with policymakers at every level of government supporting a statutory and regulatory framework that fosters economic development, allows Pennsylvania businesses to grow and multiply, and supports domestic energy production and infrastructure expansion.

Pennsylvania has led the way in energy production and environmental progress and has the potential to do much more.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, while natural gas production growth in the Appalachia region over the past decade has been helped by improved productivity from wells drilled, regional transportation capacity is nearly full.

Without additional pipeline capacity, access to affordable, reliable energy is limited, and so is the state’s ability to grow its energy economy. Advancing natural gas development and pipeline infrastructure could help meet the dual challenge of powering Pennsylvania homes and businesses while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Under API’s solutions-focused policy plan, projects that support the production, processing, and delivery of energy should undergo a streamlined review and permitting process not to exceed one year.

At this critical time, with high inflation and energy prices hitting families hard, simply put, we need more energy. Ramping up energy production and completing pipeline projects doesn’t happen overnight. That is why we need smartly crafted policies that encourage investment and growth in the energy sector enacted today.

Pennsylvania-made natural gas is key to keeping our state competitive and boosting its bottom line. Consumers benefit, too, with increased access to affordable, reliable energy, and billions in new revenues that are directed to the state and communities in every corner of the commonwealth.

With the right approach, Pennsylvania can continue to build on these gains, safeguard our energy future and stimulate long-term economic growth.

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Empty pantries. Unfilled medications. Depleted savings. I recently poured over hundreds of comments like these from my constituents regarding the issue concerning them most: the growing toll inflation takes on their survival.

Of the roughly 650 people who responded to my poll, 92 percent said they are worse off today than they were last year. Another 95 percent said they feel the pain of inflation at the gas pump and the grocery store. Many told me the cost to fill their tank has tripled, while electric bills and food purchases have risen by hundreds of dollars each month.

Others say they’ve dipped into savings and delayed retirement just to handle the worsening economic situation. Parents forgo new clothing and school supplies as their children embark on another academic year, elderly and disabled residents on fixed incomes fret over property tax hikes, small business owners watch sales plummet and income halved, while others consider fleeing Pennsylvania altogether.

This widespread suffering weighs on my mind every day and the responsibility I bear to fix it grows heavier by the minute. I wish I could say the same for my colleagues across the aisle, spurred on by a feckless gubernatorial administration only interested in throwing money at our problems in hopes they’ll just disappear.

Ordinary Pennsylvanians know this tactic only makes things worse. There’s no such thing as free money, especially when it’s our hard-earned dollars the state is using to appease Gov. Tom Wolf’s progressive allies. It’s the same pattern we see at the congressional level, where President Joe Biden just signed the Inflation Reduction Act – a misnomer, at best, to distract from the billions in handouts it awards to green energy.

Even the nonpartisan Congressional Office of the Budget admits the legislation will increase taxes on the middle class – those making under $400,000 annually – by $20 billion over the next decade. This, on top of the $410 million carbon tax the Wolf administration is fighting tooth and nail to impose on electricity ratepayers through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

A bipartisan mix of lawmakers opposes RGGI because it could nearly quadruple energy costs by 2030 with virtually zero reduction in carbon emissions. It threatens tens of thousands of jobs and punishes millions of residents unable to afford greener options, like electric heat pumps and solar panels.

My constituents tell me their electricity bills have already inflated by hundreds of dollars each month, leaving them with difficult choices to make about which bills get paid. If the Senate Republicans’ legal challenge to stop RGGI once and for all fails, these costs will skyrocket even more.

But Wolf’s policies don’t exist in a vacuum. Rather, the Biden administration’s ruinous strategies amplify the struggle we all face just to drive to work and keep our lights on. From restrictive gas drilling regulations to the billions in aid we funnel to Ukraine to defeat a war against Russia, we swear we aren’t fighting, both Democratic leaders believe the middle class should fund their self-serving ambitions.

That’s why I sponsored Senate Bill 813 to temporarily institute a gas tax holiday that would shave 15 cents off the price per gallon for six months. The legislation also implements registration fees for electric and hybrid vehicles to offset the lost revenue from the tax cut to maintain funding for roads and bridges.

We know, however, that energy is just one facet of this spiraling economic crisis. Local governments often lean on property taxes to fill widening budget gaps, a strategy that hits residents surviving on fixed incomes the hardest. With more than 2.2 million seniors living in Pennsylvania, this hardship isn’t limited to my district alone.

Eliminating property taxes for residents 65 and older could benefit as many as 176,000 seniors currently living below the poverty line. Legislation I introduced last year would extend this relief to elderly residents who’ve lived in Pennsylvania for ten years or longer and make less than $40,000 annually.

Our seniors have spent decades working and contributing taxes to our state. They shouldn’t fear losing their homes because of the inflationary spiral that’s wreaking havoc on our lives.

I’m not the only one taking action to quell this disaster. My Republican colleagues and I have likewise championed legislation to lower taxes on businesses, which will translate into wage growth and economic prosperity.

We’ve dismissed the governor’s proposals to increase personal income taxes, collect higher fees from oil and gas operators and drain our state’s savings account. We’ve sued to block his onerous regulations meant to punish industry and raise prices for all. We’ve asked voters to step in and tell us where they stand on our most fundamental issues, rather than letting the administration dictate to us what they think is best.

In that vein, I’ll conclude with just a handful of the hundreds of comments I’ve received from my constituents about the hardships they face. Don’t just take my word for it:

“I have to watch every penny and try to budget even further in the event that inflation gets worse so my family will still be able to afford to pay bills, buy food, and gasoline so I can get to work. It’s scary and frustrating. ”

“HARD decisions have to be made. Pay health insurance or the utility bills? HAVE to go to work, HAVE to use gas, how is anyone coming out ahead? We were barely making even BEFORE inflation hit.”

“I don’t fill my tank up all the way. I put enough in to get me 2 to 3 days. I can’t afford my co-pays to go to [the] doctor. Even when I work 30 hours OT in 2 weeks.”

“We are on SS and it is almost impossible to make our money take us till the next month. With all the bills going higher, but our checks do not get any higher. We have to make choices if we should pay rent, or go to the doctor and pay the copays, or pay the bills, or get medication, or eat, or use the gas to do any of the above.”

“We have several kids [and] it’s very hard to even have all the essentials now. It is very hard to have food for all my kids all the time. And gas is so expensive to even go to work. Basically working to pay for gas and food. No money for anything else.”

“Inflation has caused me to put my business up for sale due to a drastic drop in sales. Only form of income so barely getting buy and hoping for the best.”

“All of our utilities are behind or in shut off status. We have been late on our house payment the last few months. We basically go to work and back home because we are trying to conserve what gas we have. Everything has gone up, but our wages.”

“Barely keeping our head above water. Depending on the outcome of the midterms, we may have to leave the country. Things are completely out of control.”

“We can’t save for a new house due to everything else increasing. My husband drives a truck and his fuel prices have almost tripled! We need your help!”

“The prices of everything are so high we have to sacrifice a lot of things just to eat and provide electric in my household. Whoever reads this please help!”

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If you are planning to go to a Philadelphia Eagles game this season, whether all 10 home games or just a single game, be prepared to dig deep into your wallet. And you can be sure the future costs will only get higher.

Betway researched which NFL teams have increased their prices most recently. It created the Future Family Fandom Cost Index, which forecasts how much each fanbase will be paying in 2025. Eagles fans can expect to pay the 8th highest prices in the NFL in three years. The team with the expected highest prices was the Las Vegas Raiders and the least costly is expected to be the New York Jets.

It is bad enough in 2022.

Football is the highest-rated sports programming on TV. But being in the stands to cheer on the Birds at Lincoln Financial Field instead of watching on TV requires an investment of time and money.

Apart from the cost of game tickets, fans must pay for parking and food from the concession stands and perhaps a game program. It adds up.

Single-game tickets are scarce. As of this writing, a few are available directly from the Eagles’ ticket office via Ticketmaster. A check on availability for the first regular-season home game against Minnesota on Monday night, September 19, showed prices ranging from $98 for standing-room to $160 to $350 depending on seat location, excluding service charges.

Ticketmaster also offers tickets on a resale basis; resale prices for the opener range from $140 to more than $900 depending on the section.

For the October 16 Sunday night game against Dallas the resale price ranged from $138 to an astronomical $4,950. Those figures will likely change as the game draws closer.

The Delaware Valley Journal explored purchasing a ticket directly from the Eagles for the Minnesota game with a face value of $160. In addition, there would have been $31.85 in fees. And on top of that, fans driving to the game might pay $40 to park. If they spend time tailgating in the parking lot they should expect to spend $50 per person for various refreshments, not to mention the cost of food beverages, or souvenirs purchased inside the building (fans may not bring food inside with them).

Add it all up, and a fan attending an Eagles home game might expect to spend in the neighborhood of $300 for the experience which might include spending several hours outdoors in inclement weather surrounded by fans who may not always be on their best behavior, to say the least.

For some, the experience is no longer worth it.

Gordon Glantz of Blue Bell has Eagles blood running through his veins; his family has had season tickets since he was born. This season he spent $3,066 for two season tickets that include 10 games (this year nine regular season plus one preseason). But Glantz has not attended an Eagles game since 2018, the year the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Instead, he sells his tickets for a small profit and watches the games from home.

“I remember going to games with my father,” he said. “We’d leave his house in Abington around 11:15 a.m. (for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff). He’d pick up some guys who lived close by and we’d still be at the stadium and in our seats well before kickoff. Now it’s a full day. If you don’t leave by 10 a.m., it’s a problem because of parking and traffic. It’s no longer a game. It’s an event. You don’t get home until 6-6:30 p.m. Used to be 5-5:30 p.m.

“And forget about the night games. I stopped going to those well before the 1 p.m. games. There was once parking at the stadium for a reasonable rate. My dad soon started parking at a nearby church for a reasonable rate that had better access for the getaway after the game. So many spots are taken up by people tailgating.”

Stu Fishman also lives in Blue Bell. He started attending games with friends in 1971 when the Eagles moved into Veterans Stadium. Season tickets were $35 for seven home games. (That was $5 a game.) There were just 14 regular season games and season ticketholders did not have to pay for tickets to preseason games as they do now.

Today, Fishman pays $950 for his season ticket, including all 10 home games (one preseason, nine regular season).

“I have four seats,” he said. “I split them with a friend of mine.”

Fishman notes that because the home schedule features just 10 games, each is a unique event.

“I’m not buying 81 games like the Phillies,” he said. “Or 40 games like the Flyers. It’s like going to a concert.”

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All 50 Democratic senators voted in lockstep to raise taxes in a recession, increase spending and corporate welfare during runaway inflation, and take $80 billion from American taxpayers to hire 87,000 more IRS agents tasked with squeezing small-business men and women.

More IRS agents — the IRS itself tells us — will allow for 50 percent more audits of small businesses. Why? The IRS acknowledges it picks up the phone only between 10 percent and 20 percent of the time when you call. But the Inflation Reduction Act will swell the number of IRS auditors. In fact, the legislation shovels 14 times more money for “enforcement” — audits — than it does for “taxpayer services” — such as answering the phone.

The IRS acknowledged that 53 percent of its employees never set foot in an office. They “work” from home. Not answering your phone calls. The other 47 percent of IRS staff? How often do they come to work? The IRS chief told Congress that most of the remainder work in a “blended capacity” where they go into the office occasionally.

By voting to supersize the IRS, Democrats are directly filling their own campaign war chests. You see, the IRS union is a major funder of the Democratic Party.

In fact, 100 percent of the union’s PAC donations go to Democratic Party committees. The IRS union is conveniently “investing” in Senate Democrats in 2022 battleground election contests. In addition to the $30,000 donation to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the union gave $10,000 to Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and $5,000 to Raphael Warnock of Georgia. It gave much to the very senators who just voted for this bill.

More IRS agents, more union dues and more money for Democratic politicians.

Why raise taxes now? Even Barack Obama knows it is a bad idea to raise taxes in a recession. He said: “The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in a recession.”

Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was supposed to be the “moderate” that would stop the reckless tax and spending spree. Back in 2010 when he was asking West Virginians to send him to Washington, he said, “I don’t think during a time of recession you mess with any of the taxes, or increase any taxes.”

Manchin looked into the camera and said, “I can’t look the people of West Virginia in the eye and ask them to pay a penny more until I know we’re running this government efficiently.”

Energy prices are far above where they were when Joe Biden was sworn in due to his anti-energy policies. Now Democrats are advancing this bill with three different taxes that will increase energy costs. It raises taxes on oil, natural gas production and coal. These taxes will hit Americans every time they fill their gas tanks or pay their utility bills.

Biden and the Democrats named their legislation “The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.” Why? Only a year ago, Biden told us there was no inflation. It was transitory. It would be over by (last) December. It was caused by Vladimir Putin. Or greedy business people. Why did everyone wait to get greedy until the Democrats won the House, Senate and presidency?

Or might it be the spend and spend-and-inflate policies Biden signed into law?

By the way, even Bernie Sanders acknowledged the Democratic bill — “the so-called Inflation Reduction Act” (his words) — will have a “minimal impact” on inflation.

Of the $330 billion in new taxes put on businesses, we know that historically 70 percent of the corporate income tax is paid by workers in lower wages and employment. And 30 percent is paid by consumers paying higher prices to cover the cost of those taxes.

Taxes are a cost of any business. American businesses pay the wages of workers, the cost of raw materials, and the cost of regulations and taxes.

America wants to compete on lower taxes and regulations: not lower wages.

And what will all these tax dollars pay for? Well, they are spending billions for “environmental justice,” which includes paying people to walk around in cities and identify “gaps in tree canopy coverage.”

That is a lot of walking around money for somebody. One could, for free, look at Google photos of any American city and find how many trees there are. For free.

The Democratic spending bill also provides billions for well-to-do Americans to buy expensive $80,000 electric vehicles. There are billions in more subsidies for Obamacare even for those making $300,000 per year. Obamacare is so good you have to subsidize people to use it.

The bill raises taxes on America’s manufacturing base. Raises taxes on energy. More taxes on businesses will reduce the value of your life savings in an IRA or 401(k) or pension. More money for the IRS. Lots of cash to be handed out in pork barrel spending.

Isn’t that how we got into this mess?

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If your household is impacted by inflation, you might want to have a word with your elected officials. A new report from the American Consumer Institute (ACI) ‘s Center for Citizen Research says excessive spending, regulations, and restrictions on domestic energy production have driven up prices for consumers and businesses.

“The combination of increased spending, energy shortages, and increased regulations have led to increases in inflation that have far outpaced wage increases,” according to the report. “Based on our analysis and those of others, consumers are likely to lose thousands of dollars this year alone — by one measure, $4,400 per household in 2022 — disproportionately hurting poorer Americans and those on fixed incomes.”

The report relies on data from the federal Department of Labor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Department of Commerce, among others.

“This report shows that inflation is increasing much faster than the average wages of American workers, which impacts consumer purchasing power,” says American Consumer Institute’s president and CEO, Steve Pociask. “This is hurting all consumers, but particularly those with the lowest incomes and those on fixed incomes.”

The solution, according to the report, is for Congress and the Biden administration to acknowledge the connection between increased federal spending and rising inflation.

The Biden administration has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and supply chain issues for the current 9.1 percent inflation rate. Biden has also blamed Republicans in Congress for getting behind his plan to combat inflation.

“Under my plan for the economy we made extraordinary progress, and put America in a position to tackle a worldwide problem that’s worse everywhere but here: inflation,” Biden said during a June 14 speech in Philadelphia. “The problem is, Republicans in Congress are doing everything they can to stop my plans to bring down costs on ordinary families.”

That, said Biden, is why his plan “is not finished.”

Brittany Yanick, a spokeswoman for Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican running for Senate, said, “”Pennsylvanians are being crushed by this inflation crisis, but President Biden and John Fetterman want to continue making groceries, gas, and everyday life more expensive through more burdensome regulations, supply chain issues, and out-of-control spending.”

If elected “Oz will work with anyone who wants to see America innovate and drive down the cost of energy in Pennsylvania, move our supply chains back on American soil, and make it easier to buy food and simple things like baby formula. Pennsylvania families have had enough of the radical left. It’s time for change,” she said.

ACI says Congress and the White House should work together to combat inflation, but not in the way the president might want.

“They must take steps to alleviate cost-push inflationary pressure,” the ACI authors recommend. “These pressures have emerged mainly from constraints on supply and onerous regulations which are driving up the price of everyday essentials for consumers.”

Guy Ciarrocchi, the former president of the Chester County Chamber and the Republican who is running for Congress against Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester/Berks) said, “Of course inflation is a problem; its problem number one, two and three. While Biden and Chrissy Houlahan tell us to celebrate that gas is only $4.51, we live in the real word: things are really bad. While the so-called “experts” debate whether we’re in a recession, we lose ground every paycheck; every time we go to buy groceries; every time we buy gas.

“Houlahan helped create this mess,” Ciarrrocchi added. “First she ignored it; now, her so-called ‘solutions’ are more of what created this mess. I know inflation is crushing us, I don’t need experts to explain it to me. That’s why I’m running: to fix this mess.”

The authors maintain that recent actions and political efforts by Congress to increase regulations and taxes and impose costs on businesses “ultimately reflected in higher consumer prices.” Similarly, government regulations on domestic energy supplies lead to shortages that drive up domestic energy prices.

“Second, the administration must accept that government stimulus has created demand-pull tensions, where excessive spending creates demand in excess of supply,” the authors wrote. “While this may have been necessary early during the COVID crisis, its continuation and magnitude fueled price hikes, and adding further stimulus in the future will only do the same.”

Instead, Biden and his allies in Congress have stepped up spending, first on a bipartisan $280 billion microchip and science research bill and now a $739 billion package of tax hikes, green energy spending, and increased healthcare subsidies. Economists have debated whether the bill, which raises tax collections by more than $500 billion, will have any measurable impact on inflation.

A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, however, notes that only $21 billion in the projected $305 billion of inflation-reducing debt reduction comes in the first five years. The other 90 percent doesn’t happen until after 2026.

“It is time for some self-control by policymakers and to avoid future policies that will only hurt the very consumers these actions are meant to help,” reads the ACI report.

Joseph P. Fuhr, Jr., emeritus professor of economics at Widener University, agrees.

“This report documents that wages are not increasing as fast as inflation. Low-income people are considerably harmed by this situation. Their wages do not enable them, the same purchasing power, but they have little savings to maintain the same level of consumption. Also, fixed income poor people are harmed even more since in many cases their fixed incomes do not have an inflation index that helps maintain their purchasing power.”

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Price inflation in the United States is getting out of control. Americans are seeing prices rise at the fastest rates in 40 years. Until recently, the Federal Reserve — the agency tasked with ensuring price stability — has been unwilling to address the problem.

In recent months, the Fed has finally started raising short-term interest rates, an essential step toward stabilizing prices. But its own projections show that a much stronger response will be needed to bring inflation down to a more normal range.

Rising prices are clear to anyone who visits the gas station or grocery store. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, foods (meats, poultry, fish and eggs) are 14.2 percent more expensive than a year ago. Prices for other items like housing (shelter) and clothing (apparel) are up by 5 percent or more, and gasoline prices are up by a whopping 48.7 percent!

These are not isolated incidents. The prices of American consumer goods have been rising across the board. The consumer price index, for example, has risen 8.6 percent over the last year, the biggest increase since 1981.

In the early phase of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, rising prices might have been blamed on problems in manufacturing and production. In response to the pandemic, many states closed their economies for a few months or, in some cases, much longer. As the economy began to rebound, shortages of automotive computer chips and production materials choked up prices and held back production.

But as the recovery progressed, it became clear that another culprit was driving inflation: too much money printed by the government. The Fed vastly expanded the money supply, accelerating the bounceback in spending and economic activity.

In March 2020, the Fed cut rates to almost zero, where they remained for two full years. Lower interest rates encourage economic production by making it easier for businesses to borrow so they can expand their facilities or hire more workers. People have access to cheaper credit to buy homes and cars or to spend on their credit cards, which eventually causes sellers to raise their prices.

In addition to cutting interest rates, the Fed created massive quantities of new money, encouraging people to spend more, ultimately bidding up prices. In March 2020, the Fed began a program of large-scale asset purchases, also known as quantitative easing or “QE,” buying $500 billion per month in U.S. Treasury bonds and $200 billion per month in mortgage-backed securities. The monetary base expanded from $3.45 trillion in February 2020 to $6.41 trillion by December 2021, an increase of 85.8 percent.

Congress chipped in with $5 trillion in new spending, including checks mailed out to millions of Americans. The Fed assisted by buying up the majority of the debt used to finance these stimulus programs.

By mid-2021, it was clear that price increases were being caused by widespread and persistent monetary inflation, not transitory supply-side inflation as the Fed had initially described. Since that time, Fed officials have repeatedly raised their projections of inflation in 2021 and 2022, yet they did nothing to stop it.

Despite several quarters of rising inflation, the Fed continued its QE program and did not tighten policy until March 2022, when it increased interest rates by 0.25 percent. They raised an additional 0.5 percent in May and 0.75 percent in June. However, these small steps don’t seem sufficient to combat the highest inflation rates in 40 years.

Even now, the Federal Open Market Committee projects that inflation will remain above its 2 percent target through 2024. It expects to raise short-term interest rates to 3.4 percent by the end of 2022 and to 3.8 percent in 2023. These minor changes hardly compare to the 1980s, when the Fed raised interest rates to 20 percent to stamp out inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell promised more than six months ago that the Fed would “use our tools to make sure that higher inflation does not become entrenched.” Its actions, however, indicate otherwise. Inflation remains high, and Americans are worried that it’s not going away anytime soon.

Fed officials must act soon to get inflation under control. The longer they wait, the worse it will be for the Fed and for all Americans.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s push to put abortion and gun control on the top of the midterm ballot suffered a severe blow when June’s inflation figure came out Wednesday morning: 9.1 percent.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped 1.3 percent in a single month, a higher increase than economists were expecting. Even the core CPI, which does not include food or gas prices, rose 0.7 percent month to month, also higher than projections.

“There is absolutely nothing good in the CPI report,” said economist Jason Furman, a top advisor to President Barack Obama. “Core CPI rose at a 9 percent annual rate in June. I expect that to come down, but how much? Coming down to 6 percent would be both a large decline but also a very high rate.”

Recent polls consistently show concerns about inflation and higher prices rank at the top of voters’ concerns, particularly among independent voters. A new AP-NORC poll found that 73 percent of Americans said inflation or rising gas prices were a top concern. Sixteen percent cited abortion.

Republicans put the blame squarely on the Biden administration.

“One year ago this week, President Biden’s reckless stimulus checks began flooding the economy, and we are seeing the result: Inflation is raging and getting worse, forcing massive pay cuts for American families,” said Ways and Means Republican Leader Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas). “Now congressional Democrats and the president are determined to make inflation even worse with $1 trillion in new tax hikes in a dangerous ‘slimmed down’ Build Back Better package. Raising taxes on local businesses and farmers as our country faces a recession is crazy and will drive prices even higher.

“Haven’t they done enough damage to America’s economy?”

Biden pushed back, releasing a statement dismissing the report as “out of date” and taking credit for “30 days of decreases in gas prices, that have reduced the price at the pump by about 40 cents since mid-June.”

According to the Energy Information Administration, the average price for a gallon of gas is currently around $4.77. When Biden took office, it was $2.39, or twice as expensive.

Pennsylvania Republicans also pointed the finger at Biden and his Democratic allies.

“Today’s inflation report is shocking and devastating for American families. This should be the final nail in the coffin of any additional spending binges by the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress, which would only make this disastrous situation even worse,” said U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican facing off against progressive Lt. Gov. John Fetterman for Toomey’s seat, said, “Big news: Today’s record-breaking inflation number of 9.1 percent—that’s the highest in 40 years—is robbing Pennsylvania families of their income. Gas prices have doubled. It robs your real wages.

“Now, John Fetterman’s radical policies to increase spending and crush energy production would make inflation even worse, and we would be suffering it a lot longer. Pennsylvanians deserve better than more failed career politicians. It’s time for change.”

Guy Ciarrocchi, the Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan in the 6th Congressional District, called the inflation number “frightening”

“Not because we don’t all realize how bad it’s been, as we keep losing ground with each paycheck. It’s frightening because the reports confirm how bad it is, that it’s going to get worse—and, worse yet, this reminds us that Houlahan, Biden, and Pelosi seem unwilling or unable to do anything about it.”

Local Democrats like state Rep. Napolean Nelson (D-Glenside) deflected blame from Biden. He blamed soaring prices on the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “price gouging” by U.S. oil companies.

“Gasoline prices are at multi-decade highs while the crude oil prices that should dictate prices aren’t even at back to the levels they reached in 2015 and energy companies are producing record profits! We’re fighting to pass legislation to empower the attorney general to fight price gouging,” Nelson said.

State Sen. Tim Kearney (D-Delaware/Chester) also laid the blame on forces beyond the Biden White House. “The war in Ukraine spiking gas and diesel prices, the lack of enough housing driving rents and home prices up, and supply chain delays from China’s lockdown and other global disruptions are the main culprits behind U.S. inflation.

“Democrats have been pushing for a gas tax holiday to cut the cost of goods and travel, creating a better environment for businesses to restore manufacturing jobs from China back to Pennsylvania, and stabilizing and increasing our housing stock by enacting the Whole Home Repairs Act and $375 million  in affordable housing development in our state budget.”

Fetterman, in keeping with his progressive views, blamed big business for inflation.

“Dr. Oz won’t stand up to the special interests and corporate executives who are raising prices on us, but I will. I am going to go to Washington to fight to bring down prices. We need bold action now to make more s**t in America, fix our broken supply chains, and take on corporate greed to bring down the cost of everything, for everyone,” Fetterman said.

The challenge for Democrats, particularly incumbents like U.S. Reps. Chrissy Houlahan and Mary Gay Scanlon is that they voted for the $3 trillion of spending in the American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. They also voted for an additional $5 trillion of spending in the original Build Back Better bill. Most economists agree additional federal spending added to higher inflation.

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The Biden administration is doing what every administration pre-Trump has done: Get enamored and entangled in matters of foreign intrigue preferred by the intelligence community and defense contractors. While leaving the country to the whims of the market, a market that increasingly follows the whims of Washington. We’ve gone from America First to America Last.

Ukraine first!

The U.S. government has easily found over $42 billion and counting to send to war torn, bankrupt Ukraine. Both parties agreed to this in what basically amounted to an overnight session of Congress. The decision was made in a matter of days.

By comparison, the $50 billion we are supposed to give to the U.S. semiconductor industry in tax breaks and other incentives to manufacture chips here instead of Asia languishes in Congress. It is part of the Bipartisan Innovation Act (BIA), which will take a back seat to more funding and more votes on throwing money into Ukraine. This thing is lost.

Global Foundries, Intel, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing have all put plans to boost their semiconductor manufacturing here on hold because the CHIPS for America Act, part of the House and Senate’s so-called “China competition bill” (officially the BIA) is going nowhere fast, Nikkei Asia reported on July 5.

The war in Ukraine has caused commodity prices to rise. The market is speculating on shortages caused by shipping delays. Commodity traders from New York to Hong Kong are all pushing those prices higher based on assessed geopolitical risks.

China second!

Biden thinks rolling back tariffs on China will help. His team is actively in talks with the Chinese about which Trump-era tariffs to lower. They believe if they reduce tariffs on China imports, stubborn inflation will come down.

Apparently, the experts that are in charge now believe we import oil and gas from China, along with steaks and milk. Please don’t bother telling them, they’ll ignore you. They’re smarter than you.

They’ll also ignored the Peterson Institute for International Economics, no fan of the China tariffs. One would think the Biden administration would listen to them at least. Peterson economists wrote in a report dated June 3 that “the direct effect of removing tariffs on imports from China could lower consumer price index inflation by 0.26 percentage points —only marginally reducing inflation.”

That “marginally reducing inflation” assumes housing, food, and gasoline prices fall. If they rise, there goes your 0.26 percent win.

America last!

Because of these policies, a whopping 88 percent of Americans polled by Monmouth University say the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction.

Some 42 percent say they are struggling to remain where they are financially.

It’s fine, we can afford to send our oil and gas to the rich Europeans and a few billion to the Ukrainians, one of the most corrupt countries in the world, based on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. (It’s ranked lower than Russia.) I am certain the Ukrainians will be good stewards of our gifts.  They want even more, by the way, so how about making that $65 billion?

Polls also show American voters are fine with China tariffs. The White House, and its cheerleaders at Bloomberg which has been advocating for a return to the status quo with China since Biden beat Trump, aren’t interested.

In April, a poll by the Coalition for a Prosperous America, conducted by Morning Consult, showed that 73 percent of American voters supported tough trade policies with China to protect U.S. industries and American workers. Biden then ignored them and removed tariffs on Southeast Asian solar producers, mostly all of them Chinese multinationals who have relocated there to avoid tariffs.

A high 71 percent of voters support tariffs on China. And 61 percent of them said increased imports have caused the U.S. to become dependent on China for goods that are critical to the U.S. economy and U.S. national security.

In May, a separate poll by Morning Consult said that Democrats supported tariffs on China in line with Republican voters. Democrat support was increasing. Biden’s support is waning. Who are this man’s voters again?

Morning Consult said, “Democrats now find themselves aligned with the plurality of Republicans who prefer to keep the tariffs in place, even if doing so means prices will stay high.”

There is a chance “only some” tariffs will be removed. But it is the trend that is the problem. It is chipping away at what U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai has repeatedly called our biggest leverage on China.

If China was smart, it would keep its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. At this point, what is Washington going to do about it? In a policy of Ukraine first, China second, and the U.S. last, the answer should be obvious to Beijing–it will do absolutely nothing.

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