Fox59: “Holcomb tells … he does not plan to call a special session to suspend the gas tax, BUT he says he’s spoken with House and Senate leadership about ‘broader inflation relief’ that ‘goes to Hoosiers themselves.’”
Washington Post: Some people have, quite reasonably, asked: What then do you think of Republicans’ plans for reducing prices?
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today pointed out that the Indiana Republican Party – despite all of their false promises and criticisms of Democrats – has yet to produce an actual plan to combat inflation. Governor Eric Holcomb has teased future proposals and politicians like Todd Young have blamed President Joe Biden and Democrats, but none of them have actually produced *a plan* that would create a better future for Hoosiers. In fact, Republicans are opposed to common-sense ideas – like pausing the state’s gas tax.
In contrast, Indiana Democrats both at the statehouse and in Congress have pushed plans that would combat inflation and ease burdens facing our families. Statehouse Democrats called for a pause to the state’s gas tax. U.S Congressman André Carson and Frank Mrvam both have plans to combat inflation – including The Jobs Act, the COMPETES Act, and holding oil companies accountable for price gouging. Even with every Indiana Republican opposing these common-sense policies, Democrats are still hard at work creating a brighter future for Hoosier families.
The Indiana Republican Party continues to prove they have no plans for the state’s future – just partisanship.
Washington Post: Psst: Republicans don’t have a plan to fight inflation, either
Psst: Republicans don’t have a plan to fight inflation, either.
Some of my recent columns have criticized Democrats’ approach to inflation, both their reluctance to take steps that could be modestly helpful (repealing tariffs, accelerating legal immigration applications); and their flirtation with policies that could be actively harmful (such as price controls or measures that would discourage companies from increasing production).
Some people have, quite reasonably, asked: What then do you think of Republicans’ plans for reducing prices?
Unfortunately, hard to say. Because they don’t exist.
Republicans have expended lots of energy and ad buys blaming Democrats for inflation. […]
To Republicans, however, this nuanced story has been collapsed into a single damning word: “Bidenflation.”
It’s politically effective, if not quite accurate. Voters always blame incumbents for broad macroeconomic conditions, even when policymakers have little control over them.
So what have Republicans proposed to do instead of the Biden agenda? As I’ve noted before, pretty much bupkis. […]
Republicans have tossed out some red herrings, such as increasing oil production by “reopening” the Keystone XL pipeline. Alas, this pipeline extension does not yet exist so it cannot be “reopened,” nor even opened anytime soon. It was only 8 percent constructed when Biden revoked the U.S.-side permit last year, despite years of development and support from his predecessor. […]
Similarly, Republicans repeat the mantra “energy independence,” but it’s not clear what they mean by that or how they propose to achieve it.
Their inflation plans are hardly the only policies that Republicans have declined to flesh out.
During the 2020 campaign, the GOP released no platform, just a blank-check pledge to support whatever President Donald Trump desired. This past January, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was asked what his party would do if it regained control of Congress.
“That is a very good question,” he replied. “And I’ll let you know when we take it back.”
Maybe Republicans genuinely don’t know what they’d do if back in power. Or maybe they’ve realized that their economic policies, if you take their rhetoric literally, would be unpopular.
Their proposals include, for example, requiring every American to pay something in federal income taxes, as National Republican Senatorial Committee head Rick Scott (Fla.) has proposed. Rooted in Republicans’ “makers vs. takers” mythology, this might sound unobjectionable, until you realize it means raising taxes on roughly half of Americans. (Other Republicans, including McConnell, have distanced themselves from Scott’s plan, and Scott himself walked it back.)
Presumably, McConnell and other Republicans have not offered concrete proposals because they’d rather the midterms serve as a referendum on the Democrats. Better to leave the GOP challengers as a blank slate onto which voters can project their own hopes and dreams (on inflation or anything else).
And so, even though inflation should offer ample material for selling the public on their superior economic policies, ambitious Republican politicians are instead fighting with Mickey Mouse. Or punishing immigrant children. Or complaining about fancy ice creams and Peloton. Or otherwise waging culture wars. […]
It’s not fair, but Republicans get away without offering a plan because they’re not in charge. Democrats control the House, Senate and White House. The public thinks presidents and lawmakers have more sway over the economy than they actually do, and that’s frustrating, but them’s the breaks.
Democrats should still do everything within their (limited) power to curb inflation — and not wait for voters to realize, after the midterms, how little thought Republicans have put into fixing the problem.
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