Rand Paul releases report on rising inflation: 'It's only going to get worse'
Sen. Paul blames the 7% spike in consumer prices – a 40-year high – on excessive coronavirus relief spending by Congress
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EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., released a new report Tuesday on the troubling effects of inflation on low and middle-income families as well as small businesses.
Paul, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, blames the 7% spike in consumer prices – a 40-year high – on excessive coronavirus relief spending by Congress, and warns the rising prices are "only going to get worse."
INFLATION SURGES 7% IN DECEMBER, HIGHEST RATE IN 40 YEARS
"In recent months, prices on nearly everything from gas, food, and clothes to electricity, car prices, and rent, have all increased, and unfortunately it's only going to get worse," Paul said in a statement released first to Fox News Digital. "Congress needs to realize that further spending at this time of rapidly rising prices is only going to continue the trend of rising prices on this nation’s already vulnerable businesses and families."
Sen. Rand Paul questions Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing. (Pool/Sipa)
Paul's 18-page report is called "The Hidden Tax" and it shines a spotlight on how prices on everyday essential goods have shot up in the last year, citing publicly available price index studies.
Paul also cites public opinion studies, such as Gallup, that found households making $40,000 or less are under the most hardship by the rising costs, whereas households earning at least $100,000 are less impacted.
While larger businesses have been able to adapt to the changing conditions, it is small businesses with thin margins that are hard-hit, the report said. "Sustained inflation is more likely a fatal blow to small businesses squeaking by than larger corporations entrenched in their economies of scale," Paul wrote.
A man fuels a car at a gas station in New York, on Oct. 13, 2021. (Xinhua via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
As for the cause of the rising prices on everything from fuel to groceries – Paul lays the blame on Congress by passing massive spending in the wake of the pandemic.
"$4.9 trillion in COVID-19 stimulus spending has led to one of the highest and sustained levels of inflation in U.S. history," Paul said in a statement. "Though government stimulus spending was intended as a form of relief, and low and middle-income families as well as small business owners were promised that their taxes would not increase as a result of these packages, Americans are now paying a ‘hidden tax’ for these policies."
In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Congress swiftly passed massive relief legislation in a bipartisan fashion to boost unemployment checks, help small businesses and deliver direct stimulus checks. Under the Trump administration, Congress passed the $1.8 trillion CARES Act in March 2020 and a $900 billion follow-up relief package in December. Democrats under President Biden passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan last year.
President Joe Biden and the White House COVID-19 Response Team participate in a virtual call with the National Governors Association from the White House campus on Dec. 27, 2021. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Paul has been an outspoken critic of the congressional spending and blames the outpouring of dollars on the rising costs.
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"While Congress was able to unite in 2020 in spending $4.9 trillion, unity does not always lead to virtuous outcomes, and this particular example of unity left Americans with the most difficult economic conditions in recent history," Paul wrote in his report. "This crisis is one of our own making."