U.S. Senate Richard Shelby commented on the economy after stocks fell on Tuesday due to growing concerns about inflation and likely future Federal Reserve rate hikes.
“Today’s CPI report contradicts what Democrats want Americans to believe,” Shelby said on Twitter. “Inflation is not under control, and the economy is not back on track. Grocery prices are up 13.5% from last year, gas prices are still too high, electricity costs more, and Dems are still spending recklessly.”
The White House planned for President Joe Biden to give a speech on Tuesday extolling the economy under his watch and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act last month. Apparently, someone at the White House forgot that the August inflation report was due out that same day. While the President was speaking about the Inflation Reduction Act.
According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, prices continued to climb in August by .1% across categories. On average, prices rose 8.3% year to date. Food was up 11.4% over this time a year ago, and energy has continued to soar even with declining fuel prices.
Because Tuesday’s report Consumer Price Index number showed that inflation was still a problem – even with dropping fuel prices, the new heightened inflation fears on Wall Street. The bad news on inflation triggered a mass selloff on the stock market. The inflation numbers triggered a selloff in all 30 of the Dow component stocks because investors believe that the inflation problem will lead to more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. There is rampant speculation that the Federal Reserve Board of Governors may respond to the August CPI data with the largest interest rate hike in forty years. Tuesday’s selloff was the worst single day for stocks since June 2020. High-interest rates affect the stock market and investor confidence because it means that capital is more expensive to purchase, limiting corporate profits and stock value growth.
“Exactly four weeks ago today, I signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, the single most important legislation passed in the [this] Congress to combat inflation and one of the most significant laws in our nation’s history, in my view,” Biden said in his speech on Tuesday. “I said it then, and I’ll keep saying it: With this law, the American people won, and special interest lost. Say it again: The American people won, and special interest lost.”
“Folks, we’re going to lower prescription drug costs, lower health insurance costs, lower energy costs for millions of families,” Biden said. “And we are going to take the most aggressive action ever, ever, ever to confront the climate crisis and increase our energy security — ever in the whole world. (Applause.) And that’s not hyperbole; that’s a fact.”
Shelby is retiring at the end of the year when his current term ends. Shelby was first elected to the Senate in 1986, following eight years representing the Seventh Congressional District in the House of Representatives. Shelby began his legendary political career representing Tuscaloosa in the Alabama State Senate, winning election in 1970 and re-election in 1974.
