On Tuesday’s CNN Newsroom, viewers were exposed to some truthful commentary on the state of the nation’s economy, which was something CNN viewers are unaccustomed to. Taking her cue from some of her colleagues on other networks, Washington Post columnist and CNN analyst Catherine Rampell admitted that inflation had been rising long before Russia invaded Ukraine, and that rising prices that are striking at the wallets of consumers are caused largely by domestic policy.
When asked by anchor Alisyn Camerota about the Biden administration continuing to call inflation the “Putin price hike” and noting that Americans see “inflation and economy as synonymous,” Rampell replied: “[I]f you look at the job market, it's a completely different story than if you look at what’s happening with prices. And Americans do seem to be paying a lot more attention to what’s happening with prices.”
Yet Rampell noted the obvious truth that “the increases in prices obviously long predates the war” and “we've been seeing inflation rise for most of the past year.”
She continued to hammer the Biden administration’s blame-shifting for their own policy failures:
In fact, for the last six months, inflation has been above the fed's average target of 2 percent. So this is not just about the war. This is about persistent supply chain problems and it's about the fact that demand is really, really strong in part because of policy choices that we've made. And so people are trying to buy stuff and there isn't enough stuff for them to buy, driving up prices.
Rampell came so close to specifically naming Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” and other massive government spending for the cause of inflation, but her reference to “policy choices that we've made” was the closest CNN will probably let her get to outright calling out reckless government stimulus payments for setting off inflation.
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
CNN Newsroom
4/12/2022
3:49:29 p.m. EasternALISYN CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that. So Catherine, give us the big picture? Because as I was just saying, the Biden administration continues to call this Putin's price hike. But when you ask the American public in terms of how they feel about the economy, which in some ways is firing on many cylinders. I think that they see inflation and economy as synonymous. And they think it's all bad.
CATHERINE RAMPELL: Certainly if you look at the job market, it's a completely different story than if you look at what’s happening with prices. And Americans do seem to be paying a lot more attention to what’s happening with prices. Maybe because that affects a larger swath of the American public. Right? I mean, there are relatively few people who are at risk of losing their jobs, even when the economy was really really bad. Everybody’s affected by inflation. Now in terms of to what extent this is about Putin or about the war. Obviously, the war has disrupted the energy market and driven up prices and we’re seeing some of the price come down recently. But the increases in prices obviously long predates the war. We've been seeing inflation rise for most of the past year. In fact, for the last six months, inflation has been above the fed's average target of 2 percent. So this is not just about the war. This is about persistent supply chain problems and it's about the fact that demand is really, really strong in part because of policy choices that we've made. And so people are trying to buy stuff and there isn't enough stuff for them to buy, driving up prices.
