On Sunday’s Face The Nation on CBS, anchor Margaret Brennan grilled Biden economic advisor Brian Deese on the administration’s failure to see inflation coming despite numerous warnings from economists from the left and right that injecting over six trillion dollars into the economy in the span of two years would send inflation soaring.
Brennan went right out of the gate challenging Deese on the Biden administration's first lie about inflation that it’s Putin’s fault for invading Ukraine: “from the beginning of the pandemic through now. As you can see, the tick up began a good year before the war in Ukraine began” Brennan said while putting a graph on the screen to show viewers how inflation began rising well before Russia invaded Ukraine.
She then tore into Deese and Biden for not seeing this coming despite numerous warnings:
A number of economists including at the San Francisco Fed have said that the tremendous fiscal spending that went underway, the $6 trillion in two years did add to that, including as you can see right on there, the $2 trillion that the Biden administration pushed through in the spring of 2021. So when people look at that and they say, well, the White House told us that inflation would be transitory. The White House told us we could go through with this kind of spending and we’d be fine. Even when Democrats within your own party were warning this would add to inflation. How do you win credibility here to the public and say this time we're not wrong?
Deese responded by blaming Putin again: “you just have to look around the world today to recognize that the two principal drivers of inflation are the pandemic and Putin” adding “we’re seeing this everywhere. It is a global phenomenon.”
While inflation is occurring all over the world this year, the United States has one of the highest rates of inflation due to reckless government spending during the pandemic. No matter what Deese or Biden say, this forty year high inflation rate was avoidable if the government didn’t inject trillions into the economy for no good reason.
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
CBS’s Face The Nation
6/19/2022
11:05:21 a.m. EasternMARGARET BRENNAN: I want to put up a chart of inflation here for our audience to see, measured by the consumer price index. So from the beginning of the pandemic through now. As you can see, the tick up began a good year before the war in Ukraine began. A number of economists including at the San Francisco Fed have said that the tremendous fiscal spending that went underway, the $6 trillion in two years did add to that, including as you can see right on there, the $2 trillion that the Biden administration pushed through in the spring of 2021. So when people look at that and they say, well, the White House told us that inflation would be transitory. The White House told us we could go through with this kind of spending and we’d be fine. Even when Democrats within your own party were warning this would add to inflation. How do you win credibility here to the public and say this time we're not wrong?
BRIAN DEESE: Well, you just have to look around the world today to recognize that the two principal drivers of inflation are the pandemic and Putin. We’re seeing this everywhere. It is a global phenomenon. As I mentioned, in the U.K., inflation’s hit 9 percent--
BRENNAN: But the point is those are the things you can't control. I'm talking about the things you can.
DEESE: Absolutely.
BRENNAN: So how do you win that credibility back?
DEESE: Well, if we look at the things that we can control, we win credibility by taking action. This President is acting. This President galvanized the global community to do a historic release of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve, a million barrels a day. Leading oil market analysts this week said that action was single handedly responsible for keeping oil prices from going up even further. We're going to take action, we’re gonna prioritize, we’re gonna make clear that tackling inflation is our top economic priority.
