Inflation crisis crushing American families

Editor's note: The following guest column was submitted to USA Today Network by Republican 3rd District Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins.

With inflation at its highest rate in 40 years, American families of every background are struggling to keep up with rising costs.

However, the Biden administration's policies are only making matters worse.

According to an analysis from the Joint Economic Committee, the average American family is paying an additional $635 a month for household expenses compared to January 2021.

Gas and groceries are becoming unaffordable. In Louisiana, the average family is paying an extra $65 a month on food costs and an additional $493 each month on fuel and energy expenses. Those increased monthly costs are leading many families to the brink of financial ruin.

No individual is immune from Biden's inflation crisis, and working-class families and seniors on fixed incomes are being hit the hardest.

Out-of-control spending, big government regulatory overreach, and anti-American energy policies from the Biden White House created this crisis.

Elitist career politicians have stolen the strength of our nation and sapped the people dry. The Biden administration has spent trillions on every imaginable absurdity, mortgaging our nation's future for generations yet unborn.

And President Biden and Democrats in Congress are calling for more spending, more taxes, more government interference and less American oil and gas. Continuing with this same failed course of action will only worsen the inflation crisis that is dealing serious financial injury to millions of American families.

The Biden administration has produced the worst economic climate since Jimmy Carter. Prices are going up. Wages are going down. Supply chain bottlenecks have made certain goods challenging to find, and businesses are having difficulty finding workers.

We are on the precipice of stagflation. Consumer costs are rising rapidly while post-COVID economic recovery is grinding to a halt.

The American people cannot afford more of the same failed policies from the Biden administration. Liberal, agenda-driven policies brought us here. They cannot return us to prosperity.

Instead, we must restore our nation and fight inflation with sound fiscal policies. This is precisely what I and many of my Republican colleagues are fighting for in Congress.

When Republicans retake majority control in 2023, we will forcefully reject Biden's tax and spending agenda.

From there, we must work together to advance constitutionalist and conservative policies that rebuild and restore economic prosperity. This includes cutting wasteful spending, unleashing American energy production, reversing regulatory overreach and ensuring the Trump tax cuts continue.

More specifically, these are steps that we can immediately take to combat inflation and deliver relief for the American people:

Repurpose leftover COVID monies: Hundreds of billions of dollars from Democrats' $2 trillion COVID spending bill remain unobligated. Those funds should be repurposed and returned to the U.S. Treasury, where they can be used to reduce the deficit and pay down our debt.

Unleash American energy production: President Biden's war on the American oil and gas industry has caused fuel costs to more than double. His anti-American policies must end. We should immediately end the drilling moratorium on federal lands and waters, restart oil and gas lease sales, greenlight the Keystone XL pipeline, reverse royalty rate increases and streamline permit approvals for new energy infrastructure.

Stop Biden's tax hike: The Biden administration has threatened to repeal the Trump tax cuts, which would result in higher taxes for 90% of Americans. Such a tax increase would devastate economic recovery efforts and further raise costs for American families.

Cut red tape and reverse regulatory overreach: President Biden's regulatory agenda has increased costs for industry and slowed private-sector innovation. We need less government interference, not more. We must repeal onerous regulations that unjustly penalize private industry and increase the cost of production for everyday goods.

Get Americans working again: Democrat policies during the COVID pandemic paid people more to stay home than go to work. As a result, businesses large and small have struggled to meet labor demands. Labor shortages have contributed to rising consumer costs, and we must end the remaining subsidies that discourage work.

Secure the Border: Americans from sea to shining sea are witnessing horrific crime that has heavily impacted economic dynamics in every state, yet we witness the total disintegration of our sovereignty at the southern border. Economic prosperity requires law and order. The Biden administration has long ago lost operational control of our border, and every American can feel it in our wallet as we watch it with our eyes.

These are real solutions that can be enacted to mitigate the current economic crisis, help lower prices, restore supply chains and return America to a path toward prosperity.

A healthy and robust economy benefits every American citizen. We had that under President Trump, and our mission is to return to that era of economic success.

Congressman

Clay Higgins

Guest columnist