by Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Xinhua) -- In the first half-year of U.S. President Joe Biden's term in office, inflation is on the rise. Many showed concerns that the rising inflation could hurt Democrats, the party that holds the White House and leads both houses of Congress, in lead-up to midterm elections.
May saw consumer prices rise 5 percent, the steepest uptick since August 2008, before the financial crisis hit, according to the U.S. Labor Department. This came as demand surged amid the rebound from the pandemic, which has strained supply chains.
The price of crude has surged 46 percent so far this year. The average price for a gallon of gasoline is more than 3 U.S. dollars, according to the American Automobile Association.
James Reed, a retired teacher in his 60s living outside Washington D.C., told Xinhua that while he hasn't felt the sting of higher gas prices -- his car does very well on mileage -- he worries about whether that might change as more Americans hit the road for summer vacations.
Airfares are also rising, as millions of Americans are vaccinated and want to go on vacation. Domestic fares jumped 9 percent from April 1 to May, according to a report by the research firm Bernstein. International flights are up a whopping 17 percent, the report found, as reported by CNBC.
Gloria Archer, in management of the D.C. area and in her early 40s, told Xinhua she's worried about inflation, as she often vacationed overseas before the pandemic made it difficult for Americans to leave the country.
Republicans are casting blame on Democrats, saying Biden's massive stimulus, aimed at getting the economy on its feet after the worst dive in nearly 100 years, is causing the economy to heat up.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is blaming the American Rescue Plan -- the president's 2 trillion U.S. dollar stimulus package -- for heating up the economy too fast.
The GOP has already put together a strategy to hone in on what some GOP lawmakers deride as "Bidenomics," in the lead-up to next year's midterm elections, according to Axios, a U.S. newspaper.
Jim Banks, head of the Republican Study Committee, wrote in a memo: "Of course, they're trying to spin the media and explain that it has nothing to do with their big-spending policies. Which, we know, is simply false."
"That's why we need to tie inflation to the Biden economic agenda and explain to voters how inflation is Democrats' hidden tax on the Middle Class," Banks wrote.
Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua that "anytime there is an unexpected economic blip, it always benefits the party out of power," in this case the GOP.
Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the center for international and security studies at the University of Maryland, pointed to an increase in the cost of meat since January 2020.
He argued that if people on lower or fixed incomes begin to feel they used to be able to afford meat, but now it has to be a smaller part of their diet, this can become a real grievance.
A Monmouth poll, released earlier this week, found that while Biden's stimulus measures remain popular with Americans, almost three quarters of participants fret that the stimulus could cause inflation.
Over seven out of 10 Americans fret over inflation, the poll found, with 47 percent very concerned that Biden's stimulus could lead to significant inflation and 24 percent saying they are somewhat concerned.
Jerome Powell, head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, argued that the recent price increase is transitory, but added that the surge could be higher than anticipated.
"Bottlenecks, hiring difficulties and other constraints could continue to limit how quickly supply can adjust, raising the possibility that inflation could turn out to be higher and more persistent than we expect," Powell said earlier this week.
The Fed's updated forecasts show an uptick in expectations for inflation in 2021, to 3.4 percent, one point above the estimate released in March. Enditem
