Staff Reports
On Thursday, Steven Rattner, an economic analyst for MSNBC and a former adviser to President Obama, called out Vice President Biden for claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is to blame for the skyrocketing inflation that the United States is experiencing at home. Rattner was a member of the Obama administration.
Biden issued a statement on Thursday in which he reacted to the shocking consumer price index data that was released by the Labor Department. In the statement, he sought to blame Putin for the confirmed 7.9 percent jump in consumer prices over the course of the previous year.
According to the latest inflation statistics, Americans’ budgets are being squeezed by price rises, and families are starting to feel the effects of Putin’s price surge. This was expressed in reference to the inflation report that was released today. A spike in the price of gas and other forms of energy as a result of the reaction of the markets to Putin’s aggressive activities was a significant contribution to inflation this month.
Rattner called out Biden’s comments in a tweet on Thursday, noting that the administration’s sanctions on Russia – which were imposed last month – would account for only a small percentage of the devastating inflation figure that reflects the previous twelve months. Rattner’s tweet was in response to Biden’s comments that the sanctions on Russia imposed by the administration would account for only a small percentage of the devastating inflation figure.
Well, no. These are Feb #’s and only include small Russia effect. This is Biden’s inflation and he needs to own it. https://t.co/WsJjn6picV
— Steven Rattner (@SteveRattner) March 10, 2022
According to the Associated Press, the price increase, which marks the sharpest spike since 1982, reflected the 12 months ending in February and did not include the surges in the price of oil and gas that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February. This makes the price increase the sharpest spike since 1982. According to the AAA, national average gas prices have increased by around 62 cents per gallon to reach $4.32.
Ratter had earlier voiced their disagreement with Biden’s stance on the matter, which was that the instability in the supply chain was to blame for the recent spike in inflation.
Rattner, writing in a scathing editorial post for the New York Times, called Biden’s attempt to divert accountability for a situation that was caused by him “dishonest, simplistic and misleading.”
According to what he had said at the time, “blaming inflation on supply lines is like complaining about your sweater keeping you too warm after you’ve added several logs to the fireplace.”
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Fox News.
