John Kennedy

09/19/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/19/2024 15:06

Kennedy: U.S. economy needs to ‘grow’ out of inflation

Watch Kennedy's comments here.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) spoke on the Senate floor to discuss the Federal Reserve's cut to interest rates, inflation and the economy.

Key remarks from Kennedy include:

"Americans are struggling to pay their bills. The reason, of course, is inflation . . . those high prices, they were made in Washington, and they are a cancer on the American dream."

"And as a result of the high prices, people are struggling to pay their bills. I was looking at a report this week . . . people are having to borrow money to pay their bills, and they're having to borrow money on their credit cards.

"And I don't need to tell you that the interest on credit cards has gone up dramatically as a result of inflation. And the interest on credit cards is not like going to your bank, where credit is tight. Because of inflation, interest rates on those credit cards have gone through the roof."

. . .

"If you look at consumer debt . . . last year, it hit $17 trillion-not million, not billion-$17 trillion. It hit that number last year for the first time. Inflation-adjusted debt is at its highest level since 2009.

"Now, I know some folks are thinking, 'Yes, but inflation has come down.' Yes, it has and, I want to thank the Federal Reserve for that because they had to do it alone. They sure didn't get help from Congress. But what does that mean? When inflation comes down, that's called disinflation. What does that mean? When inflation comes down, that just means prices are not rising as quickly as they were. That's called disinflation. But prices are not going down. If prices were to go down, that would be called deflation."

. . .

"Now, there are only two ways to reduce these prices. One is to go into a recession. China is in a recession. Prices in China are going down. It's too big of a price to pay. I don't want us to go into a recession, people to lose their jobs in order to get prices down."

. . .

"So . . . we in the Senate are going to have to put our heads together and figure out how to grow this economy. Not at 1.5%, not at 2%, which has become the norm. We break 2% GDP growth now, and we want to have a toga party."

Watch Kennedy's full speech here.