TRUTH MATTERS

If you just landed in the 8th Congressional District of Minnesota from another planet without knowledge of history or current events and read Pete Stauber’s A Week in the Great 8 email publication, you would be led to believe that in less than 2 years, the Biden Administration has created and is responsible for all the bad things that have happened to the US for decades. For example, INFLATION.

Let’s correct one of Pete’s falsehoods. Inflation is not caused by presidents. And it is happening worldwide, not just in the US. If you read a variety of sources, you will learn that the causes of the current inflation are:

A global pandemic which decreased jobs and the manufacture of goods; as the pandemic slowed decreased supply and shipping problems could not keep up with a surging demand for goods; some corporations particularly the oil companies, such as ExxonMobil and Chevron, took advantage of the situation and raised prices making huge profits which they used for stock buy backs to increase the value of their stock; a wage/price spiral by some corporations raised prices to evenly match wages (According to one publication, there is actually room for corporations to pay higher wages to their employees without seeing their profits squeezed); some corporations have enjoyed outsized profits possibly responding to consumer expectations of higher prices; there has been a big shift in prices and profits in the last 2 years in response to the shortages and compounded by Russia’s war on Ukraine which has cut off a major source of crops and food source for the world.

In one sentence: Inflation is a global problem driven by global issues – a global pandemic which reduced jobs and manufacture of goods, supply chain/shipping struggles, a surging demand for goods and the Russian war on Ukraine.

I am compelled to respond to the inflammatory untruths, exaggerations and fear mongering code words which create divisiveness among Americans being put out by Pete Stauber in his A Week in the Great 8 email publication. It is an insult to the intelligence of anyone who is paying attention to a variety of news sources to learn the actual causes of problems and the actual efforts being made to do something to fix them.

The Inflation Reduction Act just passed by Senate Democrats with a tie breaking vote by the Vice President will lower the cost of certain prescription drugs by enabling the government to negotiate the prices of expensive drugs for Medicare (a policy most nations already have), extend for 3 years subsidies for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act, reduce the deficit by making the corporations making $1 billion or more pay their fair share with a 15% minimum corporate tax and tax stock buy backs at 1%, does not raise taxes on those making under $400,000/year (does not increase taxes on small businesses and average Americans as Pete falsely claims), bolsters the ability of the IRS to enforce existing tax laws and collections from the ultra wealthy, addresses climate change and energy reform making it easier to get electric cars and heat and cool homes without fossil fuels, creates jobs in renewable energy areas to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, reduces everyday energy costs, and provides resources to help farmers boost domestic food production. Washington Post columnist, E.J. Dionne, noted that what these measures do is more than the sum of their parts.

Biden has also invoked the Defense Production Act to release of 1 million barrels of oil/day onto the market from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and has put the spotlight on oil refining companies who reduced their capacity during the pandemic to invest their record profits to increase capacity as quickly as possible to reduce gas and other prices.

The recently passed CHIPS Act provides financial incentives to increase semi-conductor chip production in the US where shortages have contributed greatly to supply chain problems. This will bring jobs to the US and reduce dependence on Asia for this essential product. Right after its passage, 2 major technology companies committed billions of dollars of their own money to chip production.

Falling in line with the bulk of Republican legislators, Pete Stauber voted NO on both of these bills.

True leadership requires honesty, creativity, an ability to plan and work hard to prepare for the future.

Barbara Lund Gabler, Lutsen MN