Fallon Opens Hearing on Anti-Growth Biden-Harris Economic Policies

WASHINGTON—Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Pat Fallon (R-Texas) today opened a hearing titled “Kitchen Table Economics: How Failed Biden-Harris Policies Continue to Hurt Consumers” by outlining the adverse impact Biden-Harris economic policies have had on the everyday lives of American workers and families.

Below are Subcommittee Chairman Fallon’s remarks as prepared for delivery.

Over three-and-a-half years into the Biden-Harris Administration, many Americans are asking themselves, “Am I better off than I was four years ago?”

Vice President Harris struggles to answer this question.

Probably because she knows, in most parts of the country, the answer is an emphatic “no.”

As we discussed in this subcommittee a year ago, “Bidenomics” has had a devastating effect for families across this country and their ability to plan for the future.

Households have watched their paychecks disappear while seeing the costs of goods and services rise. 

While President Biden claims his economic policies to “Restoring the American Dream,”  too many find this dream is far out of reach.

Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, total inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index has risen 20.2 percent.

Estimates show that Americans must now spend over $11,000 more each year to have the same quality of life that they had in January 2021.

Grocery prices for goods—such as bread, poultry, and cereal—have all increased in price by over 20 percent and eggs are nearly 50 percent higher in price. 

The gasoline used to transport these goods? It has increased by almost 50 percent, further driving cost increases.

Housing costs for mortgages and rent have both increased.  Average rent prices are now more than 24 percent higher.

Mortgage rates have doubled making it nearly impossible for young Americans to afford their first home.

Real wages for workers are also lower since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, further straining the ability of families to keep pace with rising prices.

Businesses are struggling to cope with the $1.7 trillion in new regulatory costs the Biden-Harris Administration has imposed on the American economy.

This Administration has engaged in massive regulatory overreach in its attempt to fundamentally alter or kill almost every energy and manufacturing industry sector.

This morning, the Committee released a new report entitled, “Death by a Thousand Regulations: The Biden-Harris Administration’s Campaign to Bury America in Red Tape.”

I ask unanimous consent to enter that report into the record.

[Without objection, so ordered]

This report details the Committee’s findings on how the Biden-Harris Administration’s avalanche of costly regulations impact both businesses and consumers.

The report also highlights effective legislative solutions this Committee has been advancing to provide necessary reforms to the regulatory process.

Of course, the Biden-Harris regulatory onslaught is not the only way this Administration has tried to impose its left-wing agenda on Americans.

Last Congress, the Administration—with the help from Congressional Democrats—spent trillions of taxpayer dollars driving inflation and weakening our economy.  

The “Inflation Reduction Act” and the “American Rescue Plan” did not reduce inflation or rescue Americans.  It did the opposite.

Yet Vice President Harris says, “Bidenomics is working.”

And both of these massive spending packages were simply slush funds for left-wing causes.

The other side of the aisle wants to obscure the truth, claiming that “greedflation,” or corporate greed, is the invisible force driving these hardships.

They want to ignore how the Biden-Harris Administration’s massive regulatory overreach and government spending are hurting the American people.

They aren’t interested in transparency or accountability.

So today, as we have all Congress, we continue to shine the light on the Biden-Harris Administration.

We will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for the $1.7 trillion in new regulatory costs upon the economy at a time when it was needed least. 

We will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for these hidden taxes on consumers as businesses navigate these bureaucratic hurdles, raising prices or lowering wages to stay afloat. 

We will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for their destruction of the American dream for so many Americans.

Americans deserve answers.

Americans are frustrated and believe their government is not listening to them when they sound the alarm on the economy. 

Americans deserve better, and we have to do better if we have any hope of securing the American Dream for future generations.

Our expert panel of witnesses is here to dispel many of the myths spun by the Biden-Harris Administration and offer their insights into how we can right the wrongs of the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic policies.

I thank our witnesses for appearing before this Subcommittee to share their insights, and I look forward to our discussion.