By Brandon Moseley
Congressmen Mike Rogers (R-AL03) and Mo Brooks (R-AL05) expressed concerns that the worsening supply chain issues are leading to growing shortages and rising prices. Inflation at levels not seen in decades has the ability to adversely affect American families as the holiday season approaches.
“The Biden administration has fueled this supply chain crisis by increasing energy costs, triggering significant inflation through reckless unchecked spending, and attacking American businesses,” Rogers said on social media. “Now Americans are struggling and the holiday season for many could be in trouble.”
“I joined Congressman Sam Graves and over 150 colleagues in sending a letter to Joe Biden, explaining our refusal to stand by and watch as his policies lead to a supply chain crisis and shortages nationwide,” Brooks said. “Solving this crisis should be more of a priority. It is devastating for American families.”
“The supply chain crisis isn’t going away just because the President pretends it isn’t a problem,” Graves (R-Missouri) said. “We have to address it and we need to do it before Congress considers his tax and spend agenda that will only make it worse.”
“We’ve all seen the headlines by now — cargo ships piling up at our ports for weeks, resulting in delays, shortages, and empty store shelves,” the Congressmembers wrote. “The supply chain crisis is real. It’s a growing problem that affects every American, no matter where you live, no matter what your political beliefs are, and no matter how much money you make.
“Addressing this growing crisis should be at the top of Washington’s to-do list. Unfortunately, what we’ve gotten is a mixture of the Administration denying a crisis exists, downplaying its significance, and actively making it worse,” the letter continued. “That’s unacceptable. Pretending the supply chain crisis doesn’t exist isn’t going to make it magically go away. It isn’t just a 'high-class problem.' Most importantly, the President’s agenda of hiking taxes, raising spending, imposing draconian vaccine mandates on workers, and paying folks not to work is only making this problem worse.
“These socialist policies are only going to fuel more inflation and make it harder to get Americans back to work,” the Congress members warned. “There’s now a record number of container ships backed up at our nation’s ports. This crisis has grown too large to ignore."
The inflation has gotten so bad that the Dollar Tree store chain announced it is going to have to raise prices so that many items could cost more than a dollar.
Economic developer Dr. Nicole Jones told the 1819 News, “‘Free’ money does not work (literally or metaphorically). Before anyone gets upset with Dollar Tree, note that the company’s price increase dilemma is a result of poor economic policy pushed by socialist-leaning officials at the federal level.
“While the pandemic has undoubtedly affected the United States economy, COVID-19 has also been used as a scapegoat, for example, with the distribution of unemployment benefits,” Jones continued. “When certain states continued to pay able-bodied citizens more to sit at home than to work unskilled labor jobs, this created an environment of government dependence. Unemployment benefits are in place for folks who legitimately need them, not for abuse. What folks need to recognize is that big government wants people to become comfortable with an 'enough to get by' mentality in order to maintain control of the masses.”
By some estimates, fuel prices have risen as much as 69% versus this time last year.
“Regarding logistics, transportation costs are up in part because of the decrease in US oil independence under the Biden administration,” Jones said. “Every American citizen who fills up his or her tank has experienced the disappointment of paying almost double for gas.”
Jones told 1819 News that “the aforementioned practices and policies hurt all Americans, regardless of party. We must work together to change this mindset and focus on service, community pride and optimism, hard work, creativity, and innovation in order to save our country.”
The Biden administration maintains that inflation was inevitable following the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and that prices will stabilize in a short period of time.
Rogers is in his tenth term representing Alabama’s Third Congressional District. Brooks is in his sixth term representing Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District. Brooks is also a 2022 candidate for U.S. Senate.
