Washington Examiner
Op-Ed: Sen. Rick Scott
June 7, 2022

In releasing his “Plan to Fight Inflation,” President Joe Biden made two things clear that have been evident for well over a year: The president is heartlessly disconnected from the pain his policies have caused families, and he has no idea how to curb inflation.

The truth is, Biden has never taken his duty to protect taxpayers seriously because he doesn’t know what it’s like to start a business or have a real job and has never bothered to understand what those challenges are like. He grew up in a family that did well financially and attended a prep school that today costs more than $30,000 per year. His parents took care of him growing up, and then we, the taxpayers took care of him throughout his decades in the Senate and White House.

I’m a business guy, and I think everyone now knows how important I think it is to have a plan. That’s why I’ve been calling for President Biden to show us his plan to combat inflation for more than a year. So, when I saw that Biden had put out a plan for fighting inflation, I thought that maybe he’d finally come around. It was wishful thinking.

Nobody wants to tell the truth about today’s Democratic Party, but I will: Democrats don’t care a bit about working and poor families, and Joe Biden’s White House has now made that crystal clear. Biden’s message to America is this: Don’t pay attention to the price at the pump or your grocery store receipt … the economy is doing great, and if you don’t agree, you’re just too stupid to get it.

That’s ridiculous, and typically, I’d welcome this argument. I could argue economics and cite numbers all day long that show just how out of touch Joe Biden is with reality. I could talk about how, since Biden was elected to the Senate in 1972, CPI inflation has risen nearly 600%. Or how during that same period, the national debt has skyrocketed from $427 billion to more than $30 trillion. I could mention his support for cutting spending on Social Security and Medicare while pushing for higher taxes on families and businesses. But those stats don’t matter nearly as much as the harsh, everyday reality facing families in my state of Florida and all across America right now.

Here are the numbers I think about every day:

I think about the number of hours that Nicole Mary, a mother whose son has a medical disability, has to spend away from her child. Nicole is working two jobs to pay her rising rent, put food on the table that’s getting more expensive every month, and keep gas in her car, according to reporting from WPTV in Palm Beach.

I think about the struggles of nonprofit groups such as the South Brevard Sharing Center, a food pantry that serves families along Florida’s Space Coast. The SBSC has seen its gasoline bill from food pick-ups increase by 50% in the last year. Increasing fuel costs, along with fewer donations due to higher food prices, are making it nearly impossible for the SBSC to provide help to a growing population in need and forcing it to be “strategic about our pickups for food,” according to reporting from March in Florida Today .

I think about small businesses like Pom Pom's Teahouse & Sandwicheria in Orlando, which are being forced to raise prices and cut services and menu options. Pom Moongauklang, the owner of Pom Pom’s, came to Orlando from Thailand and is working to live her American dream as a business owner. Unfortunately, Pom recently told Spectrum News 13 that due to rising food costs, costs to run her business have tripled, forcing her to slash her menu in half.

In the face of these very real stories of struggling families and businesses, Joe Biden’s macroeconomics-based argument is heartless and disturbing, but not surprising.

Debt, inflation, lack of a job, car repossession — these are problems families, like mine growing up, unfortunately face. I grew up poor. We lived in public housing, and I watched my mother struggle to make ends meet. I saw my adopted father’s car get repossessed. I know exactly what it’s like not to know when your next meal will come.

I get that not every American will face these challenges, and I pray that we soon see a day when no family deals with them. So, I’m not angry that Joe Biden grew up wealthier than others. I’m angry that he doesn’t care about those that are less fortunate.

I’m angry that President Biden continues to ignore obvious solutions and insists on blaming others, like me, for the inflation crisis he’s created. He can keep lying about me all he wants, but everyone knows that he’s the problem. That’s why I have called for him to resign. He’s the one that’s still working to make it harder to start or run a business by increasing taxes and fees on businesses and adding permitting difficulties and regulations. He’s the one that continues to push for more government spending and more taxes to fix inflation. That’s the opposite of what works.

If we want to reduce inflation, the formula is pretty simple. We need to get able-bodied people back to work, balance and reduce government budgets, create more competition by cutting regulation and simplifying the permitting process so businesses can get started and grow, cut taxes on individuals and our companies, buy American-made products, become energy-independent again, and get the Federal Reserve to reduce its balance sheet dramatically.

We have a simple choice: more inflation and less opportunity, or less inflation and more opportunity. Joe Biden has made clear that the only choice he’s offering is the former.

Republican Rick Scott represents Florida in the U.S. Senate. He is the former governor of Florida.