Congressman Pappas criticizes the Biden Administration for its slow reaction to rising prices
“They needed to be more pro-active when it was pretty clear in the middle part of last year that inflation was on the rise, and I would have loved to have seen a task force in the administration that was focused clearly on the threat that inflation posed to our economy and people’s pocketbooks.”
In an interview with WGIR’s Chris Ryan, the Representative from New Hampshire’s First Congressional District, Chris Pappas, discusses whether it is time to relax COVID restrictions; reacts to a report that the leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, has been killed in a U.S. military raid in Syria; takes issue with the Biden Administration’s slow reaction to rising prices; talks about legislation which could help to solve our inflation and supply chain woes; speaks in support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act but questions rhetoric used by President Biden in his speech in Atlanta; and addresses the need to reform prescription drug prices.
Congressman Pappas believes that with the tools available now, such as vaccines and test kits, we should be relaxing COVID restrictions. The Congressman feels that inflation and our supply chain disruptions can be attributed to a COVID ripple effect on our economy.
The interview was interrupted by a news bulletin that an ISIS leader had killed by US forces in northern Syria. The Congressman applauded the efforts of our military to use counterterrorism methods to keep us safe.
Congressman Pappas is critical of the Biden Administration for its slow actions in dealing with problems which were facing the common people of New Hampshire.
“They needed to be more pro-active when it was pretty clear in the middle part of last year that inflation was on the rise, and I would have loved to have seen a task force in the administration that was focused clearly on the threat that inflation posed to our economy and people’s pocketbooks.”
In addition to the Federal Reserve using its levers to ease the effects of inflation, the Congressman believes that “The America Competes Act” will shore up our supply chain problems and develop domestic manufacturing, especially of chips—semiconductors. He points out that inflation is greatly affected by supply chain problems due to a shortage of chips for the auto industry.
The Congressman feels that some states have passed laws which are dangerous and threaten the right to vote and that federal legislation is needed to protect those rights. However, he believes that President Biden used language that he wouldn’t have used to attack opponents of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
The Build Back Better Bill, which was not passed by the Senate, contained legislation to control the prices of prescription drugs. Congressman Pappas is hopeful that a bill which is going through Congress now will cap out of pocket costs for seniors, allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prices, and even cap the cost of insulin.