Council of Economic Advisers Chair Cecilia Rouse touted the Inflation Reduction Act on Sunday and said Russian President Vladimir Putin was to blame for the high cost of food following the release of September's inflation numbers.
CNN's "State of the Union" host Dana Bash pressed Rouse on September's inflation numbers and President Biden's reaction to the September inflation report. Prices rose 8.2% in September from last year.
"The price of food is part of our inflation challenge," Rouse said. "Part of the challenge for food is actually through energy, and so Putin's war against Ukraine, where he has weaponized natural gas, he's weaponized energy, shows up in food prices as well."
"It’s why the president is focused on trying to bring down costs. The Inflation Reduction Act, while it doesn’t directly speak to food, it does go to medical care, it goes to energy costs and we are focused on trying to help families get through this," she continued.
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Bash also asked Rouse when the "so-called" Inflation Reduction Act would actually bring down inflation. An analysis released in August suggested the Inflation Reduction Act would do very little to bring down inflation.
"So the many parts of the bill will start to take effect next year. For example, there are tax credits for energy to help people weatherize their homes and also bring down other forms of energy costs. So we are focused on helping to make that transition to clean energy in a way that brings down energy costs for families. So, this is, this is tough. There’s no question about it," Rouse said.
Rouse said earlier in the show that there were encouraging signs that the economy was starting to cool but emphasized that inflation is still a big challenge.
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Bash also pressed Rouse on core inflation, which strips out measurements of food and energy. Core prices rose 6.6%, which is the fasted increase since 1982.
"By President Biden’s own logic, doesn’t that show that the economy is actually headed in the wrong direction?" Bash asked.
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"So, if one looks month-on-month, it was actually flat. So, again, a lot of the reason why core inflation increased was because of housing costs and medical costs. The Inflation Reduction Act caps medical costs of insulin for seniors at $35 a month, it allows Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceuticals which will help bring down the cost of the most expensive drugs. It caps out-of-pocket expenses as well," Rouse said.
Biden said in a speech on Friday that inflation was going to go up if Republicans take control of Congress.
"Here's the bottom line. So please hear this. When it actually comes time to do something about inflation around the table, Republicans in Congress are saying ‘no,'" Biden said. "If the Republicans take control, the prices are going to go up, as will inflation, it's this simple."
