Thread by @JeffRoushPoetry

Inflation impacts people. It’s reality, and we have to face it. But rather than stepping up to help combat it, Republicans are cheering it on. So let’s look at some of the causes, and what can or can’t be done to help. (Thread)

1. One cause of inflation is a market recovery. People have more money to spend, due to relief efforts and booming jobs. While someone like @RandPaul thinks giving Americans funds to stay afloat during a pandemic was a bad thing, people with more money to spend is positive.

The good news: this one will level off. Coming out of a pandemic, it’s like opening a dam. The water pours out hard and fast—but the market catches up, and the flow will find a normal rate soon, absent forces working to keep it artificially high.

2. The supply chain has been clogged up, in part due to the rise in demand. So why does @RandPaul cheer for more clogging? Because he wants the problem to last at least through the midterms. He openly wants to make this worse.
washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/…

While the GOP cheers for an extended crisis, Democrats are working for solutions. The infrastructure bill will help moving forward, while more hiring and eventual easing demand will help with the current situation.

freightwaves.com/news/president…

3. Corporate greed plays a role here too. This thread from @owenslindsay1 lays out nicely how many large corporations are inflating prices not to keep up with rising costs, but to supercharge their own profits:

https://twitter.com/owenslindsay1/status/1491776417700491266

So let’s look at competing visions for corporate America. Democrats want corporations to grow and succeed, while regulated to curb excesses at the expense of workers and consumers. The GOP wants to cut restraints and give corporations more room to do things like exactly this.

So in summary, one party wants to address the causes of inflation to find solutions; the other wants inflation to last through voting this fall—if not all the way to the next presidential election.

When you see Republicans crowing about inflation, ask why. Ask whether they have solutions, and what they are. Don’t let them use your suffering for their political profit.

https://twitter.com/jeffroushpoetry/status/1492660474051239937