Various Democrats running for office in 2022 are running on the idea of curbing “corporate greed” to cool inflation, which has been at a record high for months.
Democrats have tried to put distance between the rising cost of goods and the party’s recent actions, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which focused on climate and healthcare, and the recent announcement by President Joe Biden of $10,000 of student loan cancellation.
Republicans have argued the Inflation Reduction Act does not help with inflation and is simply a climate and healthcare spending bill. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claimed the Inflation Reduction Act “is gonna make everything worse.”
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Senate candidate John Fetterman (D-PA), along with other Democratic candidates, have both placed the blame for rising prices on price gouging by corporations.
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“As families struggle, oil companies are earning record profits. When corporations take advantage of a crisis, that’s price gouging, and it’s wrong,” Kelly said in an ad for his campaign.
The incumbent Kelly is facing off against Republican and political newcomer Blake Masters in the race for one of Arizona’s Senate seats, which Real Clear Politics has listed as a “toss-up” contest.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Fetterman has also blamed corporations for rising prices and is running a platform of punishing companies for “ripping us off” in his Senate campaign.
“Working people of Pennsylvania need more real solutions, solutions that will fight inflation and bring down costs for working people, whether it’s at the grocery store, the pump, or the doctor. And we need to crack down on massive corporations that are ripping us off,” Fetterman wrote in a guest column for the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.
Fetterman is seeking the open seat, previously held by Republican Pat Toomey, against Republican and former TV personality Mehmet Oz, another race that RealClearPolitics has also listed as a “toss-up” contest.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that “corporate greed” is not to blame for rising prices, instead placing the blame on inequality of supply and demand.
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Republican candidates argue inflation is high due to costly spending bills passed by Democrats in Congress, including the nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan in March 2021.