Biden Administration Announces Plan to Combat Inflation

The White House released its plans for fighting inflation on Tuesday, largely reiterating long-time proposals of the administration to cut back reliance on fossil fuels, lower prescription drug and healthcare costs, and invest in infrastructure.

Because the president doesn't have the power to unilaterally make all of the suggested changes, the plan is essentially a wishlist for Congress, which hasn't shown bipartisan support for most of the proposals.

Details of the Biden Administration Plans to Tackle Inflation

The Biden-Harris inflation plan is designed to cut costs for everyday consumers and also reduce the federal government's deficit at the same time through tax reforms that would increase taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Details of the Biden-Harris plan include:

• Increase the oil supply: The president has authorized the release of one million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the next six months and encouraged allies to dip into their reserves as well.
  
• Allow summer E15 sales: The sale of E15 gasoline, which contains homegrown biofuels, is traditionally banned during the summer months due to concerns about pollution. The president has reversed that ban for the summer of 2022.
• Encourage the oil industry to produce more: The administration has asked Congress to assess fees on idled wells and non-producing acres of federal lands to encourage oil companies to produce more.
• Further the cause of clean energy: The administration has called on Congress to pass clean energy tax credits and investments to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels and achieve energy independence.
• Lower prescription drug and healthcare costs: The administration called on Congress to fix the "family glitch" issue in the Affordable Care Act that keeps hundreds of thousands of families from qualifying for premium tax credits, pass laws to lower prescription drug costs and health insurance premiums, and allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and make other reforms to prescription prices.
• Increase food production: The president has called for resources to help farmers boost their food production, including cracking down on illegal price-fixing, enforcing the antitrust laws in meat processing, investing federal resources to create more competition in meat processing, and providing relief to agricultural workers and small businesses impacted by the pandemic.
• Repair infrastructure: The president believes that repairing our infrastructure, supply chains, and manufacturing processes can help clear up bottlenecks at ports, improve wages for truckers and more.
• Lower the cost of child care and long-term care: The president has called on Congress to pass legislation to invest in lowering the cost of child care and long-term care for impacted families.
• Build more affordable homes: The administration also called on Congress to pass laws investing in the building of one million affordable housing units through tax credits, federal financing for construction, and rewards for communities that eliminate barriers to new construction.

The day after the White House plan was announced, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its April inflation numbers, showing that prices increased on average by 8.3%. The largest increases were attributed to housing, food, airline fares, and new vehicles.