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Mr. Schatz says presidential policies are driving up consumer prices
Summary
On the Senate floor, Mr. Schatz delivered a floor statement accusing the president of policies that, he said, intentionally raise costs for consumers across five areas: food, electricity, health insurance, home insurance and holiday goods. The speech attributed price rises to tariffs and limits on renewables.
Mr. Schatz told the Senate that the president's policies are intentionally raising costs for ordinary consumers, outlining five areas where he said prices have climbed.
He opened by criticizing a White House spending priority — "building a $300 million ballroom in the White House" — and said that while everyday costs for food, health care, electricity and clothing have risen, wages have remained flat. "He's going out of his way to raise prices," Mr. Schatz said.
Mr. Schatz identified five categories where he said consumers are worse off. On food he cited figures he attributed to recent price movements — "coffee is up 20 percent," "beef is up 15 percent," and "orange juice is up 27 percent" — and blamed tariffs, saying "the president thought it would be a good idea to slap tariffs ... on everything that comes into the country." He framed that as a direct cost to shoppers: "you are paying for it."
On electricity, Mr. Schatz said prices are rising "at double the rate of inflation" this year and described an administration action he labeled effectively a "ban on solar energy," saying projects where the federal government has any interest are "essentially frozen." He argued restricting renewable projects contributes to higher rates for ratepayers.
Turning to health insurance, Mr. Schatz said "millions of Americans are giving up their health insurance" because of price increases. He contrasted a 12 percent rise he said he experienced during open enrollment with what he characterized as a larger average increase for people who buy coverage on the exchange.
On home insurance, he linked rising premiums to more severe natural disasters tied to climate change and said the administration's actions — which he described as stopping permitted wind projects and limiting solar — are exacerbating that trend.
Finally, on holiday shopping, Mr. Schatz warned shoppers can expect to pay more this season and connected higher prices and layoffs to voter dissatisfaction, saying higher costs contributed to the previous election outcome. He closed: "Donald Trump is making people poorer, and he's doing it on purpose." He then yielded the floor.
All of the policy claims and statistics in the speech were presented by Mr. Schatz; the transcript contains no response from the White House or other senators in the excerpt provided.
