Montana Senator Blames Democrats for Inflation Crisis

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana Senator Steve Daines joined other Republican Senate leaders at a press conference on Tuesday decrying what he termed the reckless spending of Democrats that has helped to fuel the inflation crisis in the U.S. and specifically in Montana.

“You know, Senate Democrats joined President Biden in green lighting these multi-trillion dollars purely partisan spending extravaganzas over the last two years,” began Senator Daines. “It was two years ago about this time when we started seeing the Democrats' proposals on a purely partisan, massive spending proposals and tax increases. In fact, even Democrats from the Obama administration were warning that if this legislation were to pass, it would have inflationary effects. Well, now we see those effects.”

Daines told his fellow Senators how the inflationary spiral has affected his own state of Montana.

“I recently went and filled up my pickup in Montana when I was with my sweet wife,” he said. “It was over $100 to fill up my pickup. Grocery prices are up 18.6 percent since this President took office, and when you look what that means for Montanans, that's over $10,000 more being paid for groceries, for food, and for housing, since President Biden took office.”

Daines praised his fellow Republicans for their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in helping to forestall more wasteful spending.

“Now make no mistake, if Nancy Pelosi was still Speaker of the House, the Senate right now would be getting ready to put in play with Chuck Schumer's leadership, another reconciliation bill,” he said. “They would have more spending and more taxes. The only thing holding them back is the fact there's a slim Republican majority in the House.”

Daines said Republicans must stand firm in their efforts to demand spending reforms in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

“Regarding the debt ceiling, we cannot default on our debt,” he said. “But I would submit to you all here today that if there was a Republican president with a Democrat-controlled House, I think the media would be talking about and expecting the president to negotiate with the speaker. I hope we have fair play here, because President Biden's position of not negotiating on the debt ceiling in terms of putting some common sense spending reforms in place going forward, as Senator Barrasso has mentioned, has been done eight times since 1985 with a debt ceiling discussion and spending reforms. We need to do the same thing now.”

Daines currently serves on the Senate Finance, Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, Energy and Natural Resources, and Indian Affairs Committees.