Sacramento Bee: California Democrats say they want to help lower prices for the holidays. Can they?

Hi there – 

California Democrats like Josh Harder and John Garamendi helped create an inflation crisis, and now they can’t fix it. 

Voters will hold them accountable for their reckless spending and the rising prices it has caused.

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California Democrats say they want to help lower prices for the holidays. Can they?

David Lightman

Sacramento Bee

December 7, 2021

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article256377392.html

Four California Democrats and 18 other House members are calling on their colleagues to get prices down and ease the supply chain crunch before Christmas.

“With just three weeks to Christmas, we have to do more to get the supply chain under control so these outrageous prices come back down to Earth,” Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, said in a news release. 

“Every kid deserves to wake up with presents under the tree and every family deserves to fill up their tank without breaking the bank. Fixing our supply chain ASAP is a huge step toward making that happen,” he said.

But experts say such a result is highly unlikely. 

“It’s not possible,” said Christopher Tang, faculty director at the UCLA Center for Global Management.

Harder joined Reps. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, Lou Correa, D-Orange County, Scott Peters, D-San Diego, and 18 other House Democrats to send a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging “additional action by the House of Representatives to further address the disruptions and higher costs our constituents are experiencing.”

The backup at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle 40% of the nation’s imports, persist. The disruptions have helped create gaps in supplies of a range of consumer products. And the growing economy, and increased demand, helped push the annual increase in consumer prices to a 31-year high last month. 

There is very little Congress can do before Christmas to ease the situation, experts said. 

“The intentions are good but there’s no plan. These are empty words,” said Tang, an expert on supply chain management. 

“I fail to see how Congress or the President could do much to unclog supply chains and lower prices before people finish their Christmas shopping, with one exception – oil,” said Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

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Read the full story from the Sacramento Bee, here.