Bid to address the state of the US economy when inflation reaches 31-year high – live | US news

Eric Berger reports for the Guardian:

While it is expected that people will again travel at levels similar to a pre-pandemic Thanksgiving, airlines are still struggling with staff shortages, which could lead to more flight cancellations.

“It does not really matter if a travel disruption comes from a lack of staffing or a lack of routes or weather, it is still something that is very frustrating for customers,” said Lindsey Roeschke, travel and hospitality analyst for Morning Consult, a market research firm.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, bookings of Thanksgiving flights in the United States are up 78% from 2020 and 3.2% from 2019, according to an Adobe Digital Economy Index report published earlier this month.

“When it’s busy, it’s very possible [flights] will be over capacity – and that means that the possibility of things going wrong is very high, “said Narendra Khatri, principal of Insubuy, a travel insurance company.

During the Halloween weekend, American Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights due to weather and manning issues.

In letters to employees, David Seymour, Chief Operating Officer for the airline, described the weekend as a “short irregular period of operation” and said that “on the planning front, we have made sure that November and December are built to meet customer demand and that they are fully supported by our staff”.

The The Biden administration has asked a court to immediately revoke a stay on a rule requiring employees of large companies to be vaccinated against coronavirus.

Reuters reports:

Postponing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule that requires employees to be vaccinated or tested weekly will result in thousands of hospitalizations and deaths, the government said in a Tuesday filing to the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals. …

The rule was challenged by Republican-led states, corporations and trade groups, and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans quickly blocked it, calling it “surprisingly excessive” and a “one-size-fits-all sledgehammer.”

Following the stay of the 5th Circuit, lawsuits from across the country were transferred to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

The rule requires that those who work in companies with 100 or more employees must be vaccinated or receive weekly coronavirus tests to curb the spread of the virus. It was to enter into force on 4 January.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will join the White House daily briefing this afternoon, giving her an opportunity to provide more details on the release of oil from the strategic reserve.

Speaking at yesterday’s briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki noticed The Biden administration uses a variety of tools to meet high gas prices.

Last week, Joe Biden sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking the agency to investigate “growing evidence of anti-consumer behavior from oil and gas companies”.

“We will continue to put pressure on oil companies that have made record profits and are monitoring what we consider to be price cuts out there,” Psaki said on board Air Force One yesterday.

“When there is access to oil or the price of oil drops and the price of gas does not fall, it does not need an economic expert to know that there is a problem.”

Senate Republicans‘campaign arm uses high gas prices to attack Democrats as Americans travel to Thanksgiving, which the country will celebrate on Thursday.

NBC News reports:

Americans on their way to Thanksgiving will be reminded of high gas and grocery prices with an advertising print from the Republican Senate’s campaign arm being sent to gas stations across the country this week.

“Do you like high petrol prices?” the ad tones, with cartoon-like graphics and sound effects. ‘In that case, you introduce: Joe Biden and Democrats. ‘

The National Republican Senate Committee’s five-digit multi-day purchase – first reported by NBC News – runs across ten battlefield states where Republicans hope to turn around or keep the Senate seats in the coming interim periods of 2022. The ads are meant to hit travelers on their way to the Thanksgiving holiday .

The Senate is currently divided 50-50, but the Democrats control the chamber because of the vice president Kamala Harris‘draw vote.

So Republicans only need to turn over one seat in the Senate in next year’s by-elections to regain control of the upper house.

Republicans, who has attacked Joe Biden over rising gas and grocery prices, criticized the release of oil from the strategic reserve as a political ploy.

The house’s minority leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement, “Today’s announcement – which will release only three days of oil on the market – is not about a real solution to our energy crisis. It’s a gross political ploy just before Thanksgiving. “

Former president Donald Trump similarly criticized Biden’s decision, saying, “These reserves are meant to be used for serious emergencies, such as war, and nothing else.”

Joe Biden announced this morning that his administration will release 50 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to help meet high gas prices.

The president said on Twitter that the action “will be taken in parallel with other major energy-consuming nations, including China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.”

The news comes as gas prices have risen 49.6% over the past year, bringing the national average for a gallon of gas to $ 3.40 per AAA.

“When we emerge from a unique global economic downturn, oil supplies have not kept pace with demand, forcing working-class families and businesses to pay the price,” the energy secretary said. Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

“This action underscores the President’s commitment to using the tools available to reduce the cost to working families and to continue our economic recovery.”

Read more about the announcement here:

Joe Biden has claimed it the Democrats The $ 1.75 billion social spending package, which passed the House on Friday, will help families struggling with higher prices by lowering the cost of health care and child care.

However, there are persistent concerns about how the high inflation rate may affect the negotiations on the bill in the evenly distributed Senate.

Senator Joe Manchin, one of the main points in the Democrats’ negotiations on the bill, has said he hears more from voters who are worried about their gas and grocery bills.

“The threat that record inflation poses to the American people is apparently not ‘temporary’ and is getting worse,” Manchin said earlier this month. “From the grocery store to the gas station, Americans know the inflation tax is real, and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.”

Manchin has previously expressed concern that the Democrats’ spending package, known as the Build Back Better Act, could contribute negatively to inflation.

In an article in the Wall Street Journal in September, Manchin warned against approving more government spending, saying, “An overheated economy has imposed a costly ‘inflation tax’ on all middle- and working-class Americans.”

However, since the op-ed was written, the cost of the package has halved – from $ 3.5 to $ 1.75tn. And a number of economists have said that the bill will not increase inflationary pressures.

Biden hopes these arguments will be enough to make Manchin a “yes” vote, as he will need the support of all 50 Democratic senators to get the bill through the upper house.

Joe BidenThe nominees for the Federal Reserve Board have also promised to tackle inflation aggressively if they are confirmed by the Senate.

Jerome Powell, who has been nominated for another term as chairman of the Fed, said yesterday: “We know that high inflation takes a toll on families, especially those who are less able to meet the higher costs of necessities, such as food, housing and transport. ”

Powell, who was first nominated by Donald Trump, said he would use the central bank’s tools “to prevent higher inflation from taking hold”.

Dr. Lael Brainard, Biden’s nominee as deputy chairman of the board reiterated this message, saying: “I am committed to putting working Americans at the center of my work in the Federal Reserve. This means bringing down inflation at a time when people are focused on their jobs and how far their paychecks will go. “

Regards, live blog readers.

Joe Biden will give a speech this afternoon on the state of the US economy and the need to lower prices for US families.

The President’s speech comes as inflation has reached its highest level in 31 years, with prices rising by 6.2% in the last 12 months. It is the fastest acceleration since December 1990.

And Americans are becoming more concerned about high prices as they continue to rise. According to a poll conducted by the progressive firm Navigator Research earlier this month, 54% of Americans now say that the cost of groceries and gas is a “major crisis”.

Biden has promised to tackle the problem, and claims it the Democrats The $ 1.75 billion social spending package will lower family costs for health care and child care.

Speaking at an event yesterday to announce his nominations to the Federal Reserve Board, Biden said: “Because so much of the rest of our economy is doing well, because we have created so many new jobs as fast as we have done, we are in a position to attack inflation from a position of strength, not weakness. “

But if Americans do not begin to see prices fall soon, it could make it all the more difficult to adopt Biden’s agenda.

The blog will be more, so stay tuned.