Joins GOP colleagues at press conference to discuss Biden’s inflation crisis, Wisconsin’s labor shortages

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) joined Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and several of their Republican colleagues at a press conference Wednesday urging President Biden take immediate action to address the inflation crisis and labor shortages his administration has created, both of which are hurting American families and businesses.

A video from the press conference can be found here and highlights are below.

“I want to really talk about the labor component to inflation, because you know gasoline prices, oil prices go up and down, that’s a commodity, that can happen. Lumber prices: I talked to Wisconsin homebuilders. The average price of a new home being constructed today in Wisconsin, the cost of that has increased by $36,000 just because of lumber prices.”

“In Wisconsin our unemployment rate is at 3.8 percent. So, again, commodities will go up and down, but as that labor shortage, which, by the way, is created by government action, we’re flooding the marketplace with dollars, personal savings, pent up demand, that’s going to fuel inflation. But the fact that we have incentivized people to stay on the sidelines, not engage in the labor market and not offer their services, is going to drive up the price of labor. That doesn’t go up and down. That only ratchets up in one direction.”

“I’m seeing the conditions, I’m seeing the ingredients being concocted here for potential stagflation. You increase taxes, that’s going to harm our economy. When businesses can’t get the commodities — everybody’s on allocation for resin supplies, for lumber, when they can’t find the labor — you’re not going to produce the products. They can’t get the component parts for what they’re manufacturing — that’s going to also harm our economy and potentially snuff it out, the recovery. Combine that with inflation, you’ve got stagflation.”

“Milwaukee County just announced they’re canceling fireworks two years in a row. Not because of Covid this time, but because they literally can’t find the people to put on the fireworks display. Now I realize that’s a small example, but it’s just showing the headwinds we’ve caused here by the federal plus-up to unemployment that fortunately 21 Republican governors have announced they’re not going to take anymore. But we called for ending it in Wisconsin, and Governor Evers has ignored our plea to stop accepting that so that Wisconsin employers can start hiring people.”

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