Under President Joe Biden, everyday life has constantly gotten more unaffordable for families, with April inflation just announced at a higher-than-expected 8.3%. Yet in a big speech about the economy Tuesday, he said it’s Republicans who “don’t want to solve inflation by lowering your costs.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Unlike Biden and his fellow liberals, conservatives are the only ones with a real plan to make America affordable again.
The past year-and-a-half has seen liberal policy after policy pick families’ pockets. Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have overseen more than $8 trillion in new federal spending, driving the worst inflation in 40 years. They’ve launched a war on American energy, adding to the highest gas prices in history. The left’s recent spending binge has pushed the national debt over $30 trillion and guaranteed massive deficits for the foreseeable future, leading to lower incomes and, eventually, higher taxes.
Families can’t catch a break. Yet rather than help them out, the president and congressional Democrats are doubling down on the policies that have made everyday life more expensive.
Americans are desperately searching for real solutions. They’ll find them on the right. From inflation to gas prices to health care to housing to education and more, conservatives are advocating and advancing policies that will give Americans relief. As a former governor and Cabinet member, I know that conservatives can deliver for families in state capitals and our nation’s capital.
That starts by stopping inflation and ending the spending that’s breaking family budgets. In Washington, that means blocking new “stimulus” and entitlements that drive costs up and workforce participation down. It also involves passing long-overdue policies like the Balanced Budget Amendment — and taking on the members of our own party who helped bring back earmarks and pork-barrel spending. In the states, conservatives will continue to enact tax cut after tax cut so families keep more of their money and government gets less. The governors of Iowa and Mississippi recently did just that.
When it comes to the shocking prices at the pump, conservatives want to lower them by empowering energy producers to drill and deliver more oil and gas. Before the Biden administration started its war on American energy, the shale revolution lowered the price of oil by 10% and saved the average family of four $2,500 a year.
We can do it again, with even bigger savings. When it comes to tapping America’s boundless resources, we haven’t even scratched the surface. We can make our country more energy-independent and gas less expensive.
We also have a plan to tackle soaring medical costs by putting Americans in charge of their own health-care dollars, including Health Savings Accounts and a greater variety of private insurance plans. Our solutions take on the special interests that make health care more expensive, repealing laws that let medical providers block competitors and finally empowering Americans to buy insurance across state lines. It’s also about creating medical price transparency so families can find the best and most affordable care, which is often impossible right now. Health care needs more freedom and less federal control.
When it comes to soaring housing prices, we’ll repeal the Biden regulations that drive up prices and make every room and appliance more expensive. We also believe in rolling back the zoning restrictions that stop the construction of the affordable homes Americans need. Getting a home should be easier, not harder, especially for younger generations.
Finally, after two years of liberal-led school shutdowns and radical ideas in the classroom, conservatives will bring better education within reach of every family. That requires more state school-choice policies, including those that help families afford alternative schools.
It means passing more “student right to know” laws so families can see exactly how much college costs, and tying colleges’ taxpayer funding to student success, so graduates get the best bang for their buck. It should be easier for students to find more affordable and effective paths outside the four-year college experience.
Forget canceling student debt: We’ll help students avoid debt in the first place.
Commonsense conservative policies like these are the solutions to the skyrocketing costs hitting families from every angle. Virtually everything that Washington is doing has made things worse, and as Joe Biden’s big speech this week made clear, liberals have no intention of changing course.
Since they won’t, the American people will, and after this November, conservatives will provide the relief families need and make America affordable again.
Nikki Haley served as governor of South Carolina (2011-17) and US ambassador to the United Nations (2017-19).
