Inflation Surges to Highest Level Since 1981; White House Blames Putin

Inflation has soared to a four-decade high of 8.5 percent forcing Americans to pay even more for basic goods, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Tuesday.

The surge in prices in March marked the highest annual rate of increase of inflation since December 1981, the New York Post reported.

On a monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index — a closely tracked inflation gauge that details the costs of goods and services — rose 1.2% from February to March.

Labor Department officials said price increases for gasoline, shelter and food were the largest contributors to inflation. The gasoline price index rose 18.3% in March.

Excluding volatile food and gas prices, the CPI still rose 6.5% year-over-year.

The March report was the first to fully reflect the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted a wave of crippling economic sanctions — including a US ban on Russian energy imports.

People are feeling the pain at the pump and at the grocery store with the surge in prices overwhelming family budgets.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday sought to prepare reporters for the dismal economic news, calling the inflation numbers “Putin’s price hike.”

Democrats ran with the weak “Putin’s price hike” talking points Tuesday, stating in a press release that Republicans are “gleefully” helping the Russian President Vladimir Putin advance his “goals of weaponizing families struggling with inflation.”

CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe explained why most Americans are not buying the White House’s spin:

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy said Tuesday that the Biden regime is in “crisis” mode after the “inflation numbers hit the Biden Titanic like an iceberg.” Doocy noted that Biden was traveling to Iowa on Tuesday to announce his new plan to bring down gas prices, including extending the use of E-15 fuel during the summer months, which is something that conflicts with the regime’s climate agenda.

“It’s something they don’t normally do because it creates more smog that way, and that seems to be in conflict with promises to address climate change,” Doocy explained.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis lashed put at the Biden Regime for “borrowing and printing money at unfathomable levels and bad energy policy.” DeSantis added that Biden “could unleash domestic energy production to provide relief. Instead, he is content watching people suffer.”

James Carter, Director for America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Prosperity, commented on the latest inflation numbers in a statement, Tuesday.

“Today’s data showing 8.5% year-over-year inflation reveals the terrible financial pain that the Biden Administration’s failed policies continue to inflict on the American people. The economic hardship faced by American workers and families is not a messaging problem but a problem of the administration’s own making through reckless fiscal, energy, and foreign policy decisions. The U.S. needs a return to a pro-growth America First policy agenda that keeps the government operating within its limits, encourages work, shores up supply chains, and encourages an all-of-the-above approach to energy production to bring inflation back under control.”

Carter said the inflation could become even worse if the Biden regime insists on implementing the socialist policies in its “Build Back Better” agenda, warning that they “would impair the supply-side of the economy at precisely the wrong time, given rising recession risks.”