Pelosi Statement on Highest Inflation Rate Since 1991

August 14, 2008

Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the Labor Department's announcement that inflation reached a 17-year high last month, due in part to skyrocketing energy and food prices. Consumer prices in July were 5.6 percent above their level of July 2007.

"Inflation threatens to devour the paychecks of hard-working Americans, particularly considering that real incomes have dropped by nearly $1,000 since 2001. With Americans paying more for everything from gasoline and groceries, we need a New Direction economic strategy that breaks free of seven-and-a-half years of failed Bush policies that delivered tax breaks for the wealthy but nothing for those working hard to make a living.

"Next month, Congress will consider an economic recovery plan that will create American jobs, grow our economy, and support disaster assistance. The President and his Republican allies in Congress must realize that years of their economic mismanagement have left Americans struggling to make ends meet and that we need a New Direction."