White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act event to reporters Wednesday, calling the lawn party a "celebration for the American people."
Biden hosted a White House celebration of the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act on Tuesday — as the stock market had its worst day since June 2020 after higher-than-expected inflation in August was announced.
Biden said the Inflation Reduction Act was the "single most important legislation passed in the Congress to combat inflation and one of the most significant laws in our nation's history," while the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged.
ANALYSIS SUGGESTS INFLATION REDUCTION ACT WILL ONLY REDUCE INFLATION BY 0.1 PERCENTAGE POINTS
When asked whether the lawn celebration created good optics when juxtaposed with the collapsing Dow, Jean-Pierre brushed off criticism of the event's tone.
"Let's not forget the the moment that we saw on the South Lawn of the the president and thousands of get the inflation reduction act done was a celebration for the American people, was a win for the American people," Jean-Pierre told reporters during an off-camera gaggle Wednesday. "When you think about how long elected members, Democrats in particular in Congress, have been fighting for decades, against special interest group, in particular farmer to bring costs down for Medicare, that's what you saw yesterday."
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She continued, "That's the what you saw in this fight, a lowering costs for Medicare, lowering costs for health care, lowering cost on energy, on energy itself as it relates to the stock market is it's one measure of how the economy is doing and we are watching this closely. It's also important to to look at what's happening on Main Street."
The measure, backed by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., successfully passed through the Democrat-controlled chambers last month and was later signed by President Biden, will grant an $80 billion boost to the IRS over a 10-year period, with more than half of the funds intended to help the agency crack down on tax evasion.
The billions of dollars for the IRS from the measure will go toward filling 87,000 IRS positions, more than doubling the agency's current size.
Jean-Pierre doubled-down on the optimism projected by the Biden administration, boasting, "We have one of the strongest job markets on record — 3.7% unemployment rate. And we've created 10 million new jobs. More people are looking for work because of the president's economic plan. Businesses are investing in America at record rates, and we are making more."
On Tuesday, the Department of Labor released its latest consumer price index report, which showed inflation rose 8.3% in August from a year ago. This number was higher than expected and has contributed to market fears that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates higher and for a longer duration of time than some had hoped, slowing down the economy.
