{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=E8B48C06-87B8-437A-9859-325D97D2F215", "Democratic Senators\u2019 Inflation Crushing Democratic Senators\u2019 States", "2022-09-22", "2022", "2022-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding inflation:\n\n\u201cThe painful story of Washington Democrats\u2019 runaway inflation is playing out in hardworking communities all across America.\n\n\u201cWe learned last week that food inflation is now at its highest level since 1979.\n\n\u201cFor folks in the Phoenix metro area, where inflation already outpaces the national average, that\u2019s meant a 3% inflation tax on food in just the last two months.\n\n\u201cAccording to one Arizona shopper, \u2018It's all almost $300, I used to get the same groceries like around $150 before.\u2019\n\n\u201cAcross the border in Nevada, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported recently how local coffee shops are caught between eating higher costs for supplies and chasing their customers away with higher prices. The owner of one shop says that as everything from coffee beans to cups gets more expensive, they\u2019ve had to raise prices about 10%.\n\n\u201c\u2018We\u2019ve done our best not to pass this on to our customers, because we do understand that we\u2019re all in the same boat together.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Colorado Sun spoke with one new resident of Westminster who said he had moved towns to, \u2018lower the impact of an 18% rent increase.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s cut back on cable, driving, and buying meat at the grocery store.\n\n\u201cIn Washington state, the Seattle Times is reporting that four in ten area renters are now spending more than 30% of their paychecks on rent.\n\n\u201cWhen one resident learned her rent would be increasing nearly 10%, she said, \u2018I just wanted to cry. I\u2019m barely making it \u2014 I\u2019m just a senior citizen.\u2019\n\n\u201cIn Georgia, the Augusta Press reports that local small businesses are still facing a rocky road. According to the owner of one power-washing business in Evans, \u2018materials are getting more expensive,\u2019 and that potential clients are, \u2018more hesitant to get any work done right now.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd further north, with winter cold fast approaching, one resident of Manchester, New Hampshire told the local news that heating oil subsidies were appreciated, but, \u2018I feel like it\u2019s a Band-Aid after they\u2019ve stabbed you.\u2019\n\n\u201cMadam President, these are the real-world consequences of Washington Democrats\u2019 inflation. Every corner of every state is writing its own painful story.\n\n\u201cBut the ones I just mentioned have something unfortunate in common. Every resident of Arizona, Washington, Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado, and Georgia is represented by two Senators who each cast the deciding vote to set this historic inflation in motion.\n\n\u201cIf just one single Senator from Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire, or Washington State had refused to give their vote to President Biden\u2019s reckless spending, the working families and small business owners of those states would not be dealing with this much inflation. Period.\n\n\u201cBut every one of those states\u2019 Senators cast tiebreaking votes to bring on the worst inflation in four decades. And now every American is paying the price.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:29:59Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=E8B48C06-87B8-437A-9859-325D97D2F215"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9141238406300545, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}