NBC analysis: Democrats think 'inflation doesn't matter'

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An NBC News analysis Monday concluded Democrats think "inflation doesn't matter" in the service of longterm progressive goals.

"Inflation doesn't matter. That's the message Democratic leaders are sending as they try to push more than $4 trillion into the economy," NBC's Jonathan Allen wrote on the eyepopping price tag for Democratic infrastructure, climate change, and child care initiatives.

President Biden and Democrats are on the defensive over what Biden calls "near-term" inflation as the economy picks up steam but Americans face dramatic price increases compared to 2020. June prices were more than 5 percent higher than 12 months earlier, and Republicans have blamed the infusion of the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan into the economy as a primary culprit.

FOX NEWS POLL: 83% WORRY ABOUT INFLATION, MAJORITY SAYS BENEFITS HURTING ECONOMY

A Fox News poll last month showed 83 percent of Americans were worried about inflation, with majorities calling its effect on gas and grocery prices a hardship.

But Allen wrote Democrats like Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and others are shrugging off "short-term price spikes" as irrelevant "to their attempts to expand the role of the federal government." 

"In effect, they are making a bet that Americans will reward them for the benefits of their spending plans rather than punish them for inflation that might not last as long," Allen wrote.

ECONOMISTS CLASH OVER INFLATION TIED TO BIDEN'S $3.5T SPENDING PLAN

Lawmakers in deep-blue states may be safe from the political consequences of inflation in the short run, but more moderate House Democrats could be vulnerable in 2022. Allen quoted a House Democratic aide as warning the White House not to misread their concerns over inflation for their political futures, and with it, the Biden agenda in 2023 and beyond.

"You've got members who are already nervous about the political consequences of a $3.5 trillion package," the aide told NBC News. "Now they're starting to have policy concerns."

Biden claimed passing large Democratic spending packages would help reduce inflation at a CNN town hall last week.

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"We're going to be providing good opportunities and jobs for people who in fact are going to be reinvesting that money back into all the things we're talking about. Driving down prices, not raising prices," he said.