Kennedy on the cost of living: “It is as painful as hell”

Watch Kennedy’s comments here . WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) addressed the high cost of living in the United States and explained what Congress is doing to mitigate it in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor. Key excerpts of the speech are below: “But, unfortunately, many moms and dads, when they lie down to sleep at night, can’t. And they can’t because they are worried. They can’t because they are scared. Worry and fear are inextricably linked. One of the main things they are worried about today in America is the cost of living. Worry and fear also can lead to anger. There is a lot of anger in America. . . . First, let me say I understand their anger. It is perfectly predictable. “Here is why they are angry, and this is why they are scared: These moms and dads who can’t sleep at night because they are concerned about the cost of living look around and they see too many undeserving people . . . at the top getting bailouts, and they see too many undeserving people—not everybody, but too many undeserving people—at the bottom who are getting handouts. And they are in the middle, and they are getting stuck with the bill, and they can’t pay it anymore because of the cost of living.” . . . “But the conflict in Iran, predictably, raised the cost of energy and particularly the cost of gas and diesel fuel. I think most Americans understand. They don’t like it. I don’t like it. It is as painful as hell. They understand that every time you have a conflict in the Middle East, the price of energy is going to go up, and once the conflict is over, it will gradually come down. Usually, it doesn’t come down as fast as it went up, but it is still painful. “This fear, this anger at the cost of living predates the conflict in Iran. . . . Now, I talked to the president about it. He understands it. It frustrates him because he didn’t cause that 9% inflation. No disrespect, but President Biden did. He did. He spent money that we didn’t have like it was ditchwater. I think, if we had discovered life on Mars when President Biden was President, he would have sent it money immediately.” . . . “I don’t want the American people to think we have been doing nothing. We have done a lot already, as you know, Mr. President. We passed the One Big Beautiful Bill. . . . And most of the provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which are going to help with the cost of living, are just now taking effect. People are already seeing tax refunds bigger than they have ever seen, and that is going to help.” . . . “But the point is, this is one of the reasons we passed One Big Beautiful Bill, and I don’t want anybody to think that we in Congress—at least our side of the aisle, the Republican side of the aisle—are not aware of and are not trying to help with the cost of living.” Watch Kennedy’s speech here .