“It doesn’t require a huge leap to figure out why one of the wealthiest individuals on Earth opposes an economic agenda for the middle class that cuts some of the biggest costs families face, fights inflation for the long haul, and adds to the historic deficit reduction the president is achieving by asking the richest taxpayers and corporations to pay their fair share,” Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said in a statement.
Bezos is worth an estimated $140 billion. He was Amazon’s CEO until mid-2021, though he remains the company’s executive chairman.
“It’s also unsurprising that this tweet comes after the president met with labor organizers, including Amazon employees,” Bates also said.
Bates was responding to Bezos writing in a Twitter post that the administration “tried hard to inject even more stimulus into an already over-heated, inflationary economy” but was blocked by Manchin, who Bezos said “saved them from themselves.”
Manchin blocked Biden’s plan to spend trillions, refusing to vote for the effort dubbed “build back better.”
“I’ve never found out that you can lower costs by spending more,” Manchin told reporters earlier this year, explaining his opposition.
Bezos said that inflation “is a regressive tax that most hurts the least affluent,” adding that “misdirection doesn’t help the country.”
The billionaire was commenting after President Joe Biden said that the federal deficit increased every year under President Donald Trump.
“This year, we’re on track to cut the deficit by $1.5 trillion—the biggest one-year decline ever. It matters to families, because reducing the deficit is one of the main ways we can ease inflationary pressures,” Biden said.
Some critics have said Biden is not directly responsible for the decline in the deficit because government expenditures have been decreasing from extremely high levels because of the end of temporary COVID-19 pandemic relief spending.
Responding to Bezos, Bates also promoted a view from Lawrence Summers, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council during the Obama administration.
Summer said that Bezos was “mostly wrong” because raising taxes would “reduce demand to contain inflation.”
Bezos later weighed in on Bates’ statement, arguing the White House was trying to “muddy the topic.”
“They know inflation hurts the neediest the most. But unions aren’t causing inflation and neither are wealthy people. Remember the Administration tried their best to add another $3.5 TRILLION to federal spending,” he said. “They failed, but if they had succeeded, inflation would be even higher than it is today, and inflation today is at a 40 year high.”
