- The freshman Democrat offered leaders a three-pronged plan to ease economic jitters.
- The menu includes trimming gas taxes, prescription drug costs, and shipping fees.
- He's baffled by those okay with "politics getting in the way of free enterprise."
Defusing inflationary fears before the November elections requires easing the financial squeeze average Americans feel every time they open their wallets, Sen. Raphael Warnock advised Democratic leaders in Washington, DC.
The freshman lawmaker, who is on the ballot in Georgia this fall in a closely-contested presidential swing state, proposed pouncing on the rising prices Americans are faced with when filling up their vehicles, picking up groceries, or adding basic necessities to online orders. Democratic strategists have warned that the party will be annihilated in the midterm elections if they don't start to pivot to an economic message that resonates with, and gives voters hope.
"We're seeing oil and gas companies experience record profits. This is corporations padding their pockets and rewarding their stockholders at the expense of ordinary people," Warnock told Insider at the US Capitol.
The newly minted lawmaker is likely to face off against former professional football star Herschel Walker — one of many Republican political newcomers Trump has endorsed in races around the country. Warnock's seat is one of a handful of "Toss-up" races the political handicappers at FiveThirtyEight wrote could decide control of a narrowly split chamber where Democrats' trump card is Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking vote.
Warnock recently joined other Democrats up for reelection this year, including Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, in proposing a temporary gas tax holiday that would save people money while at the pump.
Warnock also wrote to wrote to President Joe Biden last week urging the administration to look into possible price-gouging by global shipping providers. "They're clearly, it seems to me, exploiting the pandemic," Warnock said Wednesday, adding that many of the companies in question "are not American." .
Finally, he said trimming prescription drug costs is long overdue.
"It is mind boggling to me that pharmaceutical companies get to tell the taxpayer how much of their money they're going to take," he told reporters, adding that "it's outrageous that you cannot negotiate the cost of prescription drugs."
"That's politics getting in the way of free enterprise," Warnock said. "And more importantly, hurting people."