Republican senators took to the floor of the Senate on Dec. 9 with posters filled with Christmas-themed puns about President Joe Biden and his role in soaring inflation.
“Paying a ho-ho-whole lot more for a ho-ho-whole lot less,’ was a phrase coined by Sen. Joni Ernst, as she called the president “Bare Shelves Biden.”
Senators mocked Biden as the Grinch who created inflation and supply chain issues.
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah may have stolen the show with his “Stop the Grinch Act,” bill. Stop the Grinch Act is an acronym for “Surpassing Temporary Obstructions at Ports and Guaranteeing Resources to Increase the Nation’s Commercial Health Act,” or STOPGRINCH.
“When the Grinch stole Christmas it was a relatively simple operation that took a relatively simple solution. Unfortunately, cold, unfeeling regulations and entrenched bureaucracies do not have undersized hearts which could grow three sizes. Protectionist laws and labor shortages do not warm to holiday cheer,” he said.
“When COVID-19 began, e-commerce sales hit an unprecedented rate causing our already troubled supply chain to be further mired with dire challenges including truck driver shortages, outdated port technology, lack of container storage capacity, port labor difficulties, and scarce freight equipment,” Lee said.
“In fact, as situations become more dire with the supply chain crisis, inflation, and shortages across the country, our own regulations do much to delay and disrupt solutions when we need them most.
“Americans are feeling the pain of skyrocketing prices, shipping delays, and empty shelves as our laws and bureaucracies fail to respond to shipping backlogs and labor shortages. The system just is not working, and President Biden’s press-release policies have not fixed it.Â
“Like so many problems during his presidency, President Biden is not touching them with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole.
“And the holidays are here. This problem needed solutions months ago. But there is still hope. My STOP the GRINCH act can help us fix the supply chain crisis and save Christmas,” he said.
His bill suspends restrictions on ports, ships, and trucks, and temporarily lowers the commercial drivers license age to 18 for interstate travel and waives for one year the hours-of-service requirements for transporting containers to and from ports.Â
The text of the bill is at this link.
The bill incentivizes more ships to be able to freely move cargo between American ports by waiving the Jones Act. And it allows federal land to be used to temporarily store cargo containers, which would help break the logjams in ports.
“Finally, my bill would help ease the lack of freight equipment, specifically truck chassis, by allowing excess Department of Defense equipment to be used to help move cargo,” Lee said. “We can end this nightmare before Christmas. We can stop the Grinch, save our holidays, and secure our economy. My STOP the GRINCH act is the start to a happy holiday and a prosperous new year.”
Because of Lee’s direct attack on Biden, it’s certain the bill will be buried in committee, as the Senate and House are controlled by Democrats, but its introduction offered some levity to Republicans, temporarily at least, even if inflation continues to surge.
