EDITORIAL: Sen. Jacky Rosen is just too modest

Most politicians are eager to take credit for their accomplishments. Not Jacky Rosen.

Sen. Rosen, a Democrat, is running for re-election against Republican Sam Brown, an Army veteran who was seriously injured in service to his country. Democrats must retain the seat to bolster their chances of keeping their slim majority in the U.S. Senate.

The Rosen campaign has been exploiting its fundraising advantage with a series of political advertisements in which the candidate blames rapacious capitalists for inflation and rising housing costs. According to this view, high rents and soaring costs at the supermarket are the result of greedy institutional investors buying up housing stock and price-gouging grocery tycoons.

But Sen. Rosen is far too humble. In fact, she was an eager participant in unleashing the worst inflation the nation had endured in four decades, crippling American families and driving up the costs of purchasing a home.

Recall that in February 2021, the nation was recovering from the pandemic. The Biden administration and congressional Democrats nevertheless pushed for a massive $2 trillion spending package as an economic “stimulus.” Economists from across the political spectrum warned that the proposal could overheat the economy, leaving too much money chasing too few goods and services. President Joe Biden famously dismissed that idea, stating, “There’s nobody suggesting there’s unchecked inflation on the way, no serious economist.”

A year later in 2022, inflation hit 9 percent, a number not seen since the nation was emerging from the Jimmy Carter malaise. The Federal Reserve, hoping to tamp down rising prices and avoid a recession, began hiking interest rates. Mortgage rates soon doubled, making it much more expensive to purchase a home with a 30-year loan. Existing owners with friendlier interest rates became less likely to put their homes on the market, causing a shrinkage in available inventory. Prices spiked in many places — that pesky concept of supply and demand.

Through it all, Sen. Rosen stood side by side with the White House, avidly voting for the Biden administration spending binge that left many Americans crying uncle each time they went through the grocery checkout counter or filled up at the pump. But now she wants no credit for any of it, pointing a finger instead at shadowy outside forces intent on profiting off the backs of helpless American consumers and homebuyers.

In fact, Sen. Rosen creates strawmen while conveniently ignoring the ramifications of the Beltway’s insatiable appetite for other people’s money. A 2024 study by researchers at MIT’s Sloan business school found that “federal spending was two to three times more important than any other factor causing inflation during 2022.”

Inflation has since slowed, but stubbornly high prices continue to bedevil consumers. Housing costs in many areas have stabilized somewhat, but higher interest rates and a lack of new construction continue to create challenges for buyers.

Sen. Rosen’s modesty aside, savvy voters know who and what are responsible for high prices and the housing crisis — and it’s not price gouging or Wall Street bogeymen.