Koch-backed group announces eight-figure ad campaign hammering inflation

Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group backed by GOP mega-donor Charles Koch, launched an eight-figure ad campaign on Wednesday hammering inflation and rising costs in the U.S. while also proposing “real solutions” to make daily life more affordable.

The campaign, dubbed “The True Cost of Washington,” aims to link rising costs in the U.S. to the Biden administration’s economic policies, including its stalled Build Back Better agenda and the recently announced $5.8 trillion budget proposal.

“It’s easy for politicians to blame these rising costs on geopolitical instability or scapegoat corporate greed. But the reality is, out-of-control government spending and burdensome regulations have been fueling the problem all along,” the group wrote in a statement.

Inflation has been on the rise in the U.S. since last summer, when consumer spending skyrocketed and suppliers struggled to meet that demand, all while COVID-19 restrictions eased.

The consumer price index rose 7.9 percent annually in February, the fastest rate since 1982, and economists predict that inflation rose even higher in March. Consumers are especially feeling the effects of the rising prices at the supermarket and gas pump.

The Biden administration has recently sought to blame the elevated inflation on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February. President Biden referred to the increase in costs as the “Putin price hike,” even though inflation has been on the rise since before the conflict began.

Americans for Prosperity, however, is rejecting that argument, asserting that the rise in prices is a result of government spending.

“Americans are being crushed by the inflation caused by mountains of regulations and years of reckless spending from both parties,” Americans for Prosperity Vice President Akash Chougule said in a statement.

The group, in its new campaign, is proposing solutions to combat the rise in prices, including tapping more into U.S. energy resources, ending what it considers to be wasteful spending and calling for more deregulation.

“While politicians propose more of what’s gotten us here to begin with, we’re offering a better way that unleashes energy abundance, ends wasteful spending, and removes regulations that suppress the supply of energy and goods — sometimes intentionally,” Chougule said in a statement.

Regarding energy, Americans for Prosperity points to a bill sponsored by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) that calls on the Energy secretary to create a plan to increase production of oil and gas on federal lands if the president utilizes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for non-energy matters.

Americans for Prosperity is also pushing to take away obstacles blocking energy innovation, infrastructure and environmental progress and is calling on Congress to oppose the Paris climate agreement, which the U.S. officially rejoined last February after former President Trump withdrew from the deal.

Meanwhile, the group is calling for a “unified budget,” which includes all spending and revenue amounts as a single annual budget bill. The organization said it is pushing for a unified budget because it gives members a larger stake in the budgetary process, and “[allows] routine correction of imbalances with cover from other budget areas.”

The group said such a budget is optimal to a leadership-driven omnibus deal because it “increases mutual benefits for members by involving them in multiple stages of the process,” among other points.

Americans for Prosperity also pointed to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which requires that fuel used for transportation in the U.S. have a specific amount of renewable fuels. The organization linked that statute to rising food prices.

“40 percent of all corn produced in the United States is used to make ethanol. Under the RFS, corn prices have increased dramatically, incentivizing farmers to replace other crops with corn and grow corn wherever they can. This in turn raises the prices of other foods, which are now scarcer because they’re being cultivated less,” the group wrote on its website.

The campaign will run in nine states over the coming five months: Nevada, Georgia, New Hampshire, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Targeted advertisements will be featured on television, radio and digital channels nationally and at state levels “to rally support and encourage voters to make their voices heard.”

Additionally, local chapters of Americans for Prosperity will hold events in the nine states and Washington, D.C., that will seek to educate individuals on the factors driving gas and food prices, while also proposing solutions that will bring down costs in the long term. The events will begin in late April and run through the end of the summer.