South Cook News

Congressional candidate Keith Pekau is calling out Reps. Sean Casten (D-Glen Ellyn) and Marie Newman (D-Chicago) for supporting Biden administration policies that Pekau claims have contributed to inflation, which is at its highest rate since 1982.

"Americans are being crushed at the pump. Indirectly they are being hammered with higher prices for all goods, with diesel prices over $5 per gallon thanks to the policies of the Biden administration. Both of my Democratic opponents Sean Casten and Marie Newman support these horrible policies. Put a stop to this by voting for Pekau for Congress and put people over politics," Pekau posted on Facebook.

In January, prices rose 7.5% compared to last year, according to Forbes, marking "the biggest annualized growth in CPI inflation since February 1982." 

The Forbes article quoted Celeste Revelli, a director of financial planning at eMoney Advisor, who said, "There's definitely a lot of financial anxiety. It's difficult to know how long this inflationary moment will last."

According to AAA, the average price of a regular gallon of gas in Illinois as of March 7 is $4.304, up from $2.924 one year ago.

Illinois Chamber of Commerce CEO and president Todd Maisch pointed to Biden's energy policies as one factor driving up inflation. "The Biden Administration refused to build a new pipeline that would have gotten safe and secure energy from Canada to the United States," Maisch told The Center Square. He also spoke about shutting down an existing pipeline that is responsible for supplying heating oil to the Midwest. "At the same time they're shutting down North American energy supplies, they're haranguing OPEC for not pumping enough oil," he said. "That energy policy is sheer lunacy and that is the single biggest thing that they could change very quickly if they ever figured it out."