Fact-Checking The Governor

Who else lost count of the number of times Gov. Kevin Stitt said “20% inflation” when he was being interviewed on Face the Nation Sunday?

He dares you to fact check him, because it is true the inflation rate in 2021 was 4.7%. During the height of the supply chain kinks in 2022, it rose to 8%. It dropped back to 4.1% in 2023, and because of the Fed’s policies, it has continued to drop. It’s now below 3%. Add them all together, and you can round up to 20%.

Misleading? Yes, but that’s his intent.

Can he put all the blame on the current administration? Only if he takes the blame for inflation in Oklahoma. State inflation rates are as varied as their costs of living and their median income.

If the governor did his own research, he knows that there are causes for inflation outside anyone’s control. In 2021, the economists cited Covid as the main driver. In 2022, it was the Russian invasion of Ukraine that drove up gasoline prices. In 2023, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. It has worked to slow the economy, but borrowers spent more money.

The economy is too complex to be crunched into sound bites, but that won’t stop Gov. Stitt and his sidekick, Ryan Walters, from reducing complex issues into talking points as each seeks his next government gig.

It’s amazing, isn’t it, that two men who denigrate government spending, unless it’s for one of their pet projects, spend so much time and money, some of it ours, pursuing their next taxpayer-funded position.

It should come as no surprise that a man who is barred from doing business in two states due to his company’s practices is willing to fudge the truth in the pursuit of his next job. That doesn’t make it any less disappointing.