Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., told Newsmax that empty shelves across the country due to the supply chain shortage is making the U.S. look a lot like Russia.
''If you would watch the newsreels now, you would think that you were watching something out of Russia from about 20 or 30 years ago, with bare shelves and supply chains being shut down,'' Rosendale said Wednesday on ''The Chris Salcedo Show.''
''The administration is already warning people that if they want to have presents under the Christmas tree this year, they need to start ordering them now. The problem is, you can't get them, and if you can, they're probably about 30-50% more expensive than they were this exact time last year.''
As hundreds of cargo ships continue circling U.S. ports looking for a slip to dock and unload, an estimated $106,400,000,000 in freight remains in limbo, according to Forbes.
The bottleneck is being exacerbated by a shortage of labor to work at the docks and on trains and trucks to transport the merchandise and supplies to warehouses and eventually stores, resulting in empty shelves at retail outlets throughout the country.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he is working with the ports and businesses to get them running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to get the supply chain moving faster ahead of the holiday season.
In a speech at the White House, Biden said the Port of Los Angeles would now be a 24/7 operation to get more ships unloaded and more products moving through the system faster.
''This is the first key step in moving our freight transportation and logistical supply chain nationwide to a 24/7 system,'' Biden said. ''Traditionally, our ports have only been open during the week, Monday-Friday, and are generally closed down at nights and on weekends.
''By staying open seven days a week, through the night, and on the weekends, the Port of Los Angeles will be open 60 more hours a week.''
Biden said that port and the Port of Long Beach receive 40% of all incoming cargo for the country.
He then asked ''major retailers and freight movers'' to ''step up'' as well to address the crisis.
Rosendale said that there is a bigger problem coming from all the money pumped into the system during the pandemic, which is making inflation rise.
''This artificial stimulus that they have continued to pump into the economy is driving inflation up,'' he said. ''Whether we're talking about bread, milk, eggs, the price of crude oil has doubled since this time last year. There's a major problem with inflation, and we know that it goes back to this artificial stimulus being put in.''
Note: See Newsmax TV now carried in more than 100 million U.S. homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Frontier Ch. 115, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, Mediacom Ch. 277, AT&T TV Ch 349, FUBO and major OTT platforms like Roku, YouTube, Xumo, Pluto and most smart TV’s including Samsung+, Sony, LG, Vizio and more – Find All Systems that Carry Newsmax – Click Here
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.