AP FACT CHECK: Biden skirts blame on inflation; GOP gas hype

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing political attacks over rising costs, President Joe Biden exaggerated his role in reducing the federal deficit and skirted responsibility by asserting that a flood of government spending into the economy has no impact at all on higher prices. It actually does.

Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, went too far in pinning blame for surging gasoline prices on Biden.

A look at the rhetoric and reality:

DEFICIT

BIDEN: “Last year, the deficit dropped for the first time since 2015. It fell by $360 billion last year and this year it’s on track to drop by more than $1 trillion after four years in a row of increasing deficits before I took office. We’re now on a track to see the largest-ever decline in a deficit in American history.” — remarks Tuesday.

THE FACTS: It's not as big as it sounds.

While it's true the deficit could end up falling by more than $1 trillion, the decline mostly reflects the improving economy as the pandemic has faded, not tax and spending decisions by the Biden White House or Congress. The government is no longer sending out stimulus checks and extra unemployment benefits as it did for the past two years. And tax revenue has increased as millions of Americans have found jobs and gotten pay raises. As a result, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget forecasts that the federal government’s annual deficit will drop to $1.2 trillion this year, from $2.8 trillion in 2021 and a record $3 trillion in 2020.

Even with that drop, the deficit would still be at one of the highest levels in history.

Some of the decline is also due to a COVID-era policy change that basically deferred some tax collections. The government now is collecting far more payroll taxes, which fund Social Security and Medicare, after allowing businesses to...