'Inflation is theft': The consumer price index increased 7% over just one year

The consumer price index rose by a whopping 7% over a one-year period, the largest 12-month increase in nearly four decades, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"The all items index rose 7.0 percent for the 12 months ending December, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending June 1982. The all items less food and energy index rose 5.5 percent, the largest 12-month change since the period ending February 1991. The energy index rose 29.3 percent over the last year, and the food index increased 6.3 percent," BLS reported.

The CPI rose by 0.5% in December, which was a slower increase than the 0.8% in November.

"The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.8 percent in November," BLS noted. "Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 7.0 percent before seasonal adjustment."

Rising prices have been hitting Americans in the wallet.

"President Biden and Democrats in Congress won't stop their reckless spending until inflation is so high that your paycheck and retirement savings are worthless," Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) tweeted.

Some GOP lawmakers have described inflation as a tax.

Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia tweeted that "Inflation is theft."

Democrats continue to argue that passing the Biden administration's massive Build Back Better spending proposal would alleviate inflation by lowering prices.

"The Build Back Better act addresses inflation by lowering child care, energy, housing and healthcare costs for everyday Americans," Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York tweeted.

In order to ram the legislation through the Senate, the entire Senate Democratic caucus would need to get on board, but Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said last month that he would not support passage of the plan.

"Today’s report—which shows a meaningful reduction in headline inflation over last month, with gas prices and food prices falling—demonstrates that we are making progress in slowing the rate of price increases," President Biden said in a statement about the consumer price index. "At the same time, this report underscores that we still have more work to do, with price increases still too high and squeezing family budgets."

While the president claimed that food prices are falling, the consumer price index news release indicates that the food index actually rose 0.5% in December, which marked a slower pace than it had risen in recent months.

"The food index increased 0.5 percent in December following larger increases in each of the three previous months," the BLS report says.