U.S. senators need to forgo the posh Capitol dining rooms and go food shopping in the shoes of ordinary Americans. Shoppers are panicking at the meat counter, where beef prices are up more than 20%. Nearly everything in the basket costs more.
Most pols are clueless about the pain inflation is causing.
Retirees are the biggest victims. Inflation is decimating them. With interest rates near zero, retirees are watching the purchasing power of the money they have in the bank literally shrink. They’re getting punished for their years of thrift, prudence and self-reliance.
For the 65-and-up crowd, it’s a double whammy — the brutal impact of COVID and then inflation. Three-quarters of Americans who died from COVID were in that age group. Now the survivors are getting whacked with price hikes on everything from home heating oil to groceries. In Maine, where my twin brother lives, fuel to heat homes is up by as much as 50%.
To understand the inflation spike, consider this amazing fact: One-fifth of all dollars in circulation have been created since February 2020. Congress spent excessively on COVID-related benefits using borrowed money, and the Federal Reserve purchased the debt created and flooded the nation with more dollars.
The result: too many dollars chasing too few goods.
Everywhere, retirees are being forced to replan how they live out their final years because their savings pay for less.
Social Security is raising benefits with a 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment — the highest in decades but not enough to offset price hikes.
Inflation’s other victims are wage earners. Wages went up over the last year but less than inflation for most workers. Wages will buy less this Christmas.
President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise never to raise taxes except on the rich. But the Bidenflation raging now is the cruelest tax of all.
Dec. 10’s Consumer Price Index put inflation at 6.8%, the highest since 1982, but even that likely understates it: CPI critics point out that single family rental costs are up 17% nationwide this year. It’s worse in Manhattan, where median rents are up 20%.
Even so, Biden and Senate Democrats are trying to ram through the Build Back Better Act before Christmas, ignoring warnings that it will make prices soar higher still because that’s what deficit spending does.
In fact, not passing the bill will go a long way toward calming inflation expectations and in the process avert widespread demands for wage hikes that could trigger a wage-price inflation spiral. Organized labor is already demanding quarterly cost-of-living adjustments and higher wage rates because of inflation.
But Democrats want to pass what they claim is “transformative” legislation. It’s not about helping the people who work, save and take care of themselves. It’s about politics and buying votes with new government giveaways before the 2022 midterm elections.
Inflation pain be damned.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) appears to get it. His state has one of the oldest populations, and he says they’re feeling the brunt of price hikes, including at the Dollar Store. Dollar Store Inc. announced that products it has sold for $1 for more than 30 years will be priced at $1.25.
Manchin repeated his concerns Monday when asked if he would capitulate to pressure from his party to support Build Back Better. In a 50-50 divided Senate, the bill can’t pass without his vote.
Manchin responded, “Inflation is real. It’s not transitory. It’s alarming. It’s going up, not down. And I think that’s something we should be concerned about.”
Americans agree. Hold the line, Senator.
The White House is churning out endorsements for Build Back Better from partisan economists, but the public isn’t buying the propaganda. A staggering 69% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of inflation, including 71% of independents, according to an ABC/Ipsos poll published Dec. 12.
As long as prices keep going up, count on Democrats to go down in defeat in the midterm elections.
Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey.
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Direct and point by point from an author whose take on a topic I always enjoy.
And of course the cost of medicare rises. Plenty of money for illegal immigrants though. We need to put a reset on these damn democrats.
Will Manchin (and perhaps Sinema) hold the line? One can only hope. COLAs are only based on a few items whereas ALL items have increased in price. So in just standing still, we are actually losing ground!
As much as I hate it, the more intensely that sleeping Americans have to live a long, dark, cold, hungry winter the better the odds are of them coming out of their slumber. Some never will, so be it, can’t save everybody.
Working stiff called the tax payer are but cash cows to distribute our tax monies to the the entitlement crowd to build their dependency on the Government and secure a loyal Democrat for life.
Democrats are “promoters of moral decay in society” convincing those that their status in life is never their fault but the fault of others and not of their personal choices.
Not about independence from Government, but dependence on Government!
Power and greed the two driving forces!!
I’m beyond angry, the pittance on my SS is taken away with their increase of my Medicare premium. It costs us 600.00 additional for our Supplemental for what Medicare doesn’t cover PLUS the (was) 148, NOW 170 for our Medicare out of of SS checks. so basically 940 a month, and that doesn’t cover dental, eye or prescriptions. NOW I’m comparing my gas heating bill with last year. I paid $99.37 for 175 CCF’s of gas last year, NOW it’s $102.04 for 126 CCF’s!!! So almost 3.00 for 49 LESS CCF’s. The cost for Gas Cost Recovery went from .24220 in December of 2020 to Gas Cost Recovery in Dec. of 2021 to .43653/CCF, a WHOPPING .19433/CCF MORE Good thing it hasn’t been REALLY cold, or seniors will freeze. They told us to “save” for your senior years, so we did 40lK’s and IRA’s, NOW they want to tax those into oblivion. We all paid for our college, babysitting, etc, NOW it’s pay them our tax dollars EVEN IF THEY DON’T WORK for their children. 900/month, more than I make on my Soc. Sec. What’s WRONG with this picture???
This is the goal of this administration. They want to make the rich richer and the poor poorer then they can happily enjoy their elitist lives while the rest of us slave, pinned firmly under their thumbs. On the upside it kind of looks like their dirty little deals may be destroying them and they don’t have a clue how to save themselves! ‘We the People’ may just come through this insanity relativity unscathed. God Bless America
President Trump was leading this country into more jobs, lower taxes, national safety, less dependence on foreign trade, personal responsibility and integrity..and most of all keeping our faith in God that we so desperately need.
The current sideshow circus administration has reversed everything, not to mention advocating criminal activity internally and not securing our border, creating mass hysteria for close to 2 years now with a Chinese created mega virus, encouraging Americans not to be self-reliant, etc, etc.
Inflation is real, brought on by bungling idiots who should throw in the towel and give us our country back..but as I always say, what goes around comes around!
When the number of takers in the USA becomes greater than the number of workers and savers, “other people’s money” to give away to the “takers” will quickly run out, leaving everyone except the super-rich to scavenge for food in the dumpsters of the super-rich. Pray to God that this never happens because the workers and savers still have the power of the ballet box (until the super-rich take that away from them as well).
The cost of changing signs to “The Dollar and Quarter Tree” is going to be huge!
Elections have consequences. Especially those that were “won” by means of manipulation and fraud. The problem was then further compounded by the decision of the American people to allow those results to stand. The result is we now have an openly socialist regime firmly in control that has been enacting policies that are completely consistent with the standard socialist playbook and of course achieving the expected results. High inflation simply being one of the many negative consequences.
Should the BBB bill not be killed in its entirety, the situation will get progressively (no pun intended) worse at an accelerated rate. As the economy slows down under the massive taxes and regulations in the bill, the jobless rate will climb higher and inflation will increase due to even lower productivity levels.
I hope and pray more and more Americans can now see who the real liars and spenders are. The Democrats have become the party of evil and they care only for themselves and the benefits they have voted for themselves, Biden has no guts and just gives the evil doers whatever they want. Pretty sad state of affairs and very disgusting. They always say they are helping the poor and lower incomes but in reality they are only helping themselves. They must be held accountable and stopped. We had none of this with President Trump. Biden and the Dims are a failure.
Leftist don’t care about anyone but themselves! They use whomever they can so they can take whatever they want! What did Reagan say? Government is the problem! He was so right!
Destroy the middles class. Make people dependent on the government (then pull that rug out from under them). This is all the road to communism.
O’Biden inflation seriously hurts the middle class and those folks on fixed incomes. Not only do the tax and spend policies hurt every American, the inflation is like a hidden tax that hurts the middle class the most. The reckless policies related to open boarders and the costs associated with that crisis just adds fuel to the inflation fires. We are experiencing a entire breakdown in government at all levels due to a socialist focus. When the voters have a chance to elect reasonable people to many posts next fall, perhaps we will have a chance to unwind the damage done to our nation.
The goal of the liberals is to destroy the middle class in this country as they destroy the country.
Government is the problem and Biden is the worst of government. 47% of people in the US are on the handout programs. The elite in the US government will tax the rest of us to the poorhouse.
The government IS the government and politicians are what they are.If either party had any intestinal fortitude they would stand up to biden and company and”shoot down”everything that they do and hire PRESIDENT TRUMP as an adviser,he pretty much had things handled with NO help from the demonRATS and very little help from the whimpy republicans.
The “Fed” ( which is NOT federal and has no reserve ) is having more and more paper money being printed right now. If they said it has .02 cents in value then THAT would be a lot, seriously. The greenback, in this nation, is nothing more than a medium of exchange. There is a fair amount of corporate greed involved in this as well. Everyone needs to study up on the “Fed” in a great book – “The Creature From Jekyll Island.” You will be surprised at how all this garbage started. Hint – thank Woody Wilson for his part in this evil cabal of 10 large banks.
Why is AMAC making me VERIFY on every comment I make. Is George Soros ( king of the united states ) monitoring tonite ?
Joe, say–“It ain’t so”. Hold on to your hats, because this “inflation” is just the tip of the iceberg, compared to rising costs in 2021. Supply chain is NOT the blame. About 45 days ago, I could buy a gallon of milk for $1.33-yesterdaySAME milk $2.68. The cows are certainly NOT hung up on ships waiting to get into a port!!
What happened to the check and balance in the Gov. abuse like this?
This is all preplanned by Comrade Obama and his legion of devils, Pelosi, Shumer and others as well as their supporters. The only thing that amazes me is the speed of their evildoing. America won’t be here in 2024. They are hellbent on destroying our once great country including wiping out the middle class. For some unknown reason, many believe it won’t happen. But it will unless theres a civil war to stop this landslide of evil.
Inflation hits ALL & more votes for GOP for 2022.
Remedy this GOP or lose 2022
How backward are these failed democrats when they pay people to stay home, pay their rent and utilities and continue to fleece the productive Citizens who get up and go to work each day??
We must THROW these LOSERS OUT and SAVE Our Country!
The marxist democrats wish to destroy freedom and create a dependant class that they can control.
WAKE UP AMERICA, this is the evil,corrupt,dishonest ,self serving SWAMP that President Trump told us about.
Past time for them to go!!
The one factor in these comparisons to the inflation of the 70s and 80s one never sees is the actual, real comparison.
In the 70s and 80s, the job market was still very reasonable for skilled and/or educated people. And America was not being led by flat out Totalitarians and Communists. We weren’t suffering the hopelessness these thugs have induced in every portion of our society.
Leaders now are Traitors, Treasonists, and Seditionists. All used to be hanged for those crimes back when there was actual Law & Order.
America MUST return to fitting the punishment to the crime. You ruin OUR lives, and you FORFEIT your miserable, useless lives.
It’s all part of the plan to increase government dependency so Socialism takes over. Our elected officials have no clue what the average American deals with. We can’t spend money knowing that our debt will be passed on to someone else.