Inflation – the highest in 40 years – is now a “ho mum” soundbite, as midterms fast approach. Sidelined by Democrat-leaning media, inflation is replaced by calling Republicans “extremist,” touting Ukraine’s gains, a .01 percent drop in August, and the hurricanes. But stop: Inflation is THE story, THE issue.
Never mind inflation economic fear outpoll every issue. Never mind inflation is trending up, not down. Never mind it is driving interest rates higher than seen by half the population – ever.
Never mind it has pushed rent out of sight for single-family Americans, up 26 percent in a year. Never mind gas has doubled, diesel risen faster, downstream effects obvious – especially in food, based on higher costs for fertilizer, harvest, transport, cooling, heating, and storage.
Never mind what you put gas in – a used car or truck – cost 50 percent more than three years ago, and Democrats plan to ban them by 2035. Electric cars represent “inflation on steroids,” a jolt to buy, maintain, replace batteries for, and fuel – from a grid powered by fossil fuels.
Never mind the “basket of goods” most seniors buy – one-third of Americans are now over 50 – is more expensive than “typical” inflation. Costs for seniors are astronomical – housing, heating (expected to rise 34 percent), groceries, medical service, prescription drugs.
Never mind most private pensions have no cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) to match inflation, probably closer to 20 percent for seniors. Never mind most state pensions cap COLAs near three percent. Never mind even Social Security lags real inflation, bumped up based on third quarter of a prior year, only 5.9 percent for this year.
Never mind inflation, driven by federal overspending – three trillion dollars over “regular order” since January 2021 – and clipping fossil fuel production, has caused the Fed to double interest rates in a year.
As the Fed tries to rein in these fiscal and policy errors, seniors are hit disproportionately, but everyone hit. Our ability to buy a home, afford a mortgage, take a home loan, buy a car, avoid variable interest rates on credit cards – now 28 percent for cash on some cards – is amputated.
What was a “liquid,” well-financed, good-for-the-consumer, good-for-jobs economy three years ago, is clotted up with federal overreach, slowly being ground down, grinding down consumers.
Inflation fears create panic buying, hoarding, and saving. Inflation fears – and high interest –reduce business confidence, produce less, borrowing, investment, hiring, more cost cutting, especially labor.
As jobs go, and as credit tightens, consumers with less to spend and more debt pull back, reducing demand, causing business to slow, and the cycle repeats. Never mind recklessness takes years to reverse.
Never mind that 70 million Americans get Social Security checks, live on them, and need them. Never mind that more than half in Congress are millionaires, Biden and Harris – public servants most of their lives – both multi-millionaires, nine and seven million respectively, or that those around Biden have “means.”
Never mind consumer confidence is sinking, the “Current” and “Investment” sub-indices both below 40 for the 4th and 6th times this year, and these indexes never dipped below 40 in 2021.
Never mind Americans most hurt or most likely to suffer lower confidence in these policies include those earning under $50,000 dollars, rural, looking for a good job and unable to find one, or Republican. The small blip on inflation and energy costs in August made little difference.
Never mind Biden and the Democrats have no answers, their ill-named “Inflation Reduction Act” just more federal spending, which will drive more inflation, higher interest, lower confidence.
Never mind the Fed last week admitted it will hit inflation by intentionally raising unemployment, the old “Phillips Curve,” the notion that increasing unemployment reduces in inflation. In a high-growth economy maybe, not when inflation comes from reckless spending and ending energy independence.
Could it get any crazier? It could. Hyper-inflation, although unlikely, has historically happened – cheapening paper dollars and investments, making costs intolerable. More federal giveaways, more spending in the name of compensating for inflation, would be – already is – utter madness.
If politicians, especially Democrats, continue to hide at Martha’s Vineyard and pretend – as most Americans cannot – that inflation goes away on its own, is imaginary, or secondary, things get worse.
How do they get better? Simple. Get up, get active, get serious about electing leaders who understand economics and care about you, who will stabilize this economy. The current crop of one-party leaders, ignorant or without concern for consequences, unable to check spendthrift habits, are chasing rainbows.
Most Americans don’t have the time, must pay bills. They must work and want to work but want their earned dollars to hold value – from years before, and now. It is that simple. Inflation is THE issue, where the rubber meets the road, literally. Any politician who wants to get elected needs to mind it. Any voter who wants to end it needs to boot those who say, “never mind.”
Inflation is the biggest concern of the American people and should be the biggest concern of our governments at all levels. Because the cost of everything has gone out of control. It affects every person and every business. Taxes will need to be raised or cuts will need to be made Inflation might be coming down but the damage is already done. Every one has got on the bandwagon to raise their price even if they didn’t need to raise them. Demand for $15.00 minimum wage has been flushed down the toilet and the only way to keep up with rising prices would be to double that $15.00 hour wage. We are returning our government stimulus at record rates in everything we buy. Inflation should be the biggest issue in the elections in 2024. Biggest at least in our domestic issues.
You can get a hair implant, you can get a face lift, you can hide in the basement but you can’t fix stupid
NO Its Energy being killed which caused Inflation day 1
Both
Add Energy & we can Reduce Inflation??
Rampant inflation and a horrible breakdown of enforcing laws that are literally killing illegal and legal inhabitants of this country are making the US increasingly look less and less like a Constitutional Republic.
If gasoline jumps to $10/gal in the next month maybe some liberals will finally wake up. Their uptopian dream has become a nightmare.
Not in joeblow’s dementia addled brain…
The main issue is Biden’s presidency Inflation and all other problems and disastrous decisions are consequence of it
DDS
Why, I ask, was Joe Biden asked to be VP in the first place by a man who refused to allow anything but exactly what he wanted released as a candidate for his own presidency? Can it be that it all starts there? No legitimate party would choose to hide a legitimate candidate in a basement with the hope of winning. But win indeed Mr. Peepers did and the man know how to manipulate shady money.
RBC, Thanks again an on target article. NOTICE: GAS is on the RISE AGAIN!!! So much or inflation and production (non-existent)
I am very disappointed in the Biden Administration. Inflation has dug deeply into my family’s budget. For food alone, what cost us $150 during the Trump years now costs us over $600. Inflation is crippling my family’s ability to live a good life. From groceries to gasoline to medical care, etc. Americans are feeling the effects of lousy economic policies. The United States is making a transition from one of the world’s wealthiest countries to something much, much less. My grandchildren will most likely live a worse life than the one we currently enjoy. It is so sad to witness a decline generated by our own leaders.
DEFUND POLITICIANS !
Thank City Critters: the fools who elected and provided the current crop of administrative fools. Really? Sabotaging the energy sector from the beginning, then feloniously dipping into the national security oil reserves to sell to China and supplement dwindling domestic supplies to artificially affect rising fuel prices, while claiming they are not doing any of that and assuring us that our “lying eyes” deceive our sense of insecure borders while observing masses of invaders crossing over into the land. Some citizens seem intent upon destroying everything others embrace and rely upon.
Inflation has not even really started good yet ,, OPEC ,, kicked it off though after the midterms gas will jump to 5 a gal. or more all over the country ,, people wont be able to heat there homes or even buy food because of fuel cost ,,, the socialist democrat plan is working great ,,killing our free nation and its people ,, ONE RULE ,,
As AMAC said– the Democrat plan–“RULE OR RUIN”–Is anybody surprised?
Inflation is but one of many means to an end the Commie/Globalist traitors are DELIBERATELY implementing, to change the very fabric of our nation…and if the traitor’s succeed in destroying our Constitutional Republic, which is the goal, for their preferred “boots on our necks/you will own nothing and like it/sit down and shut-up” (or it’s the gulag, or worse, for you) totalitarian tyranny, inflation won’t be the worst. Elections have consequences, stolen elections and the installation of a fraud puppet heading corrupted, weaponized departments, a corrupted Congress chock full of traitors, activist judges and LEOs, and a complicit corrupted Commie/Globalist owned/run MSM…is a recipe for hell on earth for Americans. Look no further than previously prosperous and free Venezuelans for a peek into our future if these expletive-ing expletive traitors aren’t stopped.
If the Constitution hating Democrats maintain control, this will be the end of America as we know it, they will stack the Supreme Court, which is all they need to do.
What’s at Stake? They would make voting open to all regardless of a person’s legal statis, they would rule that Religion must be keep to the confined to an approved Church, permit to Assemble for a rally, and anyone Speaking at the rally, must first obtain a license, and submit the content of the Speech, the 2nd Amendment will be ruled as only applying to the Military and the Police (the Gestapo or Brown Shirts). The rest of the Bill of Rights will be nothing but words on paper with no legal standing.
Unless we get a veto proof Congress, we are in the final days of our Republic, we have no one fighting for our Constitutional values at least not enough in Congress, one world Government is up on us.
You think my thoughts are extreme, are you willing to find out?
Inflation is bad & a few on this board will remember the higher inflation/interest rates in 1970s & early 1980s (interest to buy home was about 17%). And at that time, hourly wages did not go up very much buy companies went to COLA on paychecks. This time, the interest rates are very low at start of this inflation cycle & Feds have a much tighter schedule to raise rates to curb inflation —– and that is what stopped the previous mentioned cycles. One difference this time around is that the Fed Debt is at $31 Trillion & went up 12-straight years under Trump/Obama terms & in my opinion means these two POTUS do not understand economics & the spending of money we do not have. Also, must mention that inflation is bad in many other countries at this time. And in my opinion, inflation in USA would definitely be lower if Biden would stop his Democrat party War on Energy. Lastly, during Obama/Trump/Biden the middle class is getting hurt the worst & moving many down to the poor level. And in meantime, look at the increased worth of the top 10% rich in USA and you will note that most of them have more than they had in 2016 & ask why?
Note that Saudi Arabia & Russia joined OPEC alliance yesterday to decrease oil production to get oil price higher. Come on Man, support USA energy & not foreign. What are you going to do when you have empty Oil Reserve?
Yea, $5.00 dollar gas is excrutiating but the greater insult is the Demwit in the White House telling us that we are not in a recession when 80 % of the US knows that a recession is 2 successive
quarters of declining GNP. You are either pregnant or you’re not.
We need to think..think about who is able to handle a crisis when we vote. AND think about who will not CAUSE a crisis. We gave the last election to someone who can’t handle either. The question is what have we learned. The ONLY test is on election day. All we do here is talk which
means nothing.
Heard a great phrase tonight which was ” Black Lives Matter but Black Votes Matter More”
That sums it up for me.
Ganky: $10 per gallon gas ? I wish that I believed that we would do something about it but, sadly, we won’t. We are a passive citizenry and the dims know they can control us. We are a nation of words ( like these which mean nothing) and no action. We are a nation finally of no
testosterone.
Does anyone proofread these articles? It does not help our cause to put out unreadable, sloppy garbage. Reading this piece made me feel like I was having a conversation with a teenager. Come on AMAC, you can do better.
Democrats are usually the bottom feeders that rely on Government for their very existence. They are the only ones responsible for our oil prices, canceling oil leases, drilling, and the pipeline. Democrats and their reckless policies of buying votes with hand outs. Vote them out of office, every single one.
END THE FEDERAL RESERVE!