Government CPI numbers are a hoax as long as they don't include food and energy.
The government doesn't include either because they are "too volitile".
Isn't price volatility what the CPI purports to measure?
Items like LED TVs might be down in price but people might buy one every five years or so.
We buy food, fuel and electric every day.
Every type of meat is sky high - most double or more.
Gasoline is still almost $3.00 a gallon.
In the weeks before Obama was first elected I bought it for $1.50 to $1.59.
Electricity is constantly going up and that is an intentional increase by the administration.
Obama said he would shut down coal mines and coal generation and he has done just that, driving prices up and up.
But that doesn't show on the CPI either.
That's what lots of folks say --I've even heard Rush Limbaugh say that on the air. fwiw, this is from the bls.gov site
Has the BLS removed food or energy prices in its official measure of inflation?
No. The BLS publishes thousands of CPI indexes each month, including the headline All Items CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the CPI-U for All Items Less Food and Energy. The latter series, widely referred to as the "core" CPI, is closely watched by many economic analysts and policymakers under the belief that food and energy prices are volatile and are subject to price shocks that cannot be damped through monetary policy. However, all consumer goods and services, including food and energy, are represented in the headline CPI.
Most importantly, none of the prominent legislated uses of the CPI excludes food and energy. Social security and federal retirement benefits are updated each year for inflation by the All Items CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Individual income tax parameters and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) returns are based on the All Items CPI-U.