These figures are directly from the BLS website. These are the annual price increases of things most Americans need to purchase on a regular basis. I know most of them affect me every day. My weekly grocery bill is much higher than it was one year ago, and we don’t buy nearly as much steak or beef as we did last year.
The price of oil and gas has certainly declined by the 30% or so in the BLS figures, but it doesn’t come close to covering the price increase in food and other living expenses. The BLS declares we are experiencing deflation and our wages are expanding in real terms. It’s a bold faced lie. The other items declining in price are mostly discretionary items which might be purchased every few years. Furniture, appliances, computers and TVs are falling in price. I didn’t buy any of those items in the last year, so the lower prices had ZERO impact on me.
Apparel falls in price, but is made so cheaply in Chinese slave labor camps, you only get half the use out of it before you have to replace it. I’m guessing the BLS hasn’t factored that into their little calculation.
And now for the BIGGEST LIE in the entire report. The have the balls to tell you that health insurance only makes up 0.753% of your entire annual budget and it has FALLEN by 0.5% in the last year. This must be some cruel Obamacare joke perpetrated by these government apparatchiks. I haven’t met anyone who has seen their health insurance costs go down in the last year. My premiums went up by 20% and my annual family deductible went from $0 to $2,000. How the BLS can get away with issuing this drivel is beyond my comprehension. It’s pure and utter bullshit.
I wonder if the sheep actually believe what the government peddles. Does anyone with two brain cells think their daily living expenses are declining? Do they really think their wages are going a lot farther? Evidently not, because they have stopped spending money.
I can’t think of anything I pay for that has gone down in price, to compensate for the things that have gone up in price - to net a zero increase.
House and car insurance goes up every year, this year being no exception. Food - I get sticker shock every time I go shopping now. Toiletries, clothes, cleaning products - up also.
Yet, I can get only 1% on my savings accounts and my best ‘investment’ is a credit card that pays back 2%.
But sure, I’ll quit using the brain cells God gave me and believe Big Government!
“And now for the BIGGEST LIE in the entire report. The have the balls to tell you that health insurance only makes up 0.753% of your entire annual budget and it has FALLEN by 0.5% in the last year. “
My healthcare costs, which include insurance premiums and the out of pocket expenses I pay until I meet the deductible, have doubled in the last two years while the range of services covered has decreased. Last year I spent 20% of my gross income on medical expenses as I am self employed, buy insurance in the market, and receive no federal subsidy. Looking at my bills cost of an office visit to my physicians in the first quarter of 2016 has been about 11% higher than last year. Drug costs are up about 10%.
20% for healthcare, another 35% for state, local and federal taxes. The gasoline cost reduction has been nice but gasoline comprises 5% of my budget so a 30% reduction in the price of gasoline results in only a 1.5% savings in my family’s total budget. Given food price escalation, I don’t notice the gasoline savings. In fact, the gasoline savings has been more than offset by the increase in my electric bill due to Administration policies resulting in my electric company shutting down coal fired plants.
The GOP could make issue of the government statistics lies. They could demand a return to real numbers, not the fake numbers we get today where the market basket consumers buy is changed to reflect what the government says are consumers switching from steak to hamburger to remain noodles over time in response to price changes. Yes, we rarely eat steak today in response to the high price but to claim there has been no inflation because I’ve replaced $5.00 per pound steak with $5.00 per pound hamburger in response to $10.00 steak prices gives a false picture of inflation (as intended).
Why won’t the GOP use this very real pocketbook issue to its advantage?
They will how up on this thread. I haven't read replies yet but they will be here. maybe there will also be a snarky comment about John Williams.