How Inflation Is Squeezing Working American Families at Christmas

BROWNSVILLE, Pennsylvania -- Just before 10 a.m., cars begin pulling into the parking lot of the Country Thrift Market, a sprawling former grocery store 40 miles from Pittsburgh.

Normally, folks in the area shop for gently used clothing, toys and deeply discounted home goods here. But today is different because Santa Claus is on site along with free cookies, provisions, frozen turkeys and hundreds of brand-new winter coats in every child's size.

Most of the cars and trucks that pull in have seen better days, but the children inside them look excited, seemingly unaware they are in need of charity.

The families at this event never stopped working during the pandemic, said Justin McAtee, the director of marketing at Food Helpers, a nonprofit organization behind the drive.

"They are too proud to take money from the government and stay home and do nothing, yet also find themselves unable to provide for their families properly because of the rising costs."

"Few in society or government sees their need, because they have jobs," added McAtee, whose organization surveys the people it helps. "The families that are here are essentially invisible."

Working Americans have had trouble this year affording basic needs amid the nation's soaring inflation rate. A staggering 6.8% surge in consumer costs -- the highest increase in four decades -- has meant necessities like food and gas have become unaffordable for many, especially middle- and low-income households whose salaries haven't kept up with inflation.

While the media usually focuses on folks quitting their jobs in the "Great Resignation," the people at this event often work more than one job only to be crushed by rising costs, McAtee said.

"Say you are a working mom and dad and both are paid $9.50 an hour. If both of them just get a 50-cent-an-hour raise, they not only lose their ability to get assistance for food, that family is now not eligible for rental, utility or child care assistance. So on that very small increase in income, they have now found themselves in a real economic dilemma," he said.

"These situations are the vast majority of the families that we serve -- working families who are facing both a loss of assistance as well as the impact of rising costs."

Since last year, data from the U.S. Labor Department shows the price of gas has gone up a whopping 58 percentage points, utilities 25%, bacon 21%, chicken 9%, and eggs, coffee, apples, flour and milk around 6% to 8%. All of those items are just basic necessities.

Want to buy your kid a bike for Christmas? That's up over 9 percentage points. Want a used car to replace that old banger you're driving? Good luck, because that's gone up a mind-blowing 31 percentage points.

The suffering of America's working families often goes unseen because they don't fit into government data points on poverty. But make no mistake, you encounter them every day, toiling in industries like service, manufacturing, delivery and healthcare -- jobs that make our lives better by making sure we get what we need.

McAtee said an estimated 20,600 individuals are considered "food insecure" in Greater Washington County, where Brownsville is located, and "46% of that population or about 9,600 individuals may not be eligible for state and federal food assistance programs.

"Those numbers were pre-COVID. They have only increased with the pandemic and even more so with inflation," said McAtee, referring to stats from Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the nation.

Cherise Sandrock, Food Helpers' director of development, helps send boxes of goods to the "food deserts" in remote parts of the county. Currently, the organization distributes provisions once a week, but by January that will increase to nearly every day, Sandrock said.

"Simply put, when inflation increases food insecurity increases," McAtee explained.

Almost none of the families at the event would give their names or comment, such is the stigma of being in a needy position. One family -- the Speichers -- came from 40 miles away for the coat drive. The mom wouldn't give her first name, but said she was happy her two young daughters got to talk to the real St. Nick and eat a few Christmas cookies.

"To get a little extra help, especially around the holidays, just makes it even more special," she said. "We are forever grateful for such a great organization to help us in need."

We effectively already have a wealth tax. By printing up money they tax everybody's currency. Think you can escape by converting that into real assets? Capital gain taxes will steal that the moment you try and sell any of your newly inflated assets. It's a giant theft racket and the wealth goes to whoever makes the rules or panders to the rulers.

Now we cannot even vote out the thieves because they steal that as well. History plays this game over and over again . It is sad this time because we are so close to automation actually ushering in a new age of prosperity and the usual thieves are keeping us from getting there.

It is sad this time because we are so close to automation actually ushering in a new age of prosperity and the usual thieves are keeping us from getting there.

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Indeed. Technological innovation is deflationary. Deflation is touted as “bad”, when in reality it means the dollars one earns become *more* valuable over time as they’re able to buy more goods, not less. But Keynesian economics is debt based, and a debt based economy loves inflation as it makes holding debt cheaper.

The problem is it eventually drives the central banks toward zero interest rates over time. Once you reach that, then what? There then are the lunatic proposals to then confiscate money from savings; negative rates. Yeah, that’ll work well long term.

In my area it’s not so much “inflation” as it is empty shelves. I’ve never seen so many “thin” shelves in my local grocery store.

When I was a kid, one of my jobs was to “front” the shelves—meaning to pull the stock from deep in the shelves to the front. I see it all the time now—except there is little stock behind the “front” rows.

Try buying a car.

And if you wreck your current one try getting it repaired in a reasonable amount of time.

...There then are the lunatic proposals to then confiscate money from savings;

That is exactly what the Inflation tax does. The beauty of the tax is it takes up to 2 years before the currency reaches equilibrium so the Junta can make up all kinds of excuses for why your money has become worthless.

Since Google is now the unofficial mouthpiece of the Ministry of Truth and Google denies the printing press explanation for inflation that is a sign that we are going to see a lot more of inflation in the future.

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