Posted on 06/11/2024 7:56:51 AM PDT by Red Badger
Millions of Americans are struggling to afford necessities like food, rent, insurance, and a car payment. But if you’re one of them, don’t expect any understanding from the White House and its sycophants in the media. They say your financial pain is all in your head.
As an MSNBC host put it, Americans need “an economic explainer,” since “people are confused” about their financial situation. They’re actually “doing quite well,” she laughably asserted.
That will surprise the half of Americans who are struggling to make their rent or mortgage payments on time, especially the one-fifth of renters who are skipping meals to stay current, or the 65% of Americans who say their finances have deteriorated over the last year because of inflation.
Similarly, when President Joe Biden was told by an interviewer that food prices are up 30% in four years, he blithely dismissed it. American families, he claimed, “have more money to spend.”
But that’s simply not true, and the Biden administration’s own data prove it. The average American worker’s weekly paycheck has risen about 14% under Biden, which is less than the 20% general inflation rate and even less than the 30% inflation rate for food, which is what Biden was asked about.
But the falsehoods don’t stop there. Both the president and his lead economic adviser, Jared Bernstein, have fallaciously claimed in multiple interviews that inflation was 9% when Biden took office. Again, the administration’s own data disprove this talking point.
Inflation was only 1.4% at Biden’s inauguration. When confronted with this fact, Bernstein retorted with another lie: that inflation, excluding food and energy prices, was at 9% in the second quarter of 2021.
Again, the Biden administration’s own data disproves this. The inflation Berstein referenced, “core” inflation, was 3.7% at that time. Furthermore, Biden didn’t take office in the second quarter of 2021, but in the start of the first quarter. At that time, even the core inflation rate that Bernstein referenced was 1.4%—the same as the overall inflation rate.
Not to be dissuaded by the facts, Bernstein then pivoted to excusing the inflation rate entirely, claiming people are better off because their earnings are now rising faster than prices. Apparently, Bernstein is completely unfamiliar with any statistics produced by his colleagues. In April—the most recent data available—prices rose faster than the average weekly paycheck.
What that weekly paycheck can actually buy has fallen 4.4% since Biden took office, costing the typical American family thousands of dollars annually in lost purchasing power. Add in the additional borrowing costs from today’s higher interest rates, and that is thousands more in financial pain.
The combined effect has been the equivalent of reducing the typical American family’s annual income by $8,100.
But it seems no figures or statistics can change the mind of the political elites when it comes to inflation and how much Americans are hurting today. Never mind that the price of common foodstuffs like eggs, bread, and peanut butter has risen 35% under Biden—the pain is all in your head.
The Biden administration’s and its media lapdogs’ dismissive attitude to the financial plight of the American people adds insult to injury. Nothing is more elitist than telling working-class folks that their problems are imaginary.
American families have soured on Bidenomics not because of rhetoric, but because of reality. The spendthrift policies of this administration and its congressional allies have created a cost-of-living crisis, which is why millions of Americans are demanding a change in direction.
Much like the average weekly paycheck, you might say the president’s poll numbers have been adjusted down for inflation.
Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation
Jared Bernstein is a blithering idiot who can’t even explain what money is. He is the poster child for a sinecure. He is a leach that lives off the taxpayer and does nothing of value. He has no training or background as an economist or anything close to it. He has a degree in music and some kind of social work. He is just another one of the democrat know nothings who are driving us into failure and ruin.
bttt
Then they can be responsible for my distinctly NON-imaginary bills, the f’ing liars!
I am one of four brothers. Me and my two older brothers laughed when our younger brother took a job straight out of college with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. A division of the Justice Department.
Our younger brother is now retired with a government pension.
He retired at the age of 55. His wife also worked for the same prison. She retired at 49.
So who is laughing now?
50# bag of dog foo=== now 46# An 8% reduction.
Former Price==$23.00 Current Price== $28.00
INCREASE===32.3%
DOG IS MY SECURITY—& COMPANION.
DO THE MATH
JOE BIDEN & ADMINISTRATION ARE LYING
A chicken farm operation (IIRC in ILLINOIS) just went up in flames.
Over 1 million birds & ALL BUILDINGS destroyed.
Fire departments from 6-7 local area fought fire.
Not clear if laying hens or broiler chickens.
IMO-—IT WAS SABOTAGE & DELIBERATE.
Googled the story-—between 20 & 30 different fire departments around Marion, Ill, have been working that fire. Bringing water from miles away.
Didn’t say whether laying hens or broiler hens.
demand 10% of every transaction you make paid back to you.
Well, I would say that, now, they're roaster hens ...
“IMO-—IT WAS SABOTAGE & DELIBERATE.”
This has been going on for two or three years now. Totally deliberate.
There be fools in the population, same ones that vote for Democrats. My wife's sister in Hawaii wants to fly to California with her husband to celebrate birthdays with us (both women have birthdays a week apart). They are broke, hardly any money to their name, and have to keep working in their senior years (late 60's). So they told us that they purchased baseball game tickets in a prime spot behind the home plate area for a Giants game.
I don't get the mentality of spending hundreds of dollars when you're broke. My wife and I are well off but avoid expensive entertainment, preferring low-cost things. And we're perfectly happy with it. Their daughter lives paycheck to paycheck but rents Mercedes convertible sports cars when she visits. She picked up her dad at the airport but could barely get his luggage into the 2-seater car. Why are Democrats so dumb?
I checked mine. It’s pretty empty……as usual.
By the way, I despise Joe Biden. 🤬🤬🤬🤬
First of all, I guess the Biden administration has little or no clue as to what constitutes a typical family budget. They need a wakeup call on this. Not sure what would be the best way to accomplish this, since they are the ones with the most control over the purse strings. Someone with the knowhow needs to sit down with one of their “economists” who thinks everyone is doing well & show them the actual average figures for a family of low means. This shouldn’t be that hard to do. Plenty of families would probably be glad to show how they are actually living in their particular situation.
I shop at a “discount grocer” & buy about as little as possible. I can only imagine what my bill would be at a Safeway for instance.
Last week, a guy I know talked about laying out 150-175 for a dinner out with 3 grown children. Five people in all.
Thank you for sharing that. I need to be better about not wasting money. I’ve invested in so much in real estate that I have no liquidity, so suddenly it’s like I’m 25 again and “broke”. It really opens my eyes to how wasteful I’ve been in the last six years! A few of my closest friends grew up with wealthy parents and they still carry the delusion, at age 50+, that they still are in that lifestyle... MY WIFE (cough, cough... Ahem...) Anyway, keep up your good discipline!
Ha ha! Exactly! I felt pretty ignorant, cuz I only really pay the utilities. Conversely, my wife is ignorant about THAT huge increase. I’m always nagging the poor girl about not running the dishwasher and laundry during peak hours. All of my money is tied up in business, so it’s tight, and I’m learning better empathy for others out there.
You're doing great, if you invested in real estate. You have assets. My wife's sister and her husband had a house in Fairfield, CA but sold it and wasted the money. Later, they bought another house (at higher prices) but again sold it soon after and wasted the money. They repeated that in Denver Colorado. Again, sold it within a few years and moved to Hawaii for job purposes but rented. They're wasteful with money, and have nothing to pass on to their 2 adult daughters who are struggling with expenses. Now they pre-purchased 4 expensive ball game tickets for them and us to attend a game when they visit a couple months from now. What a waste.
We own several properties, are debt free and have liquidity, built up over decades of work. We started out with nothing, both from poor parents, same as wife's sister. Life is all about choices we make. Our choice is to live within our means and prepare for our old age (we're there now). Our adult kids are doing likewise. They have careers, homes, children; unlike their cousins who have nothing and are struggling in their 40's. I remember a quote from the Travolta movie "Saturday Night Fever" where Travolta says to his boss "F... the future!", and the boss says "No, the future F...s you!". That quote has served us well.
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