Free Republic

Filling up your car in California is now costing you more than ever before as gas prices in are once again at record-highs. The record-breaking gas prices are coming just as we head into the busy holiday travel season. We have never seen prices so high at a time of year when typically prices start to go down. "It's ridiculous, I'm so over it. My car used to be $20 or $30 max and now it's like $40 or $50," a SoCal resident said.

California just hit a new all-time record high for the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline, and some local gas stations around SoCal are charging even more. At one gas station in the Mid Wilshire district, on Monday, a gallon of regular unleaded is $5.99, while a gallon of premium gas is $6.59. California's gas prices are higher, on average, than any other state: the national price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is $3.41. According to AAA, the statewide average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is $4.68 in California as of Monday.

Brian Sproule squinted against the sun on Monday as he examined the price board at a Chevron station in downtown Los Angeles, where a regular gallon of gas was $6.05. Sproule, 37, is a mobile notary who spends much of his time in his car. He said he’s used to spending about $40 to fill his tank, but by the time he capped off his Hyundai Elantra, the meter displayed a whopping $71.59. “This is absurd,” he said, shaking his head. Gas prices in California are soaring to record levels as the holiday season approaches, combining with supply chain problems...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation is starting to look like that unexpected — and unwanted — houseguest who just won’t leave.</p><p>For months, many economists had sounded a reassuring message that a spike in consumer prices, something that had been missing in action in the U.S. for a generation, wouldn’t stay long. It would prove “transitory,’’ in the soothing words of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and White House officials, as the economy shifted from virus-related chaos to something closer to normalcy.</p>

President Joe Biden has vowed to make reversing the country's rising inflation a 'top priority,' after the Consumer Price Index revealed inflation is at its highest level in 31 years. The president has blamed the 6.2 percent increase in the cost of living on 'market manipulation' and 'price gouging,' despite the nation's top economists pointing to the country's supply-chain shortages and businesses struggling to meet the demand from widespread coronavirus pandemic-related shutdowns as the reason for the rise in prices. Biden said in a statement on Wednesday his $1.2 trillion Build Back Better plan will help slow the growing inflation...