One in five shoppers are skipping meals to save money thanks to Bidenflation
Brit Hume: Everyone feels inflation
'Special Report' panelists Brit Hume and Larry Kudlow discuss how the economy and border insecurity issues are motivating voters.
In a recent interview covering food prices in the Biden era, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen replied, "No" when asked whether she experienced "sticker shock" on her weekly trips to the grocery store. Apparently, the economic expert who told us the worst and most persistent inflation since the 1980s was "transitory" would now like American families to believe food costs really are not that bad, despite what they see in the grocery store every week. They should believe their eyes and ignore Yellen.
The American Farm Bureau's annual 4th of July market-basket survey for this year shows a 30% increase since 2019 in the costs for 4th of July cookout staples. No one who has been to a grocery store can ignore that. These are huge cost increases for families just getting by and already concerned about putting food on the table.
According to the Food Industry Association’s 2024 Food Prices & the Consumer report, 70% of shoppers are concerned with rising prices at grocery stores, with 39% "extremely concerned."
DEM VOTERS REACT FAVORABLY TO BIDEN'S ECONOMIC RECORD WHILE REPUBLICANS, INDEPENDENTS TREND OPPOSITE
The Advantage 2024 Shopper Outlook survey found that over half of shoppers "have reduced how much they buy, and one-third say they have changed where they shop for groceries to save money." Most troubling, "[t]wenty percent of shoppers surveyed say they are skipping meals to save money."
July 4th revelers might be the ones getting grilled this year thanks to Bidenflation. (iStock)
Obviously, you can't believe the treasury secretary either because she is very out of touch or because she is once again attempting to blur reality to support the Bidenomics narrative — no matter how disconnected that narrative is from reality.
Americans just want the truth. It could make a positive difference if Yellen said, "Yes we know prices are out of control because we have embarked on an unprecedented level of government spending that, as Larry Summers correctly predicted, ‘set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation.’ Sorry about that. So, now that we’ve learned our lesson, here's our plan to get it under control." Honesty could go a long way.
But she can't say that because the Biden administration has no realistic plan to get inflation under control — none. Despite inflationary pressures, the Biden administration’s spending continues like an uncapped fire hose. So, inflation remains — as the Fed chairman likes to say — "sticky," keeping interest rates high and making home purchases — or anything where you need a loan — unaffordable. And Biden continues to spend like a drunken sailor.
Actually, that's an insult to drunken sailors. I apologize.
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The Biden administration's deficit spending is now at the point where even the drunkest sailor would stop. Our national debt stands at about $35 trillion and is increasing by $1 trillion every three months. That is an astounding and economically suicidal number.
Our interest obligations are already set to exceed what we spend on national defense as we face off against our global adversaries on two fronts. Unless this stops, interest payments will engulf an ever increasing percentage of our federal resources.
The Advantage 2024 Shopper Outlook survey found that over half of shoppers "have reduced how much they buy, and one-third say they have changed where they shop for groceries to save money." Most troubling, "[t]wenty percent of shoppers surveyed say they are skipping meals to save money."
Just a few years ago, the libertarian Reason Magazine criticized former President Donald Trump claiming his "Nearly $1 Trillion Deficit Is Worse Than a Broken Promise." This year, the deficit under Biden and Yellen will exceed $2 trillion — and we are no longer in a pandemic that necessitates spending at or near this level.
Bidenomics spending is driving inflation, the economy and prosperity for American families over a financial cliff. Given how bad this is, you would be forgiven for believing either that no one with any sense is in charge or that our economy is in the hands of a group of extremists determined to undermine America’s economy and position in the world.
Despite Biden administration efforts to obfuscate reality, it is nonetheless hitting our nation’s July 4th holiday celebrations, BBQs and the dinner tables of American families. The question is whether Americans are going to continue putting up with this insanity.
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Andy Puzder was chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants for more than 16 years, following a career as an attorney. He is currently a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and a Senior Fellow at both the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and the America First Policy Institute. His next book, "A Tyranny for the Good of its Victims – The Ugly Truth About Stakeholder Capitalism" will come out early next year.
