America Faces No Greater Threat Than Joe Biden and the Democrat Party. Their Assault to Our Borders Is As Great As Their Assault to Free Speech and Free Elections
Friday, June 10, 2022
BIDENOMICS - JOE BIDEN SHREDS THE ECONOMY LIKE HE DID AMERICA'S BORDERS AND HOMELAND SECURUTY - he Case for Economic Optimism Is Over
20 Facts That Prove That America’s Current Financial Condition Is A Horror Show
Get ready for a shock. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Just about every month since December, we’ve heard the same thing: Inflation was getting worse, but it’s probably topped out, and relief was on the way. Last month, it looked like the predictions might have finally started to come true, as gas prices moderated and the supply-chain problems started to ease up. But today, the Labor Department released its May consumer price index, and it’s ugly. Very ugly. Prices, on average, rose 8.6 percent, the highest annual increase during the Biden-era price surge and the most since December 1981. The report has effectively shattered the cautious optimism that the economy could actually turn in any meaningful way anytime soon. The rest of the year looks bad for the American consumer, and the reality is that there is very little anyone can do about it.
Oil, at 15-year highs, is the biggest culprit. The price of all kinds of fuel oil has more than doubled over the past year, the largest increase since the federal government started measuring prices in 1935. Not that it’s a surprise to anyone who has passed by a gas-station sign anytime in the past year: The AAA states that the average gas price is about $5 a gallon, and it has reached as high as $8 in California (where it was about $3 at this time last year). May was a particularly bad month in this respect, with the cost of a gallon of gas rising 16 percent from April. An economist might note that the price of gas tends to get more attention than it merits in our public conversation: It’s something that people complain about loudly, even though it makes up a very small amount of most households’ total spending — some 3 or 4 percent. But even that little bit — and the psychological costs of filling up a tank — have broader effects on the economy. “Oil is a demand destroyer,” Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management, told me. Which is to say, as gas prices go up, people get more tightfisted about other forms of spending.
But since pretty much everything we do or buy involves the use of oil at some level, the cost of filling up one’s car is really only the most direct way of looking at how rising energy costs are making life more expensive. Airline tickets — which the Labor Department considers part of its non-gas- or non-food-related items, even though they reflect the price of gas priced on futures markets — rose by nearly 38 percent last year. The cost of food has been rising, in part, because fertilizers, many of which are made with petroleum by-products, are more expensive than ever. Food has to get delivered to grocery stores and restaurants — and the increased diesel bills for truckers ultimately get passed along to the customer.
There are all kinds of reasons for this, from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the lack of oil-refining capacity in the U.S. to booming demand. The measures attempted so far to improve the situation, like gas tax holidays and a small increase in international production, haven’t made a dent. The Federal Reserve, which is hiking interest rates at the fastest pace since the 1980s, can’t do a thing about getting oil out of the ground. Wall Street has gotten the message that this is likely to be the reality for some time. ExxonMobil’s stock is up 61 percent this year, as is every other major fossil-fuel company out there. Goldman Sachs sees a barrel of oil rising to $140 a barrel this summer, about $20 more than where it’s trading now.
In theory, inflation is the Federal Reserve’s problem to solve. But these new numbers show just how ineffective the Fed, which has pivoted to an aggressive stance and started hiking interest rates, has been so far in the face of today’s particular inflationary pressures. When the Fed raises rates, that ought to translate to reduced demand for housing and cars and other things that require borrowing — but to date, Jerome Powell & Co. haven’t made much of a dent, even in those areas. The monthly cost of shelter, which includes equivalent rent, actually rose in May. The problem with housing is the national shortage of supply, and it’s not like the central bank has the tool to make people build more homes. In Manhattan, the average monthly price of shelter rose to a new insane high of $4,000 a month. And because of the statistical quirk in how the Labor Department measures rent, the problem is probably far worse than today’s numbers suggest:
The worry here is that the inflationary mode of this economy is not going away. “Inflation keeps climbing and it’s becoming more entrenched,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance, said in a statement. The report gives the Fed more of a reason to keep hiking its interest rates aggressively, even though the consequences of that may be less and less effective and only lead to greater joblessness, which we’re already starting to see. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said she doesn’t think the U.S. is heading toward a recession. Whether she’s right is anyone’s guess, but for most people, the economy is going to feel worse for a long time.
VIDEO
Ralph Nader: Biden's First Year Proves He Is Still a "Corporate Socialist" Beholden to Big Business
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) warned Tuesday that without a major course correction, the Democrat Party will get demolished in November, blaming “two corporate Democrats” in the Senate for obstructing President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
With November looming in the distance and majorities in the House and Senate at stake, Sanders has sent a dire warning to Democrat lawmakers. “You really can’t win an election with a bumper sticker that says: ‘Well, we can’t do much, but the other side is worse,'” the far-left Vermonter said to Politico.
“The Republicans stand an excellent chance of gaining control of the House and quite possibly the Senate,” Sanders added. The far-left senator predicted that Republicans are “gonna march to victory based on those [economic] issues,” despite his misgivings about the GOP’s pro-life stance. “I think that that is not correct,” Sanders said.
President Joe Biden has been polling at low numbers with few accomplishments to boast of. Meanwhile, some House Democrats have been trying to ride his coattails to victory in their reelection campaigns but are ultimately starting to appear quite vulnerable.
However, rather than ascribe the party’s poor electoral prospects to Biden’s performance, Sanders blamed two Senate Democrats, Joe Manchin (VW) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ).
“Two corporate Democrats, Sens. Manchin and Sen. Sinema, sabotaged [Build Back Better]. And it has been downhill ever since for the Democratic Party,” Sanders said.
“Say to the American people: ‘Look, we don’t have the votes to do it right now. We have two corporate Democrats who are not going to be with us,'” he said of the two Democrats who have often declined to vote with their party on radical partisan ideas.
“The leadership has got to go out and say we don’t have the votes to pass anything significant right now. Sorry. You got 48 votes. And we need more to pass it. That should be the message of this campaign,” Sanders said.
While Sinema did not comment on the story, Manchin hit back when asked to respond to Sanders’ attack. He told Politico in a statement, “I have never berated Sen. Sanders for his socialist views. It is a shame he refuses to accept the more moderate views I share with my constituents.”
A plurality of Americans say economic issues will be the top set of problems on their minds when they cast their votes in the upcoming midterm elections, a Politico/Morning Consult poll released this week found.
“Now, thinking about your vote, what would you say is the top set of issues on your mind when you cast your vote for federal offices such as U.S. Senate or Congress?” the survey asked.
A plurality, 42 percent, said economic issues — including taxes, wages, jobs, unemployment, and spending — top the list. No other issue came close, as security issues — terrorism, foreign policy, and border security — came in a distant second with 12 percent.
Women’s issues, including birth control, abortion, and “equal pay,” came closely behind with ten percent identifying it as a top issue. Other topics, such as seniors’ issues, health care, education, and energy, garnered single-digit support.
The survey also found that nearly three-quarters, 73 percent, are at least somewhat enthusiastic to vote in the midterms, and of those, 29 percent are “extremely” enthusiastic.
The survey was taken June 4-5, 2022, among 2,006 registered voters and has a margin of error of +/- 2 percent. It comes as the Biden administration continues to face a series of domestic issues, such as rampant inflation and continually record-breaking gas prices.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Senate Finance Committee this week that she expects inflation to remain high.
“I do expect inflation to remain high, although I very much hope that it will be coming down now,” the Biden administration official said. “I think that bringing inflation down should be our number one priority.”
She also did little to assuage concerns over ever-rising gas prices, telling lawmakers that the Biden administration has exhausted all efforts to reduce energy costs.
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