Shortages, Rampant Inflation Threaten Christmas

Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Democrats in Congress are scrambling, concerned about the political fallout skyrocketing inflation and empty store shelves will have on the midterm elections. Brought on by reckless spending and bad economic policy, the crises threaten to ruin Christmas for American families.

Politico: The supply-chain mess risks creating new economic and political turbulence for Biden in the coming months. Empty store shelves could undermine the administration’s economic recovery plans and weigh on consumer confidence. And memories of a disappointing Christmas could linger into 2022, with supply-chain problems expected to last much longer than many officials and economists expected just a few months ago.

Rising prices in every category from food to transportation and energy prices to furniture threaten the economic recovery and financial security of working families. Still, Democrats plan to push inflation even higher by ramming through Congress a reckless, multi-trillion dollar tax and spending spree.

Where are Americans seeing inflation?

A lot of places:
Rental cars +43% over last Sept
Gas 42%
Used cars 24%
Bacon 19%
Hotels 18%
Beef 18%
Pork 13%
Eggs 13%
TVs 13%
Kids' shoes 12%
Furniture 11%
New cars 9%
Chicken 8%
Apples 8%
Restaurant prices: 5%
Electricity 5%
Rent 2.9%

— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) October 13, 2021

Wall Street Journal: Consumer-price inflation in the U.S. rose 0.4% on the month in September and was 5.4% higher than a year earlier, data Wednesday showed, as shortages of goods and labor drove up prices for groceries, new vehicles and furniture. Rising energy prices world-wide pushed up the price of gasoline and heating fuels. The IMF said this week that accelerating inflation represents a risk to the global recovery and urged central banks to be alert to the risk that price pressures prove more persistent than they currently expect.

The bad economic news has economists on edge, concerned that the country might enter a drawn-out period of “stagflation.” Republicans are calling on Democrats to end the “fiscal insanity” and to help the GOP put the country back on track.

New York Times: Many are looking to history to try to make sense of it, which is why Wall Street is chattering about the chances of a return of an economic specter from the 1970s: the toxic mix of sluggish economic growth and high inflation that came to be known as stagflation. . . The level of attention on stagflation is soaring. Last week, the volume of articles mentioning the term “stagflation” published by the financial news service Bloomberg hit a record, the company reported.

Bottom Line: Rising prices and supply shortages brought on by the Biden-Harris administration’s incompetence and failed economic policies are hurting working families.