AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
Are you ready for more pain? Inflation surged in January, with core CPI rising by 0.5% and meeting economist expectations of a rise. That came after President Joe Biden bragged in his recent State of the Union address that his administration had essentially beaten inflation.
"We have more to do, but here at home, inflation is coming down.
"Here at home, gas prices are down $1.50 a gallon since their peak.
"Food inflation is coming down.
"Inflation has fallen every month for the last six months while take home pay has gone up."
At the time it was a lie. Now, it’s an especially egregious one. The only reason year-over-year inflation is slowly trickling down is that inflation was so sky-high a year ago. Think of it this way. If something costs you $75 in 2021, was $100 in 2022, but cost $120 in 2023, that is still a backbreaking overall increase despite the year-over-year rate of inflation being “lower” than between the first two years.
The White House is playing fast and loose with terminology when it continues to claim they are bringing inflation down. Inflation is up, as evidenced by things like housing and food prices. Year-over-year comparisons no longer tell us anything because the prior year’s baselines were so astronomically high. The real horror show is revealed when you look at inflation compared to when Biden took office, which is over 15 percent.
In just two years, your paycheck(s) has become over 15 percent less valuable, and that’s assuming you don’t spend your money mostly on essentials like housing, food, and energy, the prices of which have outpaced topline inflation.
Lastly, just to further evidence the dishonest game being played, when year-over-year inflation was pushing almost 10 percent, administration officials used month-over-month data to brag about inflation actually being “zero.” Now, they are going the other way.
Nothing matters to these people, least of all your ability to afford a decent life.
