Commenter Jane on the News Media Lying to the Public Commentary

I know that things cost more now.  Much of that has nothing to do with what the federal government does or does not do.  The government did not force suppliers to raise their profit percentages when their costs went up, that was just greed seizing an opportunity.  Much of the supply chain problem started overseas, with Covid.  Not even Trump’s fault.  

It certainly wasn’t the fault of Biden, Harris, or the Democrats in general that union workers have declined in the last 40 years.  It isn’t their fault that younger voters have never seen inflation, and have no idea how union contracts and COLA clauses protected a good portion of American wages from inflation.  Even the minimum wage was being increased fairly regularly way back then.  

I remember some 30 years ago when we first got our (then vacation) home in the rural area we have lived in since retirement.  Celebrating our first weekend, went to Vons (the only real big supermarket in town, still is) for steaks.  Saw a beautiful rib eye and reached for it.  Then I saw the price on the package and drew my hand back as if it were a rattlesnake.   Easily more than twice what I was used to paying down south in the suburb.  We went out to dinner instead.  The price of dinner out was only about 1/3 more than what was normal down below.  

When the grocery costs went up after Covid, everyone had those types of experiences buying the same foods they always did, if they could even find them.  Shrinkflation became a buzzword again, even if the kids thought it was new.  My electric bill has tripled.  Not the fault of the feds.  Can’t say the same about the PUC.  And even then, part of the extra costs the Edison company has are really needed.  

I look at my checking balance.  All our income goes into it.  All our bills come out of it.  Including a small amount of savings.   It still keeps going up, not down.  And when it gets too high some additional savings comes out.  We may well have changed the way we live.  I know we go out less.  Our old place lost so many servers that the service was terrible.   And the Mexican food from the food trucks is better than most of the restaurants in town, so that is more take-home.   But we still spend less than our income.  SS cola made up for the drop in 401k income.  And what we own is paid for, which means what we spend is 80% discretionary.  Someone paying for shelter and transportation with growing kids or kids in college is a very different case.  

And the people complaining most about inflation are still the ones who are better off.