Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Quick Hits: Volume CCCXXXI

 - If you're wondering like I am how the Joe Biden reelection campaign is going spin the dismal results of "Bidenomics," here's your answer: straight up gaslighting. 





While Biden gaslights, Bloomberg News crunches the numbers.  


After years of inflation, US consumers are shouldering a burden unlike anything seen in decades — even as the pace of price increases has slowed.

It now requires $119.27 to buy the same goods and services a family could afford with $100 before the pandemic. Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.

It’s hard to find an area of a household budget that’s been spared: Groceries are up 25 percent since January 2020. Same with electricity. Used-car prices have climbed 35 percent, auto insurance 33% and rents roughly 20 percent.

Those figures help explain why Americans continue to register strong dissatisfaction with the economy: Consumers’ daily routines have largely returned to their pre-pandemic normal, but the cost of living has not.

And the government data reports that show easing inflation are cold comfort, because they simply indicate prices are growing at a slower pace, not that they are returning to early 2020 levels.

At the same time, housing affordability is at its worst on record, auto-loan rates have soared, and borrowing with a credit card has never been so expensive.

Many Americans have seen their pay rise rapidly since 2020, but much of those gains have been gobbled up by inflation. Some of the fastest wage increases in decades have left the average American largely no better off than before.


The Biden camp will also rely on willing accomplices in the media (specifically the Washington Post) to suggest that Americans suffering from sticker shock on prices of everyday items are being fed misinformation by conservative media outlets. In essence, these media outlets are basically asking struggling Americans “Who are you going to believe, me, or your lying eyes?”


Heckuva strategy. 



- It appears something was left out of this quote. 

 




Yes, President Reagan technically uttered those words. But context matters. 


 



A Secretary of Education mangling context in order to fit a narrative. I'm hard pressed to think of a better metaphor for today's education system. 



- I finally took the time to view The Fall of Minneapolis, a documentary discussing the ripple effects of the Memorial Day 2020 death of George Floyd after being in police custody. 


If you have a couple spare hours, I highly recommend checking it out ( click this link ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFPi3EigjFA ). 


I won't spoil it for you, so I'll just state this: it was clear the outcome of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial decided literally before the first word of testimony was uttered. Also, the media engaged in blatant "sins of omission" when it came to reporting on the entire saga leading up to Chavin's knee being planted on Floyd's back. 


Democracy dies in darkness indeed. 


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