Nov 14 · 6 min read
Yes, oil and gas prices are up due to Putin and OPEC cutting production.
The next biggest rise is now seen in these two items: MOTEL ROOMS and RENTAL CARS.
How many Americans are going to use those two items regularly?
Food prices have risen, both seasonally and because we have had supply-chain issues.
Certain things have gone DOWN: airline fares, employee and school lunches, and mass transportation.
Phony, phony, phony hype. China’s rate is now over 13%…
The Federal Reserve can bring down inflation by raising interest rates and sparking a recession — a “pretty dangerous” move for an economy that still hasn’t recovered from the pandemic, said John Horn, an economics professor at the University of Washington St. Louis’ Olin Business School.
But if the cause for the current spike is indeed the combination of pandemic-changed spending habits and pandemic-hobbled supply chains, the key to dropping inflation rates is … ending the pandemic.
“This all highlights how dominant COVID still is as an economic force,” Bivens said.
The Senator from West Virginia continues to soil the area where he eats. Must be an animal.
An article in TPM online by Kate Riga with the title “Here Is Why All The Inflation Fear-mongering Over The Reconciliation Bill is Nonsense,” caught my attention.
I spent several hours on Friday while swearing at my computer listening to some conservative voices yapping on TV. I had no interest in turning around and looking, but I knew they were conservative by the way they ragged on Biden. Shame. Shame.
So, know I am going to return the favor and chew on Manchin again. There will be more to come, I assure you.
“A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that prices rose in October and are hovering at a notably high point has triggered a full-on Democratic panic attack over the fate of the reconciliation bill.
While those two things may seem unrelated — spoiler alert: they are — one-man binds them together: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).”
This is how she begins her article. Much like I do. Straightforward with no tricks.
He blew out a tweet that was the opposite of what I’d read … oh inflation is bad, and it will get “worse” he tweeted.
I think he is using Biden’s Build Back Better plan to blame the inflation on and explain his turncoat from the Democratic Party.
A quick glance at where inflation is coming from:
> Energy prices had sharp gains for the month and from a year ago
> Shelter is up as are vehicles new and used
> Consumer prices are up 0.9%
> Increases in June registered as the largest one-month increase since the 1% increase in June 2008.
> October’s increase matched June’s
> gas prices jumped 6.1% in October. Year-over-year prices are up 49.6%
> Energy prices advanced 30% in the past 12 months
> Food prices are up 5.3%
> Core Consumer prices had smaller gains matching those in April and June
> Clothing prices were unchanged but were still up 4.3 percent from a year ago
All figures are from the US Inflation Calculator
Example 1:
Let’s say you spent $20 to buy some goods or services today. How much money would you have needed in 1980 to buy the same amount of goods or services?
The average CPI for 1980 = 82.4
The average CPI for 2011 = 224.9
The following formula is then used to calculate the price:
2011 Price x (1980 CPI / 2011 CPI) = 1980 Price
Using the actual numbers:
$20.00 x (82.4 /224.9) = $7.33
Let’s dig a little deeper:
These graphs make more sense to me than 1,000 words. Note the category with the largest increase. Note the category with the lowest.
Which one does Joe represent? Who pays him a large sum of money each year?
This is Manchin’s income from OpenSecrets.org:
It is interesting to note that Trump won by 38 points in 2020.
“Since 2010, the American Gas Association’s PAC has donated $15,000 to Manchin according to the FEC. Exxon Mobil’s corporate PAC contributed $12,500 and the American Petroleum Institute $10,000.
PACs and individuals affiliated with FirstEnergy Corp are together one of Manchin’s biggest contributors and have given the senator $147,950 since 2009.
The American Chemistry Council, whose members include Shall and Exxon, spent $200,000 to support him in his 2018 campaign.”
The country’s largest labor organization, for miners in 2020, gave him $418,000 to support his re-election campaign in 2020.
If he runs again in 2024 his campaign has already arm-wrestled $638,000 through the end of September.
Since the World convened the air-quality convention, that just ended, they passed the most aggressive pledges ever. Will our homegrown energy giants noted above make dramatic moves to keep those resolutions from taking effect in the US?
In addition, he has also brought in tens of thousands in income from Farmington Resources, a mining company run by his son. Between 2011 and 2020, Manchin received between $80,000 and $250,000 from dividends and interest in the company.
FILI…FILI…FILIBUSTER
However, I believe that he causes the most damage to our republic but applies the same stranglehold to the filibuster issue. The Republicans continually use that tactic to stop Democratic laws from passing.
The argument I’ve heard is that the filibuster goes way back in history and is unassailable as part of the Senate’s rules. That is poppycock.
The filibuster came into being about the time that all the statues to Civil War generals were erected.
Originally a senator could filibuster or prevent legislation from coming up for a vote by reading from any material. The main rule was that he (no women senators at the time) had to stand, reading for the whole time. If he left the podium he would lose the filibuster, and the measure would come up for a vote.
The filibuster has been used to block civil rights legislation, gun control legislation.
At this time, if Manchin supported it, the Democrats could kill the filibuster.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”:
As we continue the “Good Fight” we have to keep our perspective. The Republicans continue their corruption unabated. More on that soon.
Thank you for stopping.
Craig
