No crowing from the Bidenites about those 4th of July barbecue prices

As long as the Bidenites wanted to make 4th of July cookout prices a benchmark for things to be happy about on America's great holiday, how are those prices going now?

According to Catherine Salgado, writing on her Substack:

Thanks to Joe Biden, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Americans to celebrate the birthday of the United States on July 4 with a traditional barbecue or cookout. In fact, inflation in Biden's disastrous economy has caused the items for a Fourth of July cookout to reach a record high price.

But I guess considering that the Biden administration came to power through election fraud, and therefore by defying and undermining the republican system of government designed by our Founding Fathers, it makes sense that the administration wouldn't care about Americans' ability to celebrate Independence Day.

"[The Daily Wire, July 3] Average per-person spending on Fourth of July food items rose to $93.34 in 2023 amid persistent inflation, new data from a National Retail Federation (NRF) survey found.

The figure is the highest ever recorded by the NRF since the survey began in 2003, marking a $9.22 increase since last year when the individual cost averaged out to $84.12…While the average per-person cost of Fourth of July food items was just $68.16 in 2014, the sum has grown every year except 2019. The report comes as Americans continue to struggle with inflation, which hit a 40 year high in 2022."

...and for perspective, there's this, from the Daily Wire:

While the average per-person cost of Fourth of July food items was just $68.16 in 2014, the sum has grown every year except 2019. The report comes as Americans continue to struggle with inflation, which hit a 40 year high in 2022.

Joe Biden's a costly little toad for us, isn't he?

Wasn't that the same Biden administration that told us to relax and get happy when it claimed, in 2021, that 4th of July cookout prices went down a whopping 16 cents over the prior year?

It wasn't even correct, according to the Daily Wire, but oh, for those days compared to these, where the Bidenites are just hoping nobody brings it up.

These are monstrous hikes we are seeing today, and anyone who goes to the grocery to buy food knows all about it.  They aren't stabilizing, and nobody we know thinks they're going to stabilize, not at this point, and not so long as Joe Biden is in the saddle denying there are any problems.

The Biden administration, in fact, has been bragging about cutting the deficit and cutting spending, which are drivers of inflation, which is "always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon," as Milton Friedman put it.

Here's what Joe had to say about it on June 13:

Today's report is good news for hard working families. It shows continued progress tackling inflation at the same time that unemployment remains at historic lows. Annual inflation is now at the lowest level since March 2021, and less than half of what it was last June. After gas and grocery prices increased rapidly last year due to the war in Ukraine, inflation has fallen for 11 months in a row.

According to Forbes, which tried to put a good spin on it compared to last year:

The PCE price index is the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, and on the face of it, the data looked good. Headline PCE inflation rose 3.8% from a year earlier, which is the lowest figure in two years. Given the peak was at 7% a year ago, the rate has nearly halved in a year.

Core PCE inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose to 4.6% in May year-on-year, which is down marginally from April's 4.7% figure. It's proof that inflation remains sticky, given that the core PCE readings haven't moved much in seven months.

Household spending rose 0.1% in May, which was slightly lower than the 0.2% growth expected by analysts. However, prices are still rising in bubbles of the economy. Services spending rose by 0.4%, buoyed by the travel industry and healthcare among others. Goods spending came in at 0.5%, down from April's 0.9% figure, with spending on gas and vehicles plunging by 23% each.

In short, the headline PCE data is good news, but core inflation suggests stickiness. Are the results enough to persuade economists and the Fed that enough work is being done to tackle inflation? Well, that depends on the other data.

But that's nonsense.

A 3.8% hike comes on top of all the other hikes, which have yet to be wrung out of the system at all.

These hikes are still hikes on hikes, and across many products, they add up.

Fact is, prices shouldn't be rising at all, were the Biden administration serious about fiscal discipline — they should be easing down as the size of government is cut, but they are still rising, and government continues to expand.

They aren't saying anything now about it, and there's little wonder why.

That inflation is out of control still is the top concern of voters as 2024 approaches, and the Bidenites continue to be incompetent about controlling it.  That's the problem the Bidenites don't want you to know about, and so they try to gaslight you into thinking this is an "improvement."

It's not.

Now they're going quiet on us.

I'm running out of "I did that" stickers to leave behind when I see those hikes.

Image: Monica Showalter.

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