Properly Subversive/Sherman R. Frederick
With apologies to Art Linkletter (Google him, kids) President Joe Biden says the darndest things. Last week he said this with an absolute straight face:
“Like we were doing before I got elected president, inflation at the grocery store is, thank God, beginning to slow.”
Now, I know a lot of readers think Joe Biden hung the moon. Fine. But, is anyone buying this? Anyone?
First, you gotta love the way he prefaced that statement – “like we were doing before I got elected.” Was that an unconscious tip of the hat to Trump policies, or just another muddled piece of Biden-speak?
Who can tell? The point today isn’t to second guess the mysterious mind of our president (now 80, by the way), but to explore the veracity of what he’s trying to sell.
Will food prices go down in the third year of his presidency? All we can say for sure is that in his first two years, prices have soared. And, the president is on record as saying that he’s going to do nothing differently in the second two years of his presidency. So, let’s review the facts.
The Department of Agriculture says the average cost of eggs nationally this time last year was about $1.50. Eggs today cost $4.20.
From August 2021 to August 2022, food prices have risen 11.4% according to the most recent Consumer Price Index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly every food item is now more expensive. Bread, for example, was 16.2% more expensive in August than a year ago.
The president tells us we’ve reached the high-water mark.
What say ye, Marinscope readers?
You believe that?
Do you see signs of relief?
Tell you what, next time you’re in the store, snap a picture of these lower food prices and send it to me. I’ll see to it that Marin’s largest and favorite English-speaking newspaper prints them.
I’m standing by to chronicle these downward moving prices.
In case you missed it, when the president’s quote hit Twitter last week, people in that bizarre world razzed him mercilessly. Here are a few comments:
– I don’t know how much of Hunter’s crack is needed for him to say something like this but:
1 can of bottom tier coffee. 2 lbs of bananas. 1 case bottom tier water. 2 really crappy cuts of pork meat. 30 bucks. Thanks Mr. President.
– One dozen eggs cost $6.29 yesterday here in Cumming, GA.
– 18 eggs are $9 in Florida.
– Off brand prices are now the same price regular brands used to be. lol.
– I Know!! I am buying the crappy ketchup and mayo.
Skepticism is an occupational hazard of being in the news business, I suppose. So, color me skeptical. Hopeful, but skeptical.
ONE MORE THING
– Just so we’re clear. The Grinch never really hated Christmas. He hated people, which is fair.
– A friend from Morocco gave me a recipe for some delicious dinner rolls. The recipe calls for fresh thyme, but I only had the dried stuff and I’m pretty sure it is expired. But I used it anyway because, you never know, I may like that old thyme Moroccan roll.
– I asked the waitress for a quickie and she slapped me. The grandmotherly woman in the next booth said, “It’s pronounced ‘quiche,’ dear.”
That’ll do for this week. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to send me pictures of those falling food prices. Until next week avoid soreheads, laugh a little, and always question authority.
(“Properly Subversive” is a commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
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