Since everything wrong with America is Vladimir Putin’s fault, why not blame your ever-expanding household expenses on him as well? According to Moody’s Analytics, the average U.S. household is now spending an additional $296 per month. This amount is up from mid-February when the expense increase totaled $250. Not a shock since inflation has gone nowhere but up since President Biden’s inauguration. It reached a record 10% in February, breaking into the double digits for the first time.
As of the end of 2021, low- and middle-class households spent 7% more on the same products they bought in 2019 and 2020. An analysis from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania said the increase equated to an additional $3,500 a year. A January report from Wells Fargo shows the middle class getting squeezed the hardest. And a 5% increase in wages for low-wage workers is not covering the spread. From the report:
- Income: Middle-income consumers feel the squeeze, with inflation half a point higher than those at the highest and lowest ends of the income spectrum.
- Race/Ethnicity: Hispanics and Latinos have faced the steepest jump in living costs this past year among all groups we analyze, compared to Asians, who have seen the most moderate increase.
- Age: Surprise, surprise, Millennials are getting a raw deal versus Boomers. This past year, inflation for consumers ages 35-44 has run more than a point higher than for ages 65+.
Of course, the corporate media has some great ideas for Americans struggling with household expenses. CNBC suggests reviewing your budget weekly and cutting out things you don’t need. Unfortunately, as Wells Fargo’s report noted, low- and middle-income Americans do not have as many discretionary purchases or the ability to downgrade everyday purchases. For those poor souls, suggestions include:
Save on energy by unplugging appliances when they are not in use or using power strips with switches that allow you to completely turn off the products plugged into it. By doing so you could save 5% to 10% of your residential energy use, according to the Department of Energy. Turning down the heat can also help save money.
It is not clear whether you should stop plugging in the Tesla the Biden administration expects you to buy to avoid price hikes at the pump. These are not serious people. And while you are putting on extra sweaters and jogging in place to stay warm, be sure not to lay down your credit card or reduce your 401K contribution. Also, consider buying in bulk. As if middle- and low-income families don’t know that Costco and Sam’s Club provide significant bang for your buck.
Related: Joe-mentum: Inflation Reaches Double-Digits for the First Time
President Biden assured Americans that their thinner wallets were absolutely not and in no way related to massive spending in the American Rescue Plan and the continuing resolutions passed by Congress. At a recent meeting of the Democrat National Committee, he alternately yelled and mumbled: “I’m sick of this stuff! We have to talk about it because the American people think the reason for inflation is government spending more money. Simply not true.”
He also held up Putin’s military build-up and eventual invasion of Ukraine as key drivers of inflation. Pretty incredible since Biden blamed skyrocketing prices on supply chain woes and corporate greed in early February. Putin started the military build-up on the Ukrainian border in November with the first diplomatic call between Putin and Biden about the situation on Dec. 7, 2021. In November, to address inflation that was already at a 30-year high, Biden acknowledged the impact of stimulus checks provided by the American Rescue Plan:
The irony is people have more money now because of the first major piece of legislation I passed. You all got checks for $1,400. You got checks for a whole range of things,” Biden said during a speech in Baltimore.
“If you’re a mom and you have kids under the age of 7, you get $300 a month and if it’s over 7 to 17, you’re getting $360 a month,” he said, misstating the second amount, which is $250 per month.
“It changes people’s lives. But what happens if there’s nothing to buy and you got more money to compete for getting [goods]? It creates a real problem,” Biden said.
So at one point, the administration understood that more dollars chasing fewer goods causes inflation. The supply chain impacts of renewed lockdowns in China and sanctions on Russian agricultural goods and fossil fuels have not registered yet. Experts believe the Federal Reserve will end quantitative easing and raise interest rates by .25-.50%. The financial hits just keep coming, and they are cumulative, predating any military moves by Putin.
While the response to the situation in Ukraine by the West has undoubtedly made the situation worse, it is not the origin story of the current financial pressure on most Americans. The Biden administration has made all the wrong moves to address a set of converging realities. And whether or not the ruling class knows it, this is really how you get Trump. Do you know who understands that better than the ruling class in the West and their allies in the media? Vladimir Putin.
Putin appears to understand the support for President Trump that emerged in 2016 better than The New York Times. During an interview with Oliver Stone for the documentary Revealing Ukraine, Putin was asked about the allegations of Russian collusion in the election. He denied the allegations, which have not been supported by any investigation to date. Instead, Putin offered another explanation for the election of President Donald Trump. He noted:
With the understanding that for the middle-class, the last few years, the last ten years let’s say, there was a huge increase in earnings for the ruling class, the wealthy people. But for the middle class, nothing in that decade improved. This is something the people in charge of Trump’s campaign understood. And Trump understood that himself, and he managed to avail himself of this chance.
On some level, Democrats must understand the underlying motivations of Trump voters even if they prefer to scream “RACIST!” It makes the current refusal of the administration to take basic steps to relieve the financial strain of inflation on the middle class even more ominous. As dictators like Putin know, a prosperous and content middle class is the barrier to Biden’s pledge to “fundamentally change the structure and the nature of the economy in this country.”
Are the ruling elites and both parties globally hoping the next three years are enough time to make middle- and working-class Americans so dependent on government largesse that they will not resist the fundamental changes planned in initiatives like the Great Reset? If so, the elections in 2022 take on even more significance toward halting the Biden agenda and having elected officials that take the prosperity, safety, and security of working Americans and their families seriously.
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