This Is What State Harassment Looks Like

If your goal was to find some of the most tone-deaf analyses of how Americans were feeling about living under Bidenomics, look no further than MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle. After previously asserting that Americans’ “dirty little secret” was that they were weathering President Biden’s inflation just fine, she was back during Tuesday night’s The 11th Hour to tell the poors that they needed to shut up about not being able to afford basic necessities because Wendy’s was rolling out a $3 breakfast option. Ruhle started off fair enough by noting: “Consumers have been sounding off about price fatigue for a while now. And now, a new report from the Fed shows people are still struggling to cover day-to-day expenses even as inflation has slowed.” But she followed up by suggesting relief was in sight because – in addition to one store change lowering prices – some unhealthy fast food chains were coming out with cheap meals the poors could stuff in their mouths: But some big consumer brands are beginning to take action. Target says it is cutting prices on 5,000 essential items, things like milk, butter, pet food. Wendy's is now offering a $3 breakfast deal and rivals like McDonald's are offering lower-priced value meals. Maybe she was hoping the fatty food would muffle their whining.     She then brought on her “old friend,” President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Austan Goolsbee and lamented to him that “we need an economic explainer” because “people are confused” and don’t understand “they are also doing quite well” financially. Goolsbee, a former economic advisor to President Obama, suggested “inflation slowed in 2023 actually, quite a lot…almost as much as it’s ever come down.” He falsely claimed, “we didn’t have a recession while that was happening, which was quite unusual.” He admitted that “prices are still higher than they were before” and noted he can still hear “people complaining about that.” Near the end of the interview, Ruhle wanted him to examine “the psyche of the American consumer” and diagnose what their deal was. According to Goolsbee, they were harshing his mellow with their bad “vibes”: RUHLE: Before we go, the psyche of the American consumer. Right? Lots of things that were not considered luxuries before, now are because things have gotten expensive. However, we have more purchasing power today than we did in 2019. What's going on with the American consumer psyche? GOOLSBEE: Like, the vibes! There’s never been a bigger difference between the vibes and the actual numbers than we’re facing right now. And I don't think we totally understand that. “And I don't think we totally understand that. Maybe it is rooted a little bit in, if you ask people how is your personal situation and they say pretty good. How is the national economy?” he gawked. Goolsbee did have a brush with sanity as he stated the obvious that inflation was “very unpopular.” The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: MSNBC’s The 11th Hour May 21, 2024 11:50:11 p.m. Eastern STEPHANIE RUHLE: Consumers have been sounding off about price-fatigue for a while now. And now, a new report from the Fed shows people are still struggling to cover day-to-day expenses even as inflation has slowed. But some big consumer brands are beginning to take action. Target says it is cutting prices on 5,000 essential items, things like milk, butter, pet food. Wendy's is now offering a $3 breakfast deal and rivals like McDonald's are offering lower-priced value meals. Here to discuss, an old friend of mine, Austan Goolsbee, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. We need an economic explainer. People are confused, they're exhausted, but they are also doing quite well. So, I want to start with prices. They’ve been an issue for everyone. What is your take when you hear about big consumer brands actually cutting prices? AUSTAN GOOLSBEE (president/CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago): Good! But, you've had inflation that got way too high in the U.S. and in other countries around the world. Incomes didn’t keep up with that. Now, inflation slowed in 2023 actually, quite a lot. Inflation came down almost as much as it’s ever come down and we didn’t have a recession while that was happening, which was quite unusual. But prices are still higher than they were before and so you see people complaining about that. (…) 11:54:33 p.m. Eastern RUHLE: Before we go, the psyche of the American consumer. Right? Lots of things that were not considered luxuries before, now are because things have gotten expensive. However, we have more purchasing power today than we did in 2019. What's going on with the American consumer psyche? GOOLSBEE: Like, the vibes! There’s never been a bigger difference between the vibes and the actual numbers than we’re facing right now. And I don't think we totally understand that. Maybe it is rooted a little bit in, if you ask people how is your personal situation and they say pretty good. How is the national economy? They don't like it at all. I think a lot of that comes from inflation being very unpopular and there is a bit of lag behind conditions. But like I say, it has these cross currents going. There are some things that are very strong in the economy. There are some things that are very aggravating in the economy, and that melts into a little bit of this vibe situation where people are more upset than you would think they would be when the unemployment rate is low and the economy is growing. (…)

The government uses the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index to measure inflation. For instance, when President Joe Biden took office, the year-over-year inflation rate was roughly 1.4%. CNN indicated the Biden inflation rate reached a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022. Last week, the Labor Department recently indicated that the CPI for all urban consumers "increased by 0.3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.4 percent in March[.] ... Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.4 percent before seasonal adjustment." According to the BLS inflation calculator, prices generally increased by approximately 21.5% between December 2019 and March 2024, according to TheStreet. Some consumers have apparently turned instead to fast-food prices to gauge just how much purchasing power they have lost in recent years. FinanceBuzz has made historical price comparisons easier, contrasting fast-food menu prices in 2014 and prices in 2024 on the basis of pricing data sourced from ItsYummi.com, FastFoodMenuPrices.com, and MenuWithPrice.com, cross-referenced with restaurants' official websites. The breakdown claimed that the price of: the McChicken increased by 199% over the 10-year stretch, from $1.00 in 2014 to $2.99 in 2014; the McDouble increased by 168%, from $1.19 to $3.19; medium fries by 138%, from $1.59 to $3.79; the Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal by $122%, from $5.39 to $11.99; the Oreo McFlurry by 88%, from $2.39 to $4.49; the 10 Piece McNugget Happy Meal by 83%, from $5.99 to $10.99; the 4 Piece McNugget Happy Meal by 67%, from $2.99 to $4.99; the Big Mac by 50%, from $3.99 to $5.99; and the price of a medium drink increased by 25%, from $1.29 to $1.61. McDonald's — which has reportedly contested the figures, saying "pricing is set by individual franchisees and varies by restaurant" — is not the only restaurant suffering what some are calling "McFlation." Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen's menu items have, on average, allegedly jumped by 86% in price since 2014. Taco Bell has reportedly seen an 81% average increase. Dining out at Chipotle Mexican Grill now, 10 years later, apparently costs 75% more. It appears some of the more dramatic price increases have taken place over the past four years. TheStreet indicated that the price of medium French fries at McDonald's increased by 134.1%, from $1.79 to $4.19 since 2019; the price of the McChicken increased by 201.6%, from $1.29 to $3.89; the price of the Big Mac increased by 87.7%, from $3.99 to $7.49; and price of the cheeseburger increased by 215%, from $1 to $3.15. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts in February, "I think what you’re going to see as you head into 2024 is probably more attention to what I would describe as affordability," reported Fortune. 'Eating at home has become more affordable.' At the time, customers were prickled by the cost of Big Mac meals, which were going for around $18, as well as the absence of any single $1 item on McDonald's so-called Dollar Menu. "Eating at home has become more affordable," added Kempczinski. Shubhranshu Singh, associate professor of marketing at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, told FinanceBuzz, "A number of factors have contributed to the rising costs of fast food. First, food prices are outpacing inflation. Wage rate is also rising faster than inflation. In other words, the cost of preparing and serving fast food is rising faster than the inflation rate." Singh suggested further that "due to increasing pressure to spend less, some consumers have also downgraded from full-service restaurants to fast-food restaurants, thus increasing the overall demand for fast food." 'The war in Ukraine and other factors contributed to higher food costs.' "Because of the increasing need to take multiple jobs and less time to prepare or enjoy food, consumers' preferences for fast food have become stickier; that is, they are willing to accept higher prices," continued Singh. "To make matters worse for fast-food restaurants, consumers are tipping less at low- and no-service restaurants. Fast-food restaurants are responding by raising prices." Michael Bognanno, professor of economics at Temple University, told FinanceBuzz that extra to post-pandemic competition for low-wage workers, which drove up wages — costs in many cases passed onto customers — "the war in Ukraine and other factors contributed to higher food costs. Energy prices, notably for the cost of electricity, rose more than 10% in 2022 and are still increasing at a rate that exceeds the rate of inflation." Prices are also being driven up further by minimum wage hikes in states such as California, where every fast-food restaurant has to pay its employees a minimum wage of $20 per hour — except for the chain run by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's billionaire buddy. Less than a month into the new wage hike, Kalinowski Equity Research indicated prices at some restaurants had jumped up by as much as 8%, reported KNBC-TV. The California Restaurant Association said, "Since it took effect, job losses, reduced working hours, restaurant closures, and higher prices for California's inflation-weary consumers have been ongoing." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Earlier this week, two Republicans faced off in a special election for the U.S. House seat vacated by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and the winner left his opponent in the dust.On Tuesday night, California Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) was declared the winner of the special election for the 20th Congressional District seat formerly occupied by McCarthy. Fong soundly defeated Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux — a fellow Republican — by a 60.3% to 39.7% margin, the New York Post reported.The 20th Congressional District has been called the most conservative in California since registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats there 47% to 27%.Fong, 44, spent a decade working as McCarthy's district director before getting elected to the state Assembly, and McCarthy endorsed him in the race. Fong also received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who called Fong a "true Republican.""I am filled with humility and gratitude tonight," Fong said in a statement."With the campaign over, the real work now begins," his statement continued. "In Congress, I will remain focused on solving the tough issues facing our community – securing the border, supporting small business, bringing investment in water storage and infrastructure, unleashing our energy industry, and keeping the United States safe amidst the grave security threats facing our nation."Fong said he will continue working on state business before transitioning to Washington, so it is unclear when he will officially be sworn in. Once he is, he will serve in Congress — fortifying Republicans' razor-thin majority — until at least January.Sheriff Boudreaux, 57, who enjoyed endorsements from Trump's acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, and GOP state Sen. Shannon Grove, is slated to compete against Fong for the congressional seat once again in November. However, now that the special election race is over, he seems focused on the job of fighting crime."California faces a crime crisis unlike any other in its history. That’s why I will be stepping up the fight for a safer Valley and safer California," he said. "I look forward to providing updates on this effort in the coming weeks."It's hardly surprising that two Republicans ended up contending for the seat once occupied by McCarthy. The 20th Congressional District has been called the most conservative in California since registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats there 47% to 27%.Rep. McCarthy, 59, was first elected to the seat in 2007. He was then elected speaker in January 2023. However, just 10 months later, he became the first speaker in U.S. history to be ousted from the role after fellow House Republicans became frustrated with his leadership. He then resigned from the House altogether in December.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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