Issues for the 2022 Midterm Election - Inflation

A lot of numbers are being quoted by the government and the media to describe the runaway inflation we are currently experiencing.  I am not calling those numbers into question.  They come from what we hope are reliable sources, and those sources presumably have better data than the average person has access to.  Nevertheless, I keep records of what we spend and where we spend it. 

My records are subject to variables that are not accounted for in the information I am providing.  I hope, however, to provide a glimpse into how inflation is impacting one elderly couple in the United States. 

Most people are bored by numbers, statistics, and concrete thinking, so I will keep this concise and spare you the detailed data.  We buy groceries and related general merchandise from a “discount superstore,” a couple of supermarkets, and a meat pack.  The general merchandise includes things like paper products, detergents, and personal care items.  We are on a fixed income, and we are very careful about what we buy and what we pay. 

I compared our average expenditures for the months of February, May, and August for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022.  The price we paid for the necessary items listed increased as follows: 

·    From 2020 to 2021 the price we pay at the “grocery store” increased by about 13.6 percent. 

·    From 2021 to 2022 we paid about 16.7 percent more for the groceries and general merchandise we bought. 

·    From 2020 to 2022 the amount we paid increased by about 32.8 percent. 

A year ago, we eliminated all of our monthly payments except our mortgage.  If we had not done so, we would be in financial trouble today.  I am also aware of the circumstances of young couples who have children, and those I know are struggling to keep from going into the red each month. 

Citizens, everything we buy is delivered to market by truck, train, and airplane.  After taking office in January 2021, President Biden and the Democrats in the House and Senate killed domestic energy production.  The price of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel doubled.  These costs are passed on to the customer – to you and me – in the form of higher prices. 

Our Democratic and RINO Republican “elected representatives” then passed legislation that increased federal spending by trillions of dollars, flooding the economy with cheap money and driving inflation.  To pay for it, they propose to increase taxes on “the rich” and on big business.  We can expect this to cause even more of our productive capacity (high-paying jobs) to move overseas, and the cost of these taxes will be passed along to the consumer in the form of higher prices for the goods we buy.

To try to slow runaway inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised the prime lending rate.  The result is that you will pay more for the things you buy on credit in the form of higher interest rates.  Call that what you will … inflation or an inflation tax.  The end result is that you will pay more for the things you need. 

If you read the available literature, most Economists attribute inflation to bad government policy.  President Biden, the Democrats, and the RINO Republicans have been running things since January 2021.  Ask yourself, were things better before they took over?  YOU BET THEY WERE! * 

So, here comes the emotional part; because that is what people respond to: 

THE INFLATION WERE LIVING WITH IS AN OUTRAGE!  THOSE RESPONSIBLE MUST BE TAKEN TO TASK FOR WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO US AND TO THE COUNTRY!  WE MUST VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE IN 2022 AND 2024, AND NEVER, EVER VOTE THEM BACK IN!

 

* For a more detailed discussion of inflation please refer to my post, dated January 21, 2022.

Issues for the 2020 Midterm Election - Abortion

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court decided the case of DOBBS, STATE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ET AL. v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION ET AL.  In that decision, federal protections of a woman’s “right to choose” to have an abortion, granted in 1973 by the Court in Roe v. Wade, were removed.  The Supreme Court found that the regulation of abortion was the responsibility of the individual states and not the federal government. See also: Amendment 10, US Constitution. 

This decision did not make abortion illegal, however, it was clear that a number of the states would do so.  The Supreme Court’s ruling did not make it illegal for a resident of a state where abortion is illegal to get an abortion in a state where abortion is legal. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf 

The ensuing strong public reaction was predictable.  Those who oppose abortion in most cases were relieved and happy.  Those who believe that a woman has the right to choose to have an abortion were dismayed, and some were angry.  Democratic politicians seized upon the opportunity to build their support base by promising to “codify” Roe v. Wade by legislative action.  This in spite of the fact that the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson would seem on the face of it to make such legislation unconstitutional. 

As the 2022 Midterm Election approaches, the Democrats are attempting to define the election as a referendum on abortion.  They are not blind to recent public opinion poles that seem to show that a small majority of the American voting public favor allowing women the right to choose to have an abortion.  Most Republican politicians favor prohibiting abortion except in certain, very limited circumstances.  A few Republicans, like Sen. Lindsay Graham, have come out in favor of abolishing abortion. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx 

In my view, the whole debate over abortion is a diversion, created by the Democrats to obscure from public view their abject failure to govern since January 2021.  Confident if an easy victory next month, the Republicans are allowing themselves to be drawn in, rather than to speak out strongly on issues like: runaway inflation; domestic energy production; the crisis on our border with Mexico; the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan; crime; restoring sanity to our educational system; coping with adversary nations like China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran; returning our industrial production to the United States; and so forth.  These are the issues upon which the Republicans can win.  If they continue to allow the Democrats to define the election in terms of abortion – the Republicans may lose. 

It is time for each of us to determine where we stand on abortion rights, and then to move on to the other issues that really do pose a threat to our country’s existence.  Fellow Americans, this time it is too important.  We must not choose poorly, as we did in 2020. 

NOTE: Religion, politics, and personal convenience aside, it is my opinion that we should look at the process of human reproduction scientifically.  The salient question for each of us is, “When does the termination of a pregnancy become a homicide.?”  Is it morally justifiable up until the point of live birth, or is there a point between conception and delivery when the developing life becomes a baby?  There are a number of descriptions of human gestation available on the Internet or at your local library.  The following link is from a trustworthy source: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002398.htm

 Also, I posted on the subject of Abortion on April 9, 2016, June 11, 2019, and October 11, 2020.