THE MORNING RANT: “Expectation Smashing” Retail Sales Are Trailing Actual Inflation

Inflation is still out of control and consumers are getting squeezed by their decreasing purchasing power. Meanwhile, the regime media is trying hard to spin this economic crisis, but unlike political propaganda, the media is unable to convince consumers that inflation is not a problem, because their empty bank accounts tell them otherwise.

“Retail sales smash expectations in September with US consumer slowdown nowhere in sight” [Yahoo – 10/17/2023]

September retail sales grew from the prior month, reflecting continued resilience in the American consumer despite predictions of a slowdown.

My household’s monthly grocery bill continues to steadily increase, despite the grocery list containing a pretty consistent basket of goods. We are spending more but not bringing home any more groceries. I am blessed that inflation has not forced us to cut back what we buy, but that hardly seems like an “expectation smashing” spending spree.

This article points out that several categories of retailers are not seeing any revenue growth at all, including clothing stores, electronics and appliance retailers, and sporting goods stores. In other words, these dry goods retailers are seeing declining unit sales as consumers are forced to redirect their decreasing purchasing power toward food, housing, and utilities.

Sales excluding auto and gas increased 0.6%, above estimates for a 0.1% increase compiled by Bloomberg.

That 0.6% monthly increase in spending annualizes to a 7.2% increase in spending over one year. As we’ve discussed often, the government’s published inflation figures are completely fraudulent, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that as of September the annual inflation rate is just 3.7%, down from 4.0% in May 2023.

John Williams’ website (shadowstats.com) tracks inflation using the same measurements used in the Carter era. The chart below is updated through May 2023, showing the official 4% inflation as reported by the US government (red line) versus inflation if calculated the same way it was calculated in 1980 (blue line.) Actual inflation is more than 12%, which is 3 times the official bogus government figure.

Inflation - 1980 equivalent - May 2023.JPG

Therefore, the ”expectation smashing” consumer spending that the media is reporting is not even keeping up with actual inflation, which means that consumers are bringing home less in the way of retail goods, despite the increased dollar amount they are spending.

This tweet below is not a parody. Nobel Prize winning ~~propagandist~~ economist Paul Krugman actually stated that excluding food, energy and shelter, “The war on inflation is over. We won, at very little cost.”

Thanks, Mr. Krugman, that’s very helpful. While inflation may be out of control on food, energy, and shelter, those are unnecessary discretionary expenditures. If people will just forego extravagances such as feeding their families and putting a roof over their children’s heads, they’ll do just fine in Biden’s economy.

The Babylon Bee actually predicted Krugman’s defense of Biden-era inflation:

Babylon Bee - Psaki - Inflation Food Gas Housing.JPG

Much of the political left struggles to understand The Babylon Bee’s satire. I used to think it was because leftists are humorless partisans, but to be fair, it can be confusing, because the Bee’s ridiculous headlines keep turning out to be prophecies that come true.

In the ”DOOM!” spirit of coblogger emeritus Monty, let’s see what other economic headlines could use a little “perfume on a pig” treatment from Biden administration apologists.

“U.S. credit card debt reaches all time high, exceeds $1 trillion” [Bank Rate – 8/09/2023]

“Auto Loan Delinquencies Are on the Rise” [Motley Fool – 9/20/2023]

“Credit card and car loan defaults hit 10-year high as inflation squeezes families” [NY Post – 9/04/2023]

“Car Repossessions Are On The Rise” [Yahoo – 07/07/2023]

“401(k) hardship withdrawals are on the rise. They’re ‘the worst way’ to tap funds, expert says” [CNBC – 8/17/2023]

A rational person would look at the distressing economic trends and not only be concerned about the implications for our economy, but also be saddened for those who are unable to afford the necessities of life.

A partisan could still be excused for wanting to believe that things have bottomed out and improvement is imminent.

But it takes a Nobel Prize winning genius, such as former Enron adviser Paul Krugman, to look at all this suffering and proclaim, “We won, at very little cost.”

We did not win. Inflation is devastating to the most economically vulnerable, and those who are in that category are hurting terribly.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I called 'em.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at October 20, 2023 11:00 AM (qPw5n)

2 Spending like there's no tomorrow...'cause there might not be.

Posted by: BignJames at October 20, 2023 11:02 AM (AwYPR)

3 Imma not taking financial advice from a from a fucking dwarf. No Fucking Way.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:02 AM (XetL6)

4 Food, Gas, and Housing.

All the things they don't want you to be able to afford.

Posted by: XTC at October 20, 2023 11:03 AM (UnA8+)

5 Krugman's one of those people who you learn to listen to, and then bet the opposite position.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at October 20, 2023 11:03 AM (qPw5n)

6 You know things are swell in the Kingdom of SoDiNY when Credit Card Defaults are rising. Fucking Money Lenders lending taxpayers their money back to them at 22.5% per annum. All's well in Biden Land.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:04 AM (XetL6)

7 hiya

Posted by: JT at October 20, 2023 11:04 AM (T4tVD)

8 Billions for terrorism, but nothing for middle class Americans. Super.

Posted by: America's BACK, baby! at October 20, 2023 11:04 AM (B9RjC)

9 Imma not taking financial advice from a from a fucking dwarf. No Fucking Way.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:02 AM (XetL6)

They just have a different perspective. They're closer to the floor so they think they can see the bottoming out.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 20, 2023 11:05 AM (Angsy)

10 About a year ago there was a guy doing a video about the coming implosion of the car loan business. There's something like two trillion in outstanding loans and people are increasingly walking away from the car and the loan

Posted by: Smell the Glove at October 20, 2023 11:05 AM (4PUvr)

11 But it takes a Nobel Prize winning genius, such as former Enron adviser Paul Krugman, to look at all this suffering and proclaim, "We won, at very little cost."

My favorite Krugman column was right before the 2016 election, when a lot of people were complaining about the state of the economy, and he retorted that things looked just fine on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where he lived.

So why were these peasants elsewhere complaining?

Posted by: Droolin Joe Biden, War President! at October 20, 2023 11:05 AM (2tUFv)

12 They just have a different perspective. They're closer to the floor so they think they can see the bottoming out.
----------------
They are purpose built to suck cock.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:05 AM (XetL6)

13 Spending like there's no tomorrow...'cause there might not be.
Posted by: BignJames at October 20, 2023 11:02 AM (AwYPR)

and i feel like an idiot for trying to cut my personal debt even further. but i'm trying because i can.

maybe i can get a bailout if i declare myself to big to fail...

Posted by: SturmToddler at October 20, 2023 11:05 AM (KZaqS)

14 It can be lunch time

Posted by: Skip at October 20, 2023 11:06 AM (SjkHR)

15 MATHS! AIEEE!!

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko stuff in solidarity with the struggle to maintain Moron standards at October 20, 2023 11:06 AM (YZedl)

16 Wife had a chance to take a job in medical collections with pay based on results.
I told her NFW. Not in this economy.

People aren't paying medical bills when their choices come down to food, electric, rent or medical bills. You won't be collecting shit.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:07 AM (uiWTm)

17 Yeah, I spent $110 on groceries earlier this week. That same purchase would have been about $70 two years ago.

Posted by: Bert G at October 20, 2023 11:07 AM (VARTN)

18 If you're having a hard time because of inflation, you're stupid. Just get a second job, you moron. If you get a second job working at home you're a thief and you're scum. Buy my book!

Posted by: Dave Ramsey, boomer meme incarnate at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (B9RjC)

19 Twelve percent actual inflation, vs. four that F. Joe's team is trying to make us believe, huh?

When Dollar Tree has had to bump its base price on everything from $1.00 to $1.25, that's not just a quarter coin. That's a twenty-five percent increase since 2019.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (J2vNu)

20 My copy of Canticle for Lebowitz has shipped. Should have it Saturday unless Bezos wants to fuck me.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (XetL6)

21 New open letter to
@Harvard
President Claudine Gay signed by over 70 faculty members:

“We call on you, and the Harvard leadership, to publicly and unequivocally condemn the intimidation and harassment of Palestinian, Arab, Black, and Muslim students and other supporters of Palestinian liberation at Harvard. The leadership should denounce all forms of racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia, including antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism. The leadership should hold responsible all those involved in the attacks against our students and provide adequate measures to protect them.“

-
You can trust her. She's smart.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (FVME7)

22 Is it true Krugman went to the Larry Storch School of Economics? The one they used to advertise on matchbooks.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (0EOe9)

23 About a year ago there was a guy doing a video about the coming implosion of the car loan business. There's something like two trillion in outstanding loans and people are increasingly walking away from the car and the loan
Posted by: Smell the Glove at October 20, 2023 11:05 AM (4PUvr)

not at all shocked based on what they're charging for a new car now. i mean 60k+ for a car that 5 years ago went for 23-28k?

but there's no inflation...

also, to FURTHER drive home the point, stopped at 5 guys last night, 3 regular (2 patty) cheeseburgers and a regular fry was 45 fucking dollars...

no wonder it's been for ever since i went there.

Posted by: SturmToddler at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (KZaqS)

24 Do these fucktards not understand that as prices skyrocket, consumer spending goes up? It's not "exuberance" or "business as usual." It's spend-or-starve. We're not out here eating caviar on our luxury yachts, dropping our monocles in the brie platter. We're eating a lot of Hamburger Helper and wondering how we walked out of Walmart with a single bag of crap costing $55.

Posted by: red speck at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (0Id0S)

25 10 About a year ago there was a guy doing a video about the coming implosion of the car loan business. There's something like two trillion in outstanding loans and people are increasingly walking away from the car and the loan
------

This also happens when you buy a $110,000 pickup truck and realize it just is not worth it.

Posted by: meal team 6 at October 20, 2023 11:09 AM (kvjA2)

26 Krugman back in the nineties said he didn't think much of the possibility of internet commerce. I wouldn't listen to him ever . It's not tough to be a communist economist, just say something and lie about everything

Posted by: Smell the Glove at October 20, 2023 11:09 AM (4PUvr)

27 Thank you Buck

The Bee is awesome

I saw one of those graphs and immediately harkened back to the “misery index” of the Carter years. Wasn’t that the sum of the inflation and unemployment rates?

BTW… something that’s become very expensive recently: travel, particularly hotels and rental cars. I know it’s a luxury and not a necessity but I’m trying to get all our children together with wife on Christmas this year for the first time in a few years. I’ve priced it out and the total is a staggering number close to $10K!! Family time is dear and I’m blessed I can afford it, but my God!! That’s a lot of samollians!!

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at October 20, 2023 11:10 AM (3WbjW)

28 Funny what can happen when you exclude food and gas from your calculations.

Garbage in, garbage out

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:10 AM (OJLqX)

29 People aren't paying medical bills when their choices come down to food, electric, rent or medical bills. You won't be collecting shit.
Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:07 AM (uiWTm)

Yep. Food, water, shelter will take precedence. And since medical debt doesn't go on credit reports anymore, they're not going to care, not that it wouldn't have been at the bottom of the list anyway.

Posted by: Doctor bills go to the bottom of the stack at October 20, 2023 11:11 AM (B9RjC)

30 former Enron adviser Paul Krugman

I do believe I see the problem. Good writeup, Buck. Thank you.

Posted by: BifBewalski at October 20, 2023 11:11 AM (3CCua)

31 The leadership should hold responsible all those involved in the attacks against our students and provide adequate measures to protect them.“

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (FVME7)

How about a walled "ghetto"?

Posted by: BignJames at October 20, 2023 11:11 AM (AwYPR)

32 Gas has dropped about $ .30-.40 but my groceries are creeping up every week

Posted by: Skip at October 20, 2023 11:11 AM (SjkHR)

33 Gas here has stayed steady around the 3.49 mark.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:12 AM (OJLqX)

34 I like the reason they use to exclude food, fuel and housing:

They're just too volatile.

Not like stocks, going up and down-- that's what they want you to think.

No, it's that they go up too much, too fast and that makes politicians look bad.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 20, 2023 11:12 AM (TzW+Y)

35 not at all shocked based on what they're charging for a new car now. i mean 60k+ for a car that 5 years ago went for 23-28k?

but there's no inflation...

That's not inflation, that's union.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:12 AM (uiWTm)

36 I still remember paying 1.36 during covidicy.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:13 AM (OJLqX)

37 Prices on non-essentials is lower ... perhaps because demand is down on those things -- the masses don't have extra money to spend on those things after gas/food/housing?

Another trick used to lower inflation numbers is hedonic pricing. A base car (for example) may go up 15% in price, but because they claim you get more bells and whistles now, that accounts for 12% of the increase, so the "base price" only went up 3%. But there is no car available at only a 3% increase, you have to buy the bells and whistles (or added safety features).

at least that is the example I remember, on how it works.

Posted by: illiniwek at October 20, 2023 11:13 AM (Cus5s)

38 19 I used to get shower back brushes at dollar tree, having left them behind in every motel off I 40 between here and Laughlin. For a buck they were OK. They don't even carry them anymore, even at $1.25 because they can't get them that cheap.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 20, 2023 11:13 AM (0EOe9)

39 If you want to see economic doom, read up on the Argentine hyperinflation. Even the economic "downturn" in the UK in the late 70's was pretty bad.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:13 AM (xhaym)

40 Journo-list talking-point issued:

Ian Miles Cheong @stillgray 12h
Presented without comment

Elon Musk @elonmusk 12h Replying to @stillgray
NPC yeah you know me 😂

Ian Miles Cheong @stillgray 12h
They’re all running on the same script.

https://tinyurl.com/3k2deb3d
You'll have to click on the images to see the screencaps fully.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:13 AM (krqg6)

41 24 Do these fucktards not understand that as prices skyrocket, consumer spending goes up? It's not "exuberance" or "business as usual." It's spend-or-starve. We're not out here eating caviar on our luxury yachts, dropping our monocles in the brie platter. We're eating a lot of Hamburger Helper and wondering how we walked out of Walmart with a single bag of crap costing $55.
Posted by: red speck at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (0Id0S)

Exactly. I'm spending twice as much on groceries as I did 3-4 years ago. $100 used to fill your cart to overflowing. Now you can carry everything $100 buys in one trip from the car to the house.

Posted by: Spending more, getting less. Green shoots! at October 20, 2023 11:13 AM (B9RjC)

42 Surprise! The media, they're lying again.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 20, 2023 11:14 AM (Q4IgG)

43 Wouldn't retail sales figures be subject to inflated prices?

Do they adjust them down to consider the 20% or more inflation of the last few years?

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at October 20, 2023 11:14 AM (w/RvR)

44 not at all shocked based on what they're charging for a new car now. i mean 60k+ for a car that 5 years ago went for 23-28k?

but there's no inflation...

That's not inflation, that's union.
Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:12 AM (uiWTm)

why not both?

Posted by: SturmToddler at October 20, 2023 11:14 AM (KZaqS)

45 Gas has dropped about $ .30-.40 but my groceries are creeping up every week
Posted by: Skip

Paid $2.68 for gas at Sam's.
Diesel is still $3.89.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:14 AM (uiWTm)

46 That 0.6% monthly increase in spending annualizes to a 7.2% increase in spending over one year. As we’ve discussed often, the government’s published inflation figures are completely fraudulent, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that as of September the annual inflation rate is just 3.7%, down from 4.0% in May 2023.

John Williams’ website (shadowstats.com) tracks inflation using the same measurements used in the Carter era. The chart below is updated through May 2023, showing the official 4% inflation as reported by the US government (red line) versus inflation if calculated the same way it was calculated in 1980 (blue line.) Actual inflation is more than 12%, which is 3 times the official bogus government figure.
++++
Maybe. It's hard to know. 1980 was a long time ago and things do change.

Either way, though, sales are growing below the rate of real inflation. We can argue over whether real inflation is 7% or 10% or 12%, but nobody who shops in real life can reasonably argue that it's 4% or lower. No matter which less-phony inflation number is right, it's still above retail sales growth.

Which means retail sails are in real contraction, not growth.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:14 AM (d04cU)

47 1943:

President Franklin Delano Biden announced that the United States would be shipping a billion dollars in humanitarian aid to Germany.

"After all, Germans are not Nazis", President FDB intoned.

"While a handful of Nazis may be slaughtering Jews and making war on the rest of the world, most Germans are innocent, and deserve food, water, medical supplies and electricity."

When asked how he would make sure that the humanitarian aid would not be diverted to the Nazi war machine, President FDB replied: "The Nazis promised us that they wouldn't do that."

When also asked why the American government wasn't demanding the return of the American hostages that the Nazis were holding before providing the humanitarian aid, President FDB responded: "Hostages? What hostages?"

Posted by: Droolin Joe Biden, War President! at October 20, 2023 11:14 AM (2tUFv)

48 Whip Inflation Now! https://tinyurl.com/343sw3fp

Posted by: For gp, The Action IS The Juice at October 20, 2023 11:15 AM (MvF+J)

49 Portion sizes are also shrinking in food again. Pretty dramatically.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:15 AM (OJLqX)

50 I still remember paying 1.36 during covidicy.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:13 AM (OJLqX)

Stated my working life in HS @ a Hess station...26 cents.

Posted by: BignJames at October 20, 2023 11:16 AM (AwYPR)

51 25 10 About a year ago there was a guy doing a video about the coming implosion of the car loan business. There's something like two trillion in outstanding loans and people are increasingly walking away from the car and the loan
-----------------
It was the reverse in Texas in the 80s. People walked off on home mortgages but kept paying on their truck loans.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (+nRli)

52 49 Portion sizes are also shrinking in food again. Pretty dramatically.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:15 AM (OJLqX)

Example: half gallon of ice cream is now 1.5 quarts, and nearly twice the price.

Posted by: But the economy is doing GREAT! at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (B9RjC)

53 Thanks, Mr. Krugman, that’s very helpful. While inflation may be out of control on food, energy, and shelter, those are unnecessary discretionary expenditures. If people will just forego extravagances such as feeding their families and putting a roof over their children’s heads, they’ll do just fine in Biden’s economy.
++++
There's still inflation even outside those areas, of course. Apparel is up, for example. It's much more modest than fuel, housing, energy and transportation, but it's there. Soaps and detergents are up by a lot. Major appliances and to a lesser degree furniture are holding the line and only electronics - outside of Veblen Goods like next-gen smartphones and graphics cards and the like - are truly under control or still dropping.

I would be much, much more interested in seeing the overall "core inflation" (ex food/energy/shelter) vs. the overall "core inflation" with the additional exclusion of electronics.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (d04cU)

54 Stated my working life in HS @ a Hess station...26 cents.
Posted by: BignJames at October 20, 2023 11:16 AM (AwYPR)

Cheapest I consciously remember seeing it was .89. .96 was the cheapest I ever paid.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (OJLqX)

55 Krugman is Mr. Opposite, as is Jim Cramer.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (Mzdiz)

56 I spend $100 a week on groceries for the two of us. This includes taking a snack tray to prayer group one night a week.

Up from $50 two years ago.

Then there's gas.

Our house payment went up $80 a month because of rising taxes and insurance.

The dwarf lies like a rug.

Posted by: Just Lily at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (Re9Cm)

57 Oh, great! We've got Ukraine, Gaza, and now a third front is opening up!

New Pentagon Memo Reveals Nearly 300 Reports of Potential UFO Encounters Since August 2022

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:18 AM (FVME7)

58 41 24 Do these fucktards not understand that as prices skyrocket, consumer spending goes up? It's not "exuberance" or "business as usual." It's spend-or-starve. We're not out here eating caviar on our luxury yachts, dropping our monocles in the brie platter. We're eating a lot of Hamburger Helper and wondering how we walked out of Walmart with a single bag of crap costing $55.
Posted by: red speck at October 20, 2023 11:08 AM (0Id0S)

Of course they realize it. Everything printed or broadcast for mass audiences is now a complete and total fraud. An intentional fraud.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 20, 2023 11:18 AM (i9ffA)

59 Except for the assassination, how was the play Mrs Lincoln?

Posted by: Drive by at October 20, 2023 11:18 AM (MNhXM)

60 Excluding the staples necessary for life, the economy is terrific.

Posted by: Archer at October 20, 2023 11:18 AM (gmo/4)

61 50 Hess station, 26 a gallon. I remember Red Head in Ohio, 28.9. Fill up the V Dub for under three dollars if it was on fumes after hitting the reserve switch.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 20, 2023 11:18 AM (0EOe9)

62 It was the reverse in Texas in the 80s. People walked off on home mortgages but kept paying on their truck loans.
Posted by: Pudinhead

You can live out of your truck and still drive to work.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:18 AM (uiWTm)

63 I crap bigger than Krugman. That's inflation.

Posted by: Diogenes at October 20, 2023 11:19 AM (uSHSS)

64 The bullshit coming out of Dumbass-Krugman's pie hole never ceases to boggle me. He is either completely retarded, or a cross between Idiocracy and 1984.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at October 20, 2023 11:19 AM (ufFY8)

65 It was the reverse in Texas in the 80s. People walked off on home mortgages but kept paying on their truck loans.
Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (+nRli)

back then you needed your truck, but empty homes were a dime a dozen.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 20, 2023 11:19 AM (i9ffA)

66 Being gaslit by an intellectual, moral, and physical midget. Quite the experience.

Posted by: The Baghdad Bob of Joe Isuzus at October 20, 2023 11:19 AM (B9RjC)

67 We'll have to see if she and her friends redo the photo and/or walk back the Pali support:

Disclose.tv @disclosetv 54m
UPDATE - Greta has now deleted her Kraken post.

Greta Thunberg @GretaThunberg 2h Replying to @GretaThunberg
It has come to my knowledge that the stuffed animal shown in my earlier post can be interpreted as a symbol for antisemitism, which I was completely unaware of. The toy in the picture is a tool often used by autistic people as a way to communicate feelings.

We are of course against any type of discrimination, and condemn antisemitism in all forms and shapes. This is non-negotiable. That is why I deleted the last post.

https://tinyurl.com/58cjfh42
Crop of original photo.

https://tinyurl.com/2mhmjr68
Full photo here, denying Greta the X hits.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:19 AM (krqg6)

68 49 Portion sizes are also shrinking in food again. Pretty dramatically.
-----------------
Yeah, saw that, again, at the grocery store. Some of the salad dressing bottles were half sized to keep the price below $3 a bottle. I guess you can drink salad dressing and keep in your coat pocket. A whole new sub genre of people are being created.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:20 AM (+nRli)

69 {41} ... Exactly. I'm spending twice as much on groceries as I did 3-4 years ago. $100 used to fill your cart to overflowing. Now you can carry everything $100 buys in one trip from the car to the house.

Posted by: Spending more, getting less. Green shoots! at October 20, 2023 11:13 AM (B9RjC)

Same here in Canada, which means 50% of everyone's savings was essentially destroyed through the printing of money (clipping the coin.)

There is much typing and deleting going on about what should be done to those who did this to us.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at October 20, 2023 11:20 AM (qPw5n)

70 Funny what can happen when you exclude food and gas from your calculations.

Garbage in, garbage out
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:10 AM (OJLqX)

Friggin' garbage bill went up too.

Posted by: Diogenes at October 20, 2023 11:20 AM (uSHSS)

71 Portion sizes are also shrinking in food again. Pretty dramatically.
Posted by: Aetius451AD
....
And take a look at a roll of toilet paper.. The hole in the middle is getting bigger and bigger and they are now cutting down the width of the roll!

But 4=12 Mega Size rolls!

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at October 20, 2023 11:20 AM (w/RvR)

72 Joe Biden, the arsehole of democracy.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (krqg6)

73 Wait, the Kraken is antisemitic?

Et tu, Sir Laurence Olivier?

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (OJLqX)

74 “U.S. credit card debt reaches all time high, exceeds $1 trillion” [Bank Rate – 8/09/2023]
“Auto Loan Delinquencies Are on the Rise” [Motley Fool – 9/20/2023]
“Credit card and car loan defaults hit 10-year high as inflation squeezes families” [NY Post – 9/04/2023]
“Car Repossessions Are On The Rise” [Yahoo – 07/07/2023]
“401(k) hardship withdrawals are on the rise. They’re ‘the worst way’ to tap funds, expert says” [CNBC – 8/17/2023]
++++
Which, ironically, increases deflation risk. Bankruptcy - that is, credit failure - reduces the monetary base (at least according to Austrian theory, which is likely correct since credit and money are mutually fungible). Forced sales - showing up in things like 401(k) and stocks but may eventually come in the atom bomb that is residential real estate - reprice things and make bankruptcy more likely.

And then we're in the harrowing case of brutal and worsening deficits and crippling centralized debt costs at the same that the monetary base decreases and there's actually not a damn thing the Fed can do about it. Even directly monetizing the debt won't overcome it.

One possible outcome.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (d04cU)

75 Oh please, Br'er Fox! Don't throw me into that briar patch!

Lol: Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (FVME7)

76 not at all shocked based on what they're charging for a new car now. i mean 60k+ for a car that 5 years ago went for 23-28k?
but there's no inflation...
That's not inflation, that's union.
Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:12 AM (uiWTm)

Food inflation will trigger rioting generally.
One of the headlines on Yahoo today was about who are the 2% that eat 50% of the meat?

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (xhaym)

77 C'mon Man. Air is free.

Posted by: LASue at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (Kcw7x)

78 Exclude all goods with the lowest price elasticity of demand during periods of structural inflation.

Only our shitstained ruling class would come up with a skeezy ploy this obvious. Pravda had nothing on these people.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 20, 2023 11:22 AM (0FoWg)

79 "...excluding food, energy and shelter"

Globalist "Top economists" ALWAYS exclude these along with the cost of health care for a reason when reporting on the state of the economy.

Flat screen TV's et al show decreasing prices over time and, therefore, 'the cost of living' getting cheaper.

Hydrocarbon energy is the absolute basis for our lives and Biden completely stopped new development which is the basis for our inflation. Period.

Note that GW Bush also stopped this along with all other globalist republicans his Junta is supporting.

Trump unleashed HC energy development and we enjoyed the highest purchasing power of our lives.

Posted by: Danimal28 at October 20, 2023 11:23 AM (klw0w)

80 Same here in Canada, which means 50% of everyone's savings was essentially destroyed through the printing of money (clipping the coin.)
----------
Frederick the Great put base metals into "silver" coins to make it through the Seven Years War [despite British gold helping out].

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:23 AM (krqg6)

81 Another 1984 section that has become reality.

I should be happy that my chocolate rations have been raised even though they’ve been lowered.

Posted by: Drive by at October 20, 2023 11:24 AM (MNhXM)

82 Friggin' garbage bill went up too.
Posted by: Diogenes

Same here. From $30/month to $35/month.
I'm sure that's simply because of diesel prices.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:24 AM (uiWTm)

83 65 It was the reverse in Texas in the 80s. People walked off on home mortgages but kept paying on their truck loans.
Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (+nRli)

back then you needed your truck, but empty homes were a dime a dozen.
-------------
Yep. Fortunately, housing prices in NOVA never go down. My salary doesn't buy what it used to but the house price will likely hold up. Future Leader is on his own. I'd like to retire to a yurt but the wife is not eager to learn milking goats. I need a Mongolian second wife.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:24 AM (+nRli)

84 It has come to my knowledge that the stuffed animal shown in my earlier post can be interpreted as a symbol for antisemitism, which I was completely unaware of. The toy in the picture is a tool often used by autistic people as a way to communicate feelings.

We are of course against any type of discrimination, and condemn antisemitism in all forms and shapes. This is non-negotiable. That is why I deleted the last post.

https://tinyurl.com/58cjfh42
Crop of original photo.

https://tinyurl.com/2mhmjr68
Full photo here, denying Greta the X hits.
Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:19 AM (krqg6)

Hold up. You denounce antisemitism but openly and vocally support a group of people that rapes, tortures, kidnaps and murders Jews as part of their chartered purpose of genocide against Jews in Israel. Right.

Posted by: Sure. Makes perfect sense. at October 20, 2023 11:24 AM (B9RjC)

85 Food inflation will trigger rioting generally.
One of the headlines on Yahoo today was about who are the 2% that eat 50% of the meat?

Posted by: Kindltot

*sheepishly raises hand

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:24 AM (uiWTm)

86 Portion sizes and, obviously the size and shape of containers are also changing to make you think otherwise. What was once boxed is now in a bag, but you'd think there's the same amount of product due to the size and shape of the bag.

Not so. 10oz vs what was once 14oz.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 20, 2023 11:24 AM (Q4IgG)

87 "I’m sick of this stuff," Biden said at a Democratic retreat in Philadelphia, gesturing with his hands to suggest he'd had it up to his neck. "The American people think the reason for inflation is the government spending more money. Simply not true."

This statement seems to be the problem. It's totally wrong. Biden's seems to be "touched".

Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (RHGPo)

88 Exclude all goods with the lowest price elasticity of demand during periods of structural inflation.

Only our shitstained ruling class would come up with a skeezy ploy this obvious. Pravda had nothing on these people.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 20, 2023 11:22 AM (0FoWg)
++++
That's not the stated reason, of course, but it is a major real reason.

The stated reason - and it makes a degree of sense, so long as you don't get lost in the pretty numbers as a result - is that fuel and food tend to be particularly volatile and cause major swings in the inflation rate where it is otherwise fairly stable. It is also subject to major short-term movement and so by the time policy catches up, the condition is over and you're doing more harm than good.

This actually does make sense to a point, but only if you don't ignore them entirely and refuse look at or consider the historical sub-series data.

Which we usually do, at a policy level. The "ex-items" number is too seductive to resist.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (d04cU)

89 WTF is Ronna McDaniels purpose? As head of the GOP she needs to tell these congressturds to knock this shit off and get behind Jordan or LOSE ALL GOP FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND ENDORSMENT. PERIOD.

Posted by: TC at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (FjlUt)

90 C'mon Man. Air is free.
-----------
But not CO2.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (krqg6)

91 starting to look like ground invasion of northern Gaza will begin soon. I'd guess that Israel had to wait until Biden finished up his ridiculous dog and pony show. I understand the urge to tell Biden to go to hell, but Israel has enough enemies as it is, and the wait hasn't cost them much strategically.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (i9ffA)

92 Frederick the Great put base metals into "silver" coins to make it through the Seven Years War [despite British gold helping out].
----------------
Roman gold coins all did that. They have a name for their gold coins but can't remember it.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (+nRli)

93 Excluding the staples necessary for life, the economy is terrific.
Posted by: Archer at October 20, 2023 11:18 AM (gmo/4)

LEARN TO PHOTOSYNTHESIZE PEASANT

-Your Social and Economic Betters

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:26 AM (xhaym)

94 ....
And take a look at a roll of toilet paper.. The hole in the middle is getting bigger and bigger and they are now cutting down the width of the roll!

But 4=12 Mega Size rolls!
Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at October 20, 2023

***
A single roll of Scott brand TP used to last me all week. My household has not changed in size, yet a Scott roll now runs out in about five days.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:26 AM (J2vNu)

95 Roman gold coins all did that. They have a name for their gold coins but can't remember it.
Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (+nRli)

Was the Solidus after Constantine. Before Denarius?

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:26 AM (OJLqX)

96 It was the reverse in Texas in the 80s. People walked off on home mortgages but kept paying on their truck loans.
Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:17 AM (+nRli)

You can always live in your car.

Ya can't drive your house...

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at October 20, 2023 11:26 AM (CCSxw)

97 Friggin' garbage bill went up too.
Posted by: Diogenes at October 20, 2023 11:20 AM (uSHSS)
++++
My town signed a new contract recently and was able to hold the line on refuse cost - but it came only because of automation (robo-trucks with big grabber arms that pick up and dump the bins into the truck. These have been common in big cities for some time now, but they're new to my area) and a reduction in garbage men. We won't be able to turn that crank on the next contract. In a few years, it will not surprise me if refuse costs double at the next renewal, even if the town changes the contractor.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:27 AM (d04cU)

98 Obama's third term is doing fantastic aside from domestic and foreign policy. I saw it in a graph

Posted by: Son of Dad at October 20, 2023 11:27 AM (8JB5s)

99 Roman gold coins all did that. They have a name for their gold coins but can't remember it.
Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023

***
The aureus, I think. There were the sesertius and the as, too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:27 AM (J2vNu)

100 A single roll of Scott brand TP used to last me all week. My household has not changed in size, yet a Scott roll now runs out in about five days.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:26 AM (J2vNu)

Scott has always been the Kaboom of toilet paper.

Posted by: The worst of the worst at October 20, 2023 11:27 AM (B9RjC)

101 A single roll of Scott brand TP used to last me all week. My household has not changed in size, yet a Scott roll now runs out in about five days.
--------------------
Wolfus, have you considered whether your asshole has gotten bigger?

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:28 AM (+nRli)

102 starting to look like ground invasion of northern Gaza will begin soon. I'd guess that Israel had to wait until Biden finished up his ridiculous dog and pony show. I understand the urge to tell Biden to go to hell, but Israel has enough enemies as it is, and the wait hasn't cost them much strategically.
Posted by: Tom Servo

Be glad I'm not in charge over there.

"President Biden, you are not welcome here. You need to leave. The war starts in 3 hours."

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:28 AM (uiWTm)

103 Was the Solidus after Constantine. Before Denarius?
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:26 AM (OJLqX)

***
Oh, that's right, I'd forgotten about those.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:28 AM (J2vNu)

104 Posted by: Danimal28 at October 20, 2023 11:23 AM (klw0

I’m not a fan anymore but quit incorrectly making Bush the boogeyman for everything. Look at the NEP program of the Bush administration and the Strategic oil supply. Both Bush’s were oil guys and were advocates of the industry.

Posted by: Drive by at October 20, 2023 11:28 AM (MNhXM)

105 Hold up. You denounce antisemitism but openly and vocally support a group of people that rapes, tortures, kidnaps and murders Jews as part of their chartered purpose of genocide against Jews in Israel. Right.
-----------
And brutally murdered a young autistic girl that Greta claims to be [and a young girl with cerebral palsy].

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:28 AM (krqg6)

106
We're winning the climate change war as well! And the fight against white supremacy, patriarchy and colonization!

There's still a lot of work to be done, however, so the Camps Undermining Noninformational Trust will have to set millions straight before true communism is possible.

Posted by: Auspex at October 20, 2023 11:29 AM (j4U/Z)

107 Inflation numbers are very good if you just omit items that are rising in price.

Also, your net worth looks much better if I just omit your debts from the balance sheet.

Posted by: Ripley at October 20, 2023 11:29 AM (JojsZ)

108 A single roll of Scott brand TP used to last me all week. My household has not changed in size, yet a Scott roll now runs out in about five days.
--------------------
Wolfus, have you considered whether your asshole has gotten bigger?
Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023

***
That's all behind me now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:29 AM (J2vNu)

109 I read on townhall that Jordan wouldn't go for a 3rd vote, but now I see they are voting?

Posted by: Inogame at October 20, 2023 11:29 AM (53oGX)

110 *Paul Krugman actually stated that excluding food, energy and shelter,*

"Excluding breathing, water and food, you can easily live on the moon."

Posted by: Dan at October 20, 2023 11:29 AM (+NG5U)

111 Jordan loses another voting round. Lol

Posted by: Boehner laughing at October 20, 2023 11:29 AM (18L0z)

112 100 Scott has always been the Kaboom of toilet paper. Wait a minute, we have that title and will always have it.

C Ration toilet paper

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 20, 2023 11:30 AM (0EOe9)

113 Couple of data points I've noticed recently

Walmart has those mini pecan pies. Used to be 50 cents. Now 74 cents. A 28% increase.

Restaurant I frequent often had my fav sandwich at $9.99 earlier this year. Then went to $10.99 now $11.99. A 20% increase in less than a year.

But yeah inflation is like 4% dude!!

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:30 AM (bWsRe)

114 starting to look like ground invasion of northern Gaza will begin soon.

Not if I can help it!
- Gavin Newsom

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko stuff in solidarity with the struggle to maintain Moron standards at October 20, 2023 11:30 AM (YZedl)

115 A single roll of Scott brand TP used to last me all week. My household has not changed in size, yet a Scott roll now runs out in about five days.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

TP is still as cheap as ever.
I truly feel for those at the gas station after me. 😏

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:30 AM (uiWTm)

116 48% not 28%

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:31 AM (bWsRe)

117 Jordan loses another voting round. Lol
Posted by: Boehner laughing at October 20, 2023 11:29 AM (18L0z)

McCarthy lost 14 rounds of voting.

Posted by: Drive by at October 20, 2023 11:31 AM (MNhXM)

118 112 100 Scott has always been the Kaboom of toilet paper. Wait a minute, we have that title and will always have it.

C Ration toilet paper
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 20, 2023 11:30 AM (0EOe9)

Scott probably had the contract with the DoD

Posted by: Nigh unto useless that stuff is at October 20, 2023 11:31 AM (B9RjC)

119 Scott has always been the Kaboom of toilet paper. Wait a minute, we have that title and will always have it.

C Ration toilet paper
Posted by: bill in arkansas

Single ply toilet paper. Get in touch with yourself.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:31 AM (uiWTm)

120 114 starting to look like ground invasion of northern Gaza will begin soon.

__

My Allah bless the innocents in Palestine.
- Justin Trudeau

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:32 AM (bWsRe)

121 Roman gold coins all did that. They have a name for their gold coins but can't remember it.
Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (+nRli)

Was the Solidus after Constantine. Before Denarius?
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:26 AM (OJLqX)

IIRC, later in his life when Isaac Newton was director of the mint (forgot the exact title) he went after those who would shave metal off the edges of coins because it debased the currency. Pretty stiff penalties if caught (even death?). Sir Isaac was all in on eliminating that…

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at October 20, 2023 11:32 AM (3WbjW)

122 108 A single roll of Scott brand TP used to last me all week. My household has not changed in size, yet a Scott roll now runs out in about five days.
--------------------
Wolfus, have you considered whether your asshole has gotten bigger?
Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023

***
That's all behind me now.
-----------
Golf Clap.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:32 AM (+nRli)

123 C Ration toilet paper
Posted by: bill in arkansas
----------
C-Ration coffee and shit discs

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (+nRli)

124 Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than output.

- Milton Friedman

The driver of the quantity of money is government spending.

Someone slap Joe and the rest of the uniparty upside their heads until until it gets through to them.

This isn't hard to understand.

Posted by: Archer at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (gmo/4)

125 A glimmer of sanity from Hollywood?

Actor Michael Rapaport Calls Squad Members “Big 3 of Jewish Hate”: “AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, You Fake News F****!”

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (FVME7)

126 75
'Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected'

Please. Please let this happen.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (bVfY0)

127 49 Portion sizes are also shrinking in food again. Pretty dramatically.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone, apropos of nothing at October 20, 2023 11:15 AM (OJLqX)

Look at the Upside! Less Fatties!

Posted by: XTC at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (UnA8+)

128 I make decent money and I'm looking around and going WTF, shit is no longer affordable. How is someone making $35, $40K a year getting by?

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (bWsRe)

129 ... Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (FVME7)
++++
Be still, my heart.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:34 AM (d04cU)

130 Greg Price
@greg_price11
Biden: "I know many of you in the Muslim American community are outraged saying to yourself 'here we go again' with Islamophobia and distress we saw after 9/11"

-
Geez! A few thousand dead bodies and, right away, they're all Islam is evil!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:34 AM (FVME7)

131 125 A glimmer of sanity from Hollywood?

Actor Michael Rapaport Calls Squad Members “Big 3 of Jewish Hate”: “AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, You Fake News F****!”
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (FVME7)

___

But he'll never not vote Democrat cuz Republicans are white supremacists. So fuck him.

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:34 AM (bWsRe)

132 75 Lol: Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (FVME7)

Show it on TV, Please, Based Orange Daddy.

Posted by: XTC at October 20, 2023 11:34 AM (UnA8+)

133 If Krugman had ever displayed signs of a sense of humor or even the ability laugh I would have to believe he is trolling us.

Posted by: Ripley at October 20, 2023 11:35 AM (JojsZ)

134 Our culture is such that consumers are just not pulling back like they should.

If an SUV costs $100k, they're still going to buy it. YOLO.

You would see inflation pull back in a big way if consumers just said no to much of this, but I'm just not seeing it.

I do think student loans restarting though is going to be a HUGE headwind for the economy.

Our country needs a bad and painful recession. I'm just not sure we're ever going to get it.

Posted by: Blago at October 20, 2023 11:35 AM (p1uqj)

135 Look at the Upside! Less Fatties!
Posted by: XTC at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (UnA8+)

Fewer fatties. But they get public assistance through disability payments and whatnot to buy food so the number of fatties will remain relatively constant.

Posted by: Beautiful and healthy at any size, against the law to say otherwise at October 20, 2023 11:35 AM (B9RjC)

136 IIRC, later in his life when Isaac Newton was director of the mint (forgot the exact title) he went after those who would shave metal off the edges of coins because it debased the currency. Pretty stiff penalties if caught (even death?). Sir Isaac was all in on eliminating that…
---------------
That's why they started minting coins with serrated edges - to detect whether a coin has been shaved.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:35 AM (+nRli)

137 The bullshit coming out of Dumbass-Krugman's pie hole never ceases to boggle me. He is either completely retarded, or a cross between Idiocracy and 1984.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at October 20, 2023 11:19 AM (ufFY

Krugman is doctrinaire and has that Nobel for making up convenient stories about the Depression and Liquidity Locks to explain why deflation of any sort will destroy civilization.

Imagine him as the chief priest of Huitzilopochtli ramping up the sacrifices of captured prisoners and is not understanding why the Spanish and their allies keep fighting and winning against the Aztec warriors.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:36 AM (xhaym)

138 I make decent money and I'm looking around and going WTF, shit is no longer affordable. How is someone making $35, $40K a year getting by?
Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (bWsRe)
++++
Deep cuts, extensive credit and hope.

When the credit runs out, the personal bankruptcy will follow and it's going to be very, very nasty for a large number of people.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:36 AM (d04cU)

139 128 I make decent money and I'm looking around and going WTF, shit is no longer affordable. How is someone making $35, $40K a year getting by?
Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (bWsRe)

They aren't.

Part of me wants to be sympathetic, but I also wonder if we shouldn't be making the underachievers feel like shit for their failure to succeed financially.

Posted by: XTC at October 20, 2023 11:36 AM (UnA8+)

140 Democrats suck. But not in a good way.

Posted by: setnaffa at October 20, 2023 11:36 AM (kSZiE)

141 Gun Thread request:

Is there an online U.S. firearms store the morons can recommend?

I just want to compare prices for pistol magazines at a few places contrasted with the Hoser stores and [probably] not buy.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:37 AM (krqg6)

142 The driver of the quantity of money is government spending.
--------------------
Printing not spending.

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:37 AM (+nRli)

143 IIRC, later in his life when Isaac Newton was director of the mint (forgot the exact title) he went after those who would shave metal off the edges of coins because it debased the currency. Pretty stiff penalties if caught (even death?). Sir Isaac was all in on eliminating that…
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at October 20, 2023 11:32 AM (3WbjW)

There was a book written about that. One of the stranger stories about historical characters; Isaac Newton transformed from a scientist into some kind of weird cross between Batman and Inspecter Jauvert. The King thought he was great, so he had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted to do.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 20, 2023 11:37 AM (i9ffA)

144 I make decent money and I'm looking around and going WTF, shit is no longer affordable. How is someone making $35, $40K a year getting by?
Posted by: Montec

EBT. Unless you're white.
Then you don't qualify. So they sell meth.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:37 AM (uiWTm)

145 The stated reason - and it makes a degree of sense, so long as you don't get lost in the pretty numbers as a result - is that fuel and food tend to be particularly volatile and cause major swings in the inflation rate where it is otherwise fairly stable. It is also subject to major short-term movement and so by the time policy catches up, the condition is over and you're doing more harm than good.

-----

That's why I said "structural" inflation. This is not being caused by an embargo or natural disaster or war. This is economy wide and it's been going on for years...

When you use Core CPI numbers in absence of real numbers, it should be rare and *explicitly* stated. As in "we are using this measurement because of price shocks due to OPEC supply manipulations," or whatever.

The whole thing is just ludicrous.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 20, 2023 11:37 AM (0FoWg)

146 Krugman is an embarrassment to economists.

Thankfully, he's not an embarrassment to humanity since he's an ugly little troll.

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at October 20, 2023 11:38 AM (JMAcK)

147 Is there an online U.S. firearms store the morons can recommend?

I just want to compare prices for pistol magazines at a few places contrasted with the Hoser stores and [probably] not buy.
Posted by: andycanuck

CDNN, Midway USA.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:38 AM (uiWTm)

148 129 ... Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (FVME7)
++++
Be still, my heart.
--------------
I thought she retired to spend moar time with her cats. WTF?

Posted by: Pudinhead at October 20, 2023 11:39 AM (+nRli)

149 Lol: Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (FVME7)

___

Rachel, I'm already voting for him, no need to convince me anymore.

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:39 AM (bWsRe)

150 When you use Core CPI numbers in absence of real numbers, it should be rare and *explicitly* stated. As in "we are using this measurement because of price shocks due to OPEC supply manipulations," or whatever.

The whole thing is just ludicrous.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 20, 2023 11:37 AM (0FoWg)
++++
Neither politicians nor the public of fans of subtlety or nuance and neither is conducive to great power.

So take the useful figure for one kind of preferred trend assessment - "core inflation" - apply it to everything, gaslight people who notice it's bullshit, and declare victory.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:39 AM (d04cU)

151
Part of me wants to be sympathetic, but I also wonder if we shouldn't be making the underachievers feel like shit for their failure to succeed financially.
Posted by: XTC at October 20, 2023 11:36 AM (UnA8+)

They're being ground to dust between taxation and inflation, just as Lenin wanted (purportedly). Taking a wet shit on people who don't make a lot of money and are struggling even more because they've been fucked by the government is, well, a pretty shitty thing to do.

Posted by: You can work hard all your life and still get boned at October 20, 2023 11:39 AM (B9RjC)

152 Everything that people need has more than doubled under the Idiot Biden.

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at October 20, 2023 11:39 AM (R8Jig)

153 #147 Thanks, Rick.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:39 AM (krqg6)

154 Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023

***
Hey, Rache. How come he didn't do that in 2017?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (J2vNu)

155 Dudes, come on. You can't just make s*** up.

Posted by: Climate Change Advocates at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (I/Qkd)

156 Typically American households spend only about 10% of their household budget on food.
Buck is alarmed that this rather small (but important) sector of the budget is now undergoing a yearly increase of 7.2%
This skyrocketing' food increase will put an overall increase in their budget of less than 2%
Total energy costs have gone up, but global energy prices are controlled by the biggest energy exporters, Russia and the Saudis ( Trump's bff!)
Oil companies are earning record high profits !! The USA under Biden's "war on Energy" are at record highs

Also please note (note bene for you smart guys) that the overall 7.2% inflation rate is mostly offset by the 5.2% avg increase in wages.
So quit bitchin!! Cut back on all those expensive Starbucks coffees. Save money by making your own avocado toasts.. maybe delay purchasing that 80000$. F 150

Posted by: Paul at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (z8pCP)

157 141 Try SARCO. I got some 1911 mags (they make their own) for under $9. I also got a mag for the LCP for a couple bucks under the going rate.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (0EOe9)

158 Hey, Rache. How come he didn't do that in 2017?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (J2vNu)
++++
Because it's not who he is. As much as I'd actually like Maddow to be right here, she isn't and she knows it. It's not who he is.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (d04cU)

159 I don't remember seeing this book mentioned, but How to Lie with Statistics, by Darrell Huff, show a lot of the tricks used. The book was first released in 1954, but it's still very useful.

https://tinyurl.com/457tpuy4 (bn.com link)

A good source for used copies is https://www.thriftbooks.com/. I've used them before with good results.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at October 20, 2023 11:41 AM (mNmNo)

160 Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023

***
Hey, Rache. How come he didn't do that in 2017?

Easy. The Lightbringer had ensured there was no ammunition.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:41 AM (I/Qkd)

161 WSJ:

On memes on social media in Israel, Biden has been depicted as Captain America and “protector of Israel.” Many Israelis say the speeches he’s given since the war started—in which he has denounced Hamas as “evil” and pledged America’s help in protecting the country—moved and comforted them as they have grappled with the shock of the attack.

Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 11:42 AM (RHGPo)

162 Everything that people need has more than doubled under the Idiot Biden.
Posted by: Lemmiwinks
--------------------------------

Miss me yet?

Posted by: Jimmy Carter at October 20, 2023 11:42 AM (X4yCj)

163 And then we're in the harrowing case of brutal and worsening deficits and crippling centralized debt costs at the same that the monetary base decreases and there's actually not a damn thing the Fed can do about it. Even directly monetizing the debt won't overcome it.

One possible outcome.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (d04cU)

If the dollar is seen as a safe haven, then the euro will go the way of the Lira and the Franc and the dollar will be supported by that demand
What the raised rates are doing is throttling the demand for loans by making the interest too high to sustain for long term projects (and clipping the demand for short term loans as well due to current debt load) which seems to be working. The Shadowstats indicates that the inflation is down to +8 from +10 (!) a quarter ago

The USG hates higher interest since that makes it hard to fund the wars and the entitlements, and are fighting Powell at the fed. Elizabeth Warren is calling for the end of the Fed so they can set up a central bank, and go full Venezuela

Who knows if it will work.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:42 AM (xhaym)

164 If an SUV costs $100k, they're still going to buy it. YOLO.

Posted by: Blago

___

I don't disagree with your overall point that people still buy shit. But this $100K SUV is a meme/myth that won't die. Yes, are there $100K SUVs? Sure. There are also $200K SUVs. Are they the typical SUV people drive? No. Not even close. The typical SUV on the road is a $40K highlander.

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:42 AM (bWsRe)

165 Outstanding essay. I hope more people pay attention.

Looking at "what was" is useful, as an indication of what is coming. Only when some event reduces fiscal stimulus, like a dramatic increase in bond rates, will the present course change.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 20, 2023 11:43 AM (ZbyVB)

166 I don't remember seeing this book mentioned, but How to Lie with Statistics, by Darrell Huff, show a lot of the tricks used. The book was first released in 1954, but it's still very useful.

https://tinyurl.com/457tpuy4 (bn.com link)

A good source for used copies is https://www.thriftbooks.com/. I've used them before with good results.
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at October 20, 2023

***
My teacher used that in a liberal arts math course back in the '70s. I should get a copy, since I can appreciate the tricks much better now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:43 AM (J2vNu)

167 Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected

A federal judge has previously ruled that you can’t take seriously anything she says

Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 11:44 AM (RHGPo)

168 Bunker up. It's gonna get worse.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo at October 20, 2023 11:44 AM (xcxpd)

169 Climate protester left with block of tarmac stuck to his hand is jailed

https://tinyurl.com/5377nbzv

-
Schadenfreudilicious photo at link.

I guess he was jailed for stealing asphalt.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:44 AM (FVME7)

170 Part of me wants to be sympathetic, but I also wonder if we shouldn't be making the underachievers feel like shit for their failure to succeed financially.
Posted by: XTC at October 20, 2023 11:36 AM (UnA8+)

They're being ground to dust between taxation and inflation, just as Lenin wanted (purportedly). Taking a wet shit on people who don't make a lot of money and are struggling even more because they've been fucked by the government is, well, a pretty shitty thing to do.

Posted by: You can work hard all your life and still get boned

Amen, brother.

Posted by: Brother Tim sez Max Headroom for President! at October 20, 2023 11:44 AM (OUMaO)

171 161 WSJ:

On memes on social media in Israel, Biden has been depicted as Captain America and “protector of Israel.” Many Israelis say the speeches he’s given since the war started—in which he has denounced Hamas as “evil” and pledged America’s help in protecting the country—moved and comforted them as they have grappled with the shock of the attack.
Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 11:42 AM (RHGPo)

___

Guess they missed the part where Biden sent Hamas $6B.

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:45 AM (bWsRe)

172 121
'Pretty stiff penalties if caught (even death?)'

I gave many a gravity lesson on the gallows

Posted by: Sir Isaac Newton at October 20, 2023 11:45 AM (bVfY0)

173 Frederick the Great put base metals into "silver" coins to make it through the Seven Years War [despite British gold helping out].
Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:23 AM (krqg6)

One of the biggest traps Rome got into was debasing the coinage, it drove inflation which fragmented the commercial nets because transport and marketing lost you money, better to focus locally on everything but luxuries that could be exchanged for luxuries.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:45 AM (xhaym)

174 134 Our culture is such that consumers are just not pulling back like they should.

If an SUV costs $100k, they're still going to buy it. YOLO.

---

This is true. When stuff is too expensive you (everybody) need to stop buying it. This goes for houses, cars, tvs, subscriptions and yes... college education. We have removed economics and personal finance classes from HS. All of these younger people want everything now and will finance anything and everything.

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at October 20, 2023 11:45 AM (R8Jig)

175 I think Biden would always win a wet shit contest no matter where the bar was!

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:45 AM (krqg6)

176 Gold and Bitcoin won't solve anything in a way that the Banks or the Governments will approve of

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:45 AM (xhaym)

177 This tweet below is not a parody. Nobel Prize winning propagandist economist Paul Krugman actually stated that excluding food, energy and shelter/

>>>>>>>>>

Food energy and shelter ? Pfft, who needs that ?

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at October 20, 2023 11:45 AM (S+j2h)

178 Holy shit. I understand a lot of people are economic illiterates, but Paul is something else. It's economic illiteracy for sure, but it's also informed by some number vomit from a Shareblue comment template.

It's a Category V Hurrdurricane.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 20, 2023 11:46 AM (0FoWg)

179 151 They're being ground to dust between taxation and inflation, just as Lenin wanted (purportedly). Taking a wet shit on people who don't make a lot of money and are struggling even more because they've been fucked by the government is, well, a pretty shitty thing to do.
Posted by: You can work hard all your life and still get boned at October 20, 2023 11:39 AM (B9RjC)

Maybe. But I've been told by others for years "If the bullying doesn't work, then you have to bully them harder".

Again, I want to be sympathetic, but I don't want to take a position that's in line with "Weak Sister" types or Left-Wingers.

And it kind of sucks. I feel like I have to be a raging asshole in order to prove to others that I'm not weak myself.

Posted by: XTC at October 20, 2023 11:46 AM (UnA8+)

180 When stuff is too expensive you (everybody) need to stop buying it. This goes for houses, cars, tvs, subscriptions and yes... college education. We have removed economics and personal finance classes from HS. All of these younger people want everything now and will finance anything and everything.

Most of them assume they'll never have to pay back their college loans. I wouldn't bet against them.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:47 AM (I/Qkd)

181 Here's a good example of inflation in a widely used product. I use aspirin as an NSAID for joint pain, and like to have the uncoated variety around in case it's a big emergency with the ticker. The 150 count bottle has gone from $1 to $3.25. I get the small bottles to assure freshness. The big bottles have gone up just about as much, percentage wise.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 20, 2023 11:47 AM (0EOe9)

182 The Fed just came out with a report on Wednesday stating that American households increased their net worth during the pandemic as well.

Posted by: SirMix at October 20, 2023 11:47 AM (K4rbK)

183 Price of things, especially cars doesn't really matter anymore. All that matters is the monthly payment. Stretch out a car loan for 8 years instead of 7 and the "cost" doesn't change in the minds of the average economically illiterate American. An iphone is $1300. But nobody thinks they're paying $1300 for it. They're paying $30 a month.

And so on.

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:47 AM (bWsRe)

184 Posted by: Paul

Damn, you're a stupid motherfucker.

Posted by: BifBewalski at October 20, 2023 11:48 AM (3CCua)

185 Holy shit. I understand a lot of people are economic illiterates, but Paul is something else. It's economic illiteracy for sure, but it's also informed by some number vomit from a Shareblue comment template.

He doesn't believe any of it. He's just saying things that he knows will cause some of us to get in a tizzy. Why play his game?

Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:48 AM (I/Qkd)

186 Big banks are quietly cutting thousands of employees, and more layoffs are coming. Source: CNBC The next five largest U.S. banks cut a combined 20,000 positions so far this year, according to company filings. Even as the economy has surprised forecasters with its resilience, lenders have cut headcount or announced plans to do so, with the key exception being JPMorgan Chase, the biggest and most profitable U.S. bank.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate just hit 8% for the first time since 2000 as Treasury yields soar. Source: CNBC Rates rose sharply this week and last week, as investors digest more reads on the economy. On Wednesday, it was housing starts, which rose in September, though not as much as expected, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. ... Building permits, an indicator of future construction, fell, but by a less than the expected amount. Last week, retail sales came in far higher than expected, creating more uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s long-term plan.

These higher rates have caused mortgage demand to plummet, as applications fell nearly 7% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Bidenomics!

Posted by: Intercepted DU Transmissions brought by the Intrepid AoS Liaison at October 20, 2023 11:48 AM (JCZqz)

187 Vet bills are up too. Poor Maceo, my nephmew, has a torn ACL.

Posted by: SFGoth at October 20, 2023 11:48 AM (KAi1n)

188 182 The Fed just came out with a report on Wednesday stating that American households increased their net worth during the pandemic as well.
Posted by: SirMix at October 20, 2023 11:47 AM (K4rbK)

___

Well sure. Never ending stimmie checks, child tax credits, $1000/week unemployment bennies. All the while being locked in the house with nowhere to spend the money.

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:48 AM (bWsRe)

189 Young voters played a key role in Biden’s winning the presidency in 2020 and in Democrats’ better-than-expected performance in the midterms. Zogby’s group estimates that Arab-Americans can make up 5% of the votes in Michigan and roughly 2% in Pennsylvania—two swing states where presidential elections are often decided by a narrow margin.

Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 11:48 AM (RHGPo)

190 There can be only one!!!

Posted by: a $500G Highlander at October 20, 2023 11:49 AM (krqg6)

191 Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023
==================
They always project their own sins on to Trump, so I fully expect Madcow to call for future executions of Trump supporters.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at October 20, 2023 11:49 AM (ij0BO)

192 ... Also please note (note bene for you smart guys) that the overall 7.2% inflation rate is mostly offset by the 5.2% avg increase in wages.
So quit bitchin!! Cut back on all those expensive Starbucks coffees. Save money by making your own avocado toasts.. maybe delay purchasing that 80000$. F 150
Posted by: Cocksucker at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (C0ck$)
++++
"Real wages are down multiple percentage points" is not the sick burn you think it is.

Learn your audience, dickweed. Avocado Toast is a Millennial thing, and this crowd skews older (albeit, in something explicable only thanks to quantum effects, all are also only 29), and so this, too, is not the sick burn you think it is.

And the $80k truck is the result not only of market effects but the regulatory environment and - wait for it - inflation. This, too, is not the sick burn you think it is. The Starbucks thing is irrelevant to the point, too. It's small change in the context of credit, housing and transportation.

If you're going to be a troll, try to be a tad less retarded about it. You bring shame to yourself and your family. Your kids will probably be retarded, too, so I hope your hideous mate is also barren.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:49 AM (d04cU)

193 Maybe. But I've been told by others for years "If the bullying doesn't work, then you have to bully them harder".

Again, I want to be sympathetic, but I don't want to take a position that's in line with "Weak Sister" types or Left-Wingers.

And it kind of sucks. I feel like I have to be a raging asshole in order to prove to others that I'm not weak myself.

Posted by: XTC

No amount of bullying will help someone cut off at the knees to run a 100m sprint. It will, however, eventually piss them off enough that they turn on you.

Be mindful of broad brushes.

Posted by: Brother Tim sez Max Headroom for President! at October 20, 2023 11:49 AM (OUMaO)

194 And then we're in the harrowing case of brutal and worsening deficits and crippling centralized debt costs at the same that the monetary base decreases and there's actually not a damn thing the Fed can do about it. Even directly monetizing the debt won't overcome it.

One possible outcome.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (d04cU)
==
And Powell knows what the real rate is. While trying to shrink the balance sheet and raise rates again.

Posted by: Black JEM at October 20, 2023 11:50 AM (GZYu7)

195 This bikini blonde on a boat feels lucky that she, personally, doesn't have to worry about inflation thanks to her rich and well-connected hubby:
https://is.gd/4qcJ3Y

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:50 AM (d04cU)

196 Denareus was silver (and later silver washed bronze) and Aureus for the gold coins. I was once told that Constantine funded the creation of the Aureus to re-establish a stable Roman currency, in part by declaring Christianity the state religion and seizing pagan cults' temple funds.
No idea if that is true or not

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:51 AM (xhaym)

197 I remember gas at .33 gal
and smokes at .33 pack

And I am only 29

Posted by: kactus at October 20, 2023 11:51 AM (rkpIx)

198 Gold and Bitcoin won't solve anything in a way that the Banks or the Governments will approve of
----------
ZeroHedge is creaming over gold breaking $2,000 again.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:51 AM (krqg6)

199 And I understand that Paul is a paid troll. But you hear that kind of shit from younger people who've been to college, a whole lot.

"I am single, relatively affluent and all my food is overpriced all the time - I only eat through DoorDash. Here are some numbers I heard from Professor Thinky McCollege, down at the Northern Southeast Dumbfuck State University of Thinking."

Meanwhile, humans are just like "yo, motherfucker - feeding my family of five is suddenly bankrupting me. I'm eating my seed grain, thanks to you."

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (0FoWg)

200 maybe delay purchasing that 80000$. F 150

___

I hate how the yuuutes are putting the $ at the end now. It's gay and retarded. But mainly retarded.

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (bWsRe)

201 Free up's just another word for nothin' left to lose.

Check out the creepy walking robots (they blink!) that Amazon is testing to "free up" human staff

https://tinyurl.com/59k6y9vv

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (FVME7)

202 Maher Bitar. Yes, remember that name. He is solely responsible for prioritizing what collection efforts on intelligence are tier one, two, three and four for President Biden.

cue photo of Maher Batar recently wearing Palestinian garb, raising a hand behind a picture that said, we want Jewish apartheid. This is the guy in charge of intelligence operations for the United States of America.

Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (RHGPo)

203 153 #147 Thanks, Rick.
Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:39 AM (krqg6)

Brownells will run good sales of mags if you watch for them. Better on shipping than Midway most of the time.

Posted by: Inogame at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (53oGX)

204 195 This bikini blonde on a boat feels lucky that she, personally, doesn't have to worry about inflation thanks to her rich and well-connected hubby:
https://is.gd/4qcJ3Y
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:50 AM (d04cU)

Lovely body. I even like the bikini colors

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (xcxpd)

205 I don't disagree with your overall point that people still buy shit. But this $100K SUV is a meme/myth that won't die. Yes, are there $100K SUVs? Sure. There are also $200K SUVs. Are they the typical SUV people drive? No. Not even close. The typical SUV on the road is a $40K highlander.
Posted by: Montec
___

Go look at say what a new Suburban or Jeep Wagoneer costs. You really are talking about $70k+. And they absolutely can climb to $100k with options.

These aren't "exotic" cars, these were pretty middle class staples for most of my life. It wasn't ultra rich people that owned these things.

Same with pickup trucks, for most of my life, a new F-150 was not some status symbol purchase.

Posted by: Blago at October 20, 2023 11:53 AM (p1uqj)

206 And Powell knows what the real rate is. While trying to shrink the balance sheet and raise rates again.
Posted by: Black JEM at October 20, 2023 11:50 AM (GZYu7)
++++
Of course he does. As always, it's a Jedi mind trick. The Fed follows the market, it doesn't lead it.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:53 AM (d04cU)

207 I hate how the yuuutes are putting the $ at the end now. It's gay and retarded. But mainly retarded.

Is it European or something?

Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:53 AM (I/Qkd)

208 158 Hey, Rache. How come he didn't do that in 2017?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (J2vNu)
++++
Because it's not who he is. As much as I'd actually like Maddow to be right here, she isn't and she knows it. It's not who he is.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:40 AM (d04cU)

Although to us the claim is comical, there's a very dark side to it; it's meant to justify someone saying "well since he's gonna kill us I gotta kill him first." This is how political assassinations are encouraged and condoned.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 20, 2023 11:53 AM (i9ffA)

209 maybe delay purchasing that 80000$. F 150

I hate how the yuuutes are putting the $ at the end now. It's gay and retarded. But mainly retarded.
Posted by: Montec

And mostly gay.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:54 AM (uiWTm)

210 164
I don't disagree with your overall point that people still buy shit. But this $100K SUV is a meme/myth that won't die. Yes, are there $100K SUVs? Sure. There are also $200K SUVs. Are they the typical SUV people drive? No. Not even close. The typical SUV on the road is a $40K highlander.
Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:42 AM (bWsRe)

Not looking to start a debate here, but......
100K SUVs or even trucks is no myth. How many baseline trucks (1/2 ton or 3/4) do you see vs. the Denali / Lariat / King Ranch / etc.

Many people are getting the premium trims and its nothing to see an 80k, 100k, 100k plus vehicle. I have family that are big into riding side-by-sides. They see the same thing with those offroad vehicles - top of the line rides bought by fairly young people.

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at October 20, 2023 11:54 AM (N39Ws)

211
"I am single, relatively affluent and all my food is overpriced all the time - I only eat through DoorDash. Here are some numbers I heard from Professor Thinky McCollege, down at the Northern Southeast Dumbfuck State University of Thinking."

Meanwhile, humans are just like "yo, motherfucker - feeding my family of five is suddenly bankrupting me. I'm eating my seed grain, thanks to you."
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (0FoWg)

___

Paul: everything's awesome

Also Paul: OMG if I have to start paying $200/mo for my student loans again I'll be homeless

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:54 AM (bWsRe)

212 I hate how the yuuutes are putting the $ at the end now. It's gay and retarded. But mainly retarded.

Is it European or something?

I mean, granted, European is a synonym for gay and retarded...

Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:54 AM (I/Qkd)

213 This statement seems to be the problem. It's totally wrong. Biden's seems to be "touched".
Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 11:25 AM (RHGPo)
---

No no no.... c'mon man. It's little girls that are touched.

Posted by: Joe Biden at October 20, 2023 11:54 AM (ehGBp)

214 ... "I am single, relatively affluent and all my food is overpriced all the time - I only eat through DoorDash. Here are some numbers I heard from Professor Thinky McCollege, down at the Northern Southeast Dumbfuck State University of Thinking." ...
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (0FoWg)
++++
I think I am sensing some subtle contempt here.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:55 AM (d04cU)

215 ZeroHedge is creaming over gold breaking $2,000 again.
Posted by: andycanuck
__

I'm not really a gold bug, but it will not surprise me in the least that we look back and say "of course gold was a good investment when our currency is toilet paper"

Posted by: Blago at October 20, 2023 11:55 AM (p1uqj)

216 Although to us the claim is comical, there's a very dark side to it; it's meant to justify someone saying "well since he's gonna kill us I gotta kill him first." This is how political assassinations are encouraged and condoned.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 20, 2023 11:53 AM (i9ffA)
++++
Political violence in general, yes. It's something they'd like to see more of.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:55 AM (d04cU)

217 There aren't any base trims on the lot. You go to but a new Tahoe or Explorer, it's going to be $60k+ for a mid tier trim. Same with an f-150. They'll be a couple of work truck XL that are on backorder but it's mostly XLT Plus and Lariats that you can actually buy.

Posted by: brak at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (WxvBY)

218 I make decent money and I'm looking around and going WTF, shit is no longer affordable. How is someone making $35, $40K a year getting by?
---
That's what I don't get either.

And one of the sources of my utter hatred of the Republican Party leadership is that it's run by the "you poors are poor cause you're lazy so you should work harder and get rich like us."

Those people that hate Trump the most in the GOP, that's one of the reasons they hate him: Poor people in "our" party?! Never!

The Republican party would be crushing the Dems if they actually started addressing the economic inequality, the real exploration of workers that the country club et al. relies on to keep the greens cut, the destruction of good jobs from free trade, the strangulation of growth in wages from immigration, regulation and unfair competition.

No, they hate all that nasty populist stuff, the working people issues. So they rather "debate" the issues Becky Winebox is idlely wondering about halfway through her 3rd merlot on a Wednesday.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (TzW+Y)

219 Many people are getting the premium trims and its nothing to see an 80k, 100k, 100k plus vehicle. I have family that are big into riding side-by-sides. They see the same thing with those offroad vehicles - top of the line rides bought by fairly young people.
Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at October 20, 2023 11:54 AM (N39Ws)

__

Right. I'm not saying these don't exist. I'm saying they're the extremes. I hear this a lot about boats. How can everyone afford these $120K boats? And I'm like, very few people do. Go to a marina and for ever $120K new boat there are 20 used boats that cost $30K.

Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (bWsRe)

220 Political violence in general, yes. It's something they'd like to see more of.

Given the demographics of gun ownership, they should be careful what they wish for.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (I/Qkd)

221 OT: On my campus, they;ve erected a chalkboard near my building for use with outdoor classes. Recently, though, we've seen a lot of (sanitized) graffiti. Today: END THE GENOCIDE IN GAZA, with FREE PALESTINE to one side.

I wish I'd seen it early this morning. I'd have changed it to END THE DELAY AND FLATTEN GAZA and FREE PALESTINE FROM 7TH CENTURY FANATICS. If they're still there on Monday morning, I will.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (J2vNu)

222 I hate how the yuuutes are putting the $ at the end now. It's gay and retarded. But mainly retarded.
Posted by: Montec at October 20, 2023 11:52 AM (bWsRe)
++++
It's either just plain old stupidity and ignorance or it's due to idiots seeing stock symbols on Twitter and Reddit and not understanding the difference.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (d04cU)

223 Gold at $2007 and climbing.

I'll be in my bunk.

Posted by: Maj. Healey - Nobody Is Coming To Save You. You Are On Your Own. at October 20, 2023 11:57 AM (l10hq)

224 #203 And thanks too, Inogame.

Both the Brownwells and Midway sound familiar, probably from Gub Threads past.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 11:57 AM (krqg6)

225 And one of the sources of my utter hatred of the Republican Party leadership is that it's run by the "you poors are poor cause you're lazy so you should work harder and get rich like us."

Those people that hate Trump the most in the GOP, that's one of the reasons they hate him: Poor people in "our" party?! Never!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, every Dem caricature of Republicans from the last 80 years.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:57 AM (I/Qkd)

226 Not looking to start a debate here, but......
100K SUVs or even trucks is no myth. How many baseline trucks (1/2 ton or 3/4) do you see vs. the Denali / Lariat / King Ranch / etc.

Many people are getting the premium trims and its nothing to see an 80k, 100k, 100k plus vehicle. I have family that are big into riding side-by-sides. They see the same thing with those offroad vehicles - top of the line rides bought by fairly young people.
Posted by: Our Country is Screwed

We paid $47k for a base F150 with family pricing because my sister is married to the vp of the dealership.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 11:57 AM (uiWTm)

227 We've cut the Trump inflation in half!

Posted by: We Elected Us at October 20, 2023 11:58 AM (OUiUM)

228 And another media lie!

@AGHamilton29
So 2 weeks a bunch of people on here shared a claim that Israel had destroyed the Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius. It turned out that it was untouched.
Last night, the same propagandists from Tuesday’s hospital blast again said it was destroyed, left in ruin, and 40-150 dead.
Now we have pictures and the church is fine (aside from some debris and one wall). The target was a Hamas command center that they deliberately put near to the church. The new reported death toll is 2 and unclear if those are civilians or Hamas members.
A lot of the press was at least smarter than to jump in this the way they did Tuesday.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:59 AM (FVME7)

229 Used truck inventories are still absolute shit thanks to 0's incentivized destruction. A truck is a must for most small businesses, and they are thin on the ground even a dozen years later.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at October 20, 2023 11:59 AM (UfRqq)

230 Reports are a tornado has dropped a house on Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. A number of small people were seen dancing and singing in the streets at the news.

Posted by: An Observation sez China Joe not my president at October 20, 2023 11:59 AM (CecP5)

231 My brother talked with an old D.C. roommate yesterday. He's always been a solid Democrat through thick and thin.

I mentioned that the massacre by Hamas seemed to draw a lot of neo-Nazis out of the sewers, and most of them appear to be Democrats. He said he noticed, and he didn't like it at all.

He also said the reactions have made him feel insecure. This was sad to hear. He always was a confident guy. 'I don't like feeling vulnerable,' he said.

Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 11:59 AM (RHGPo)

232 Given the demographics of gun ownership, they should be careful what they wish for.
Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (I/Qkd)
++++
They look at it - and they're not wrong - as something approaching parity.

They have tons of weapons, too, and are less disinclined to use them thanks to the political environment. The (anti)-prosecution complex acts as a force multiplier.

Go visit radical Reddit, especially trans Reddit. You will find that the hard left is very, very pro-2A and opposes *any* restrictions on gun ownership - even if they are targeted at peaceable conservatives in the countryside - because they know they'll need their weapons for the war they're trying to start.

Never forget that one of the popular - though it never makes the news for obvious reasons - versions of the "Pride Flag" has an outline of an AK or an AR on it.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 11:59 AM (d04cU)

233 And one of the sources of my utter hatred of the Republican Party leadership is that it's run by the "you poors are poor cause you're lazy so you should work harder and get rich like us."

Being born on third base, as many of them were, hardly gives them moral authority to lecture about hard work.

Posted by: Work is for us peasants at October 20, 2023 12:00 PM (B9RjC)

234 I hate how the yuuutes are putting the $ at the end now. It's gay and retarded. But mainly retarded.

Is it European or something?

I mean, granted, European is a synonym for gay and retarded...
Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:54 AM (I/Qkd)
______________

Same thing with those "European" traffic roundabouts. Grrrr.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at October 20, 2023 12:00 PM (YqDXo)

235 The driver of the quantity of money is government spending.
Someone slap Joe and the rest of the uniparty upside their heads until until it gets through to them.
This isn't hard to understand.
Posted by: Archer at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (gmo/4)

Under the Fed money is created by the banks issuing loans and by fractional reserve banking.

The banks loan you money, then get it credited from the Federal Reserve, live off the spread, and since the money is often not spent all at once, they can loan out the unused part for more money.

When the Federal Government deficit spends, it does mostly the same thing, there are IOUs that are promised to be paid back later that are held and treated as assets and are treated as collateral, in effect pumping up the money volume as well.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 12:00 PM (xhaym)

236 A single roll of Scott brand TP used to last me all week. My household has not changed in size, yet a Scott roll now runs out in about five days.

********

Have you noticed that the size of the inner cardboard tube has increased, allowing the outside diameter of the roll to appear unchanged, but actually including less actual paper?

They've subtracted from the inside of the roll, not the outside.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 20, 2023 12:00 PM (l4B/J)

237 If there's a Speaker of the House, there ought to be a Listener, a Smeller, a Feeler, and a Taster too.

Posted by: For gp, The Action IS The Juice at October 20, 2023 12:01 PM (MvF+J)

238 224 Both Brownells and Midway have been around for a long, long time. If you can find them, Bob Brownells books "Gunsmithing Kinks" are great, with a lot of hints (hacks as they now say) applicable to a lot of uses. Midway got their start cranking out 8mm Nambu ammo for returning GIs with bring back pistols.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at October 20, 2023 12:01 PM (0EOe9)

239 Nood, depends, soiled... assembly required.

Posted by: Inogame at October 20, 2023 12:01 PM (53oGX)

240 nood

Posted by: For gp, The Action IS The Juice at October 20, 2023 12:02 PM (MvF+J)

241 >>A single roll of Scott brand TP used to last me all week.

TP? Luxury.

Posted by: Maj. Healey - Nobody Is Coming To Save You. You Are On Your Own. at October 20, 2023 12:02 PM (l10hq)

242 If there's a Speaker of the House, there ought to be a Listener, a Smeller, a Feeler, and a Taster too.
Posted by: For gp, The Action IS The Juice at October 20, 2023 12:01 PM (MvF+J)
++++
Congressional antics are creepy enough *without* a designated Feeler of the House.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at October 20, 2023 12:02 PM (d04cU)

243 Is Paul a troll or a sock puppet?

Posted by: MJ at October 20, 2023 12:02 PM (zwDuR)

244 All that ammo we send to Ukraine has been priced up too. So we pay more and give less.

Posted by: torabora at October 20, 2023 12:02 PM (OUiUM)

245 I hate how the yuuutes are putting the $ at the end now. It's gay and retarded. But mainly retarded.

********

Similar to German grammar putting the verb at the end of the sentence so that you don't know what happened until after it is over.

Posted by: Muldoon at October 20, 2023 12:02 PM (l4B/J)

246 One of the headlines on Yahoo today was about who are the 2% that eat 50% of the meat?

Answer: The people who realize that carbs and processed foods are what is causing obesity

Posted by: Chuck C at October 20, 2023 12:03 PM (xttsV)

247 LOL.

Product searching at Brownells using "magazines browning" and everything with 'brown' in it is in the full product list, like 'brown leather holster'.

Posted by: andycanuck (krqg6) at October 20, 2023 12:03 PM (krqg6)

248 2024 $53,124 Toyota Grand Highlander
2024 Short Box 4WD Denali $82,500
2024 Land Rover Defender $118,600
2024 Range Rover $78,400

2021 Land Cruiser $86,665 - $87,995.

Simple Bing search.

Posted by: rickb223 at October 20, 2023 12:03 PM (uiWTm)

249 The driver of the quantity of money is government spending.
Someone slap Joe and the rest of the uniparty upside their heads until until it gets through to them.
This isn't hard to understand.
Posted by: Archer at October 20, 2023 11:33 AM (gmo/4)

see post 87

I’ve seen multiple Democrat politicians over the last two years claiming without flinching that you can spend your way out of inflation

Posted by: SMOD at October 20, 2023 12:03 PM (RHGPo)

250 Noodus Ace

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 20, 2023 12:03 PM (J2vNu)

251 While inflation may be out of control on food, energy, and shelter, those are unnecessary discretionary expenditures. If people will just forego extravagances such as feeding their families and putting a roof over their children’s heads, they’ll do just fine in Biden’s economy.
_________________

There is no inflation. Yacht prices have remained stable. Proof positive.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at October 20, 2023 12:03 PM (YqDXo)

252 And now, ladies and gentlemen, every Dem caricature of Republicans from the last 80 years.
Posted by: Archimedes

Made harder to shake by their own actions.

Posted by: Brother Tim sez Max Headroom for President! at October 20, 2023 12:04 PM (OUMaO)

253 Given the demographics of gun ownership, they should be careful what they wish for.
Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (I/Qkd)
++++
They look at it - and they're not wrong - as something approaching parity.

I have no stats to argue with, but that is certainly not my own truth. Almost all of the libs I know recoil at the very thought of owning a gun. Sure, there are the left crazies, but they're a small fraction of the total, whereas most of the people on our side seem to own at least one firearm.

Posted by: Archimedes at October 20, 2023 12:04 PM (I/Qkd)

254 Retail food employee here, low-income area. It's a disaster. Inflation re: food has far outpaced earnings. A little-known factor, which I mentioned probably 2 years ago, is welfare fraud: somewhere around 40%? of food aid was sold for cash at 50 cents on the dollar, to working families who depended on this indirect aid to buy food. That has stopped almost completely: the food aid is now being used by its actual recipients to, you know, eat. The end result is a massive cash crunch: working families are spending almost twice as much on food as they were, and the welfare people now have no cash at all.
This is exacerbated by legalization/decriminalization of pot, which used to be the cash cow for mom-and-pop small time dealers who have now been displaced by stores.
Food inflation is at catastrophic levels.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 20, 2023 12:04 PM (/BBNv)

255 218
'they hate all that nasty populist stuff, the working people issues. So they rather "debate" the issues Becky Winebox is idlely wondering about'

And it burns my ass that we aren't able to punish them for it.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at October 20, 2023 12:04 PM (bVfY0)

256 AoS smashes expectations daily.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at October 20, 2023 12:04 PM (63Dwl)

257 Paul: everything's awesome

Also Paul: OMG if I have to start paying $200/mo for my student loans again I'll be homeless

He can still suck cock downtown for $20

Posted by: BifBewalski at October 20, 2023 12:04 PM (3CCua)

258
https://is.gd/4qcJ3Y

Rolling her eyes is a disrespectful act.

Conflicted on the would-not-bang-o-meter.

Posted by: Auspex at October 20, 2023 12:04 PM (j4U/Z)

259 Hamas Hostage Taking Manual Says to “Kill the Difficult Ones”

-
Nice to know that they have an official Hostage Taking Manual.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 12:05 PM (FVME7)

260 Lol: Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (FVME7)

someone was comparing Rachel to Louis Farrakhan for presentation and general content.
She tells her flock what is right and who is wrong, and condemn them as enemies to be defeated.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 12:05 PM (xhaym)

261 The USG hates higher interest since that makes it hard to fund the wars and the entitlements, and are fighting Powell at the fed. Elizabeth Warren is calling for the end of the Fed so they can set up a central bank, and go full Venezuela

Who knows if it will work.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 20, 2023 11:42 AM (xhaym)
==
Something happened to Powell. I don't know if he was pissed off that he had to feign there was no inflation as FJB's term began, or what. But he has generally told FJB to...well...fuck off. He has no time for Yellen - and she is a total lightweight way over her head - and I imagine the famed Indian Warren has zero influence. He is stubbornly saying inflation is too high.

Posted by: Black JEM at October 20, 2023 12:06 PM (GZYu7)

262 'I don't like feeling vulnerable,' he said.

= =

Yeah, there's a lot of that going around, slick. How's that "Hope and Change" working out? Had enough "Fundamental Transformation" yet?

Posted by: Average American at October 20, 2023 12:06 PM (AD14M)

263 I mean, look at the Republicans.
It's run by people like Mike Pence--4 years ago the second most powerful person in the country.
And he thinks you just pull up to the gas pump and the tank gets filled up.

Like I've said, they all get the entirety of their news from the NYT and CNN.
None of them read conservative news. Watch conservative news.

And imagine how far down their circle you have to go to get someone who reads conservative blogs, like this one?
Maybe a friend of a brother of someone on their staff?

That's as close as they get to knowing what actual conservatives are thinking. Instead of the carefully curated hothouse "conservatives" they see in the MSM. Who tell them conservatives are united in support for Ukraine, demanding more corporate tax cuts and think there should be common sense gun control, etc.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 20, 2023 12:07 PM (TzW+Y)

264 It bugs me that only one line is draw through the $.
Our dollar was two lines. From old Spain one line is cents and two lines is dollars.

Posted by: Braenyard at October 20, 2023 12:07 PM (G9Y8y)

265 Have you noticed we get more government every year for more money, not less government for more money? Yet when we buy stuff we get less stuff for more money. How do we get less government for more money?

Posted by: torabora at October 20, 2023 12:07 PM (OUiUM)

266 232
'Go visit radical Reddit, especially trans Reddit. '

A bit like reaching into deep shit hoping to find a pony.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at October 20, 2023 12:07 PM (bVfY0)

267 Gas about 5.50 in Sacramento. You can pay $6 if you shop around.

Posted by: torabora at October 20, 2023 12:09 PM (OUiUM)

268 I like the reason they use to exclude food, fuel and housing:

They're just too volatile.
_________________

Yeah, there are just so many numbers. Sheesh.

You could make a good argument that the CPI should be made up ONLY of food, fuel, and housing prices.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at October 20, 2023 12:10 PM (YqDXo)

269 "Sales excluding auto and gas increased 0.6%, above estimates for a 0.1% increase compiled by Bloomberg."

They say that but if you were paying $2.00 a gallon when Trump was president and you are paying $4.00 a gallon now, that's a 100% increase in cost to you.

Posted by: Braenyard at October 20, 2023 12:10 PM (G9Y8y)

270 This summer I used 1/2 as much electricity as I did the previous summer but I paid twice as much for it. That's like 200% increase.

Posted by: Braenyard at October 20, 2023 12:13 PM (G9Y8y)

271 Lol: Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (FVME7)
______________

That clinches it. I'm now firmly on the Trump Train.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at October 20, 2023 12:13 PM (YqDXo)

272 Yellen is not a lightweight. She's an idiot. Ever hear her talk? I was astonished at the child like conversation.

Posted by: torabora at October 20, 2023 12:13 PM (OUiUM)

273 264 It bugs me that only one line is draw through the $.
Our dollar was two lines. From old Spain one line is cents and two lines is dollars.
Posted by: Braenyard at October 20, 2023 12:07 PM (G9Y8y)

When writing my hand, I still use the two lines. Keyboards do their own thing, dunno why

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo at October 20, 2023 12:15 PM (xcxpd)

274 Step back not all that many years to remember when limited income retirees and adults with special needs worked the hamburger/breakfast chains to supplement social security.

Now those jobs are supposed to be "living wage" and seniors & special needs are usually cut out of the picture unless some franchise takes pity on some.

How do those people survive? A tiny bit more SNAP? Piggybacking on family members, especially those on WIC or similar programs? They're the invisible people in our society & there are millions of them. Where is equity for them?

How cruel we've become to avoid the attention of the loudmouth lazies with hands always out and their advocates.

Posted by: L - Can never make 'em love you more or hate you less at October 20, 2023 12:15 PM (GshMh)

275 271 Lol: Rachel Maddow Breaks Down on Air, Claims Trump Will “Execute Us” If Re-elected
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at October 20, 2023 11:21 AM (FVME7)
______________

That clinches it. I'm now firmly on the Trump Train.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at October 20, 2023 12:13 PM (YqDXo)

+1

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo at October 20, 2023 12:16 PM (xcxpd)

276 If you're going to be a troll, try to be a tad less retarded about it. You bring shame to yourself and your family. Your kids will probably be retarded, too, so I hope your hideous mate is also barren.

----

Always looking on the bright side LOL

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at October 20, 2023 12:30 PM (R8Jig)

277 Although to us the claim is comical, there's a very dark side to it; it's meant to justify someone saying "well since he's gonna kill us I gotta kill him first." This is how political assassinations are encouraged and condoned.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 20, 2023 11:53 AM (i9ffA)
==
Yes, she'd be wise to realize this cuts all ways.

Posted by: Black JEM at October 20, 2023 12:34 PM (GZYu7)

278 Importing 5 million illegals has absolutely nothing to do with housing inflation.

Or wait time at the doctor.

Posted by: DOYLE at October 20, 2023 12:43 PM (Z8Yh2)

279 No, they hate all that nasty populist stuff, the working people issues. So they rather "debate" the issues Becky Winebox is idlely wondering about halfway through her 3rd merlot on a Wednesday.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at October 20, 2023 11:56 AM (TzW+Y)
==
I have some sympathy for your rant - but it's not really factually based. Yes, there are 35-40K jobs out there. Most people filling them are not well educated, have substance abuse and mental health issues making it difficult for them to find a steady job paying more. And those steady jobs requiring only a HS degree are out there, but the hedonist lifestyle means there are fewer people willing to take them. Our terrible labor participation rate is hiding our real unemployment problem. Lots of people don't want to, or cannot, hold a job paying more. And I work in the world of trying to find people.

Add in all the resourcing of work coming back from SE Asia, you can easily make 50K plus in lots of not very expensive places. Now are some people trapped by location or family. Sure. I'm not saying some people aren't in a bind not of their own making. But that has always been the case.

Posted by: Black JEM at October 20, 2023 12:46 PM (GZYu7)

280 Yellen is not a lightweight. She's an idiot. Ever hear her talk? I was astonished at the child like conversation.

Posted by: torabora at October 20, 2023 12:13 PM (OUiUM)
==
I probably WAS being too polite.

Posted by: Black JEM at October 20, 2023 12:53 PM (GZYu7)

281 My God, Thank you so much comment 18. You can sum up his entire syndicated show in one hour., and his books with a 2 page pamphlet.

Posted by: Picric at October 20, 2023 12:58 PM (c6C4I)

282 Dumbf*ks don't realize that we are indeed spending more for the same amount of necessities - so they think sales are up.

Posted by: Java Joe at October 20, 2023 01:46 PM (WaLgG)

283 Sooooo...have they included the losses from now legal shoplifting that has caused many stores to completely close down? Have they included the losses from closing down a whole store? That building wasn't cheap. What about whole areas (saaaaaay....downtown San Francisco) that have shut down, stores, hotels, other things, whole area now dead and abandoned. What is the rate of inflation now that many people have no access to goods? Wouldn't that basically count as infinite inflation? And, of course, if because of that, you don't have a job, or one you an reach, what does it matter how much stuff costs if you have no money?

But don't worry, they told us that inflation was going down, from 3% to 3.2%. Sure want to listen to and believe those folks.

Posted by: Nightfall at October 20, 2023 05:38 PM (xd3qE)

284 Spot on with this write-up, I honestly believe this site needs far more attention. I'll probably be
returning to read more, thanks for the info!

Posted by: Zeytinburnu Nakliyat at October 23, 2023 02:11 PM (Ye8zK)

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