DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus INFLATION...

Arent you paying attention trump got rid of inflation on day 1!

Ask any senior who is trying to live off of their Social Security the last 10 years if their Social Security increases come anywhere close to keeping up with inflation, and their honest answer will be HELL NO. That can be blamed on BOTH sides.

Historically it has kept up. The problem is that cola's are reactionary. They happen after the fact. In times of inflation, they lag behind, then catch up as inflation wanes.

Increases are based on last years numbers and don't try to predict next years figures.

All I know is that I'm sure as hell happy I don't live solely on SS.... No way I could make it. So from my perspective, it's not kept up at all.

The day that Trump was saying Gas was $1.98, every station around me was charging over $3 per gallon... The guys an idiot and it's really easy to fact check him.

GM..no argument from me about SS keeping up with inflation...it hasn't and it looks to be getting worse, not better.

I mentioned J'ville Brats increasing a $1.00 per package and shell game Petroleum companies are playing with their prices...lowering the price at the pump for a couple of days in the week then raising their prices the rest of the week.

Most consumers are not affected because they don't buy the groceries and these price increases are not enough of a raise in price to affect their budget. Now I'm not going to claim to be the grocery shopper in our family but I do hear about it from the lady of the house.

The Trump tariffs act as a tax on the American people with those who can least afford to pay more are the Americans most affected.

CAR PARTS...have they increased in cost due to the T-tariffs..?

The problem with that is most of his followers are either getting their special interests addressed and simply don't care while others never bother to fact check him. And as we can see, those who were on here supporting him are ignoring everything being posted about what he's doing other then screaming about how great the border is. They just don't give a damn about anything he does. So much for them railing about the constitution. They were very loud about that when it concerned the second amendment.

Whether purposefully or out of sheer ignorance this is an attack on not only consumers but small business.

Over the last 10 years the average increase has been 2.83 percent per year.

My property taxes and home owners insurance have increased way more than that themselves without taking anything else into account. They hold up the cola like a magic trick, while they pick our pocket with the other hand.

*HI FIVE* Something we can agree on again

I notice the prices as I have always been the one who pays our bills, and does all the grocery shopping, handles all of both mine and my wife's stuff. Hell I will go to five different grocery stores to save 10 bucks lol

And Kamala was offering money for businesses to start and develop.

It was never intended to be a sole means of income. It is a supplement or a bare bones safety net. No doubt that if it is a person's only means of income, times are going to be lean. You could make it, many do, but you would have to undergo some major lifestyle changes.

I agree with that. Insurance is tied to property taxes and home valuations. I understand why insurance goes up as the cost of replacement goes up. Not much we can do about that.

As for property tax. I am not big on government mandates, but I am in favor of freezing property tax rates on senior citizens once they hit retirement age. I might even go so far as to say reduce it by maybe 50%, and that would only apply to their primary residence in the event they have a second home.

No doubt there would be more details to work out but yeah, once a person retires, taxes need to be frozen if not reduced by some percentage.

Mac, inflation isn't anything new. I think you and I are at least close in age. I think you remember when you could go to McDonalds and get 2 hamburgers, a fry and drink and get some change back from your dollar. Now it is $10 "value" meals.

If you had $20, you and your date could have a big night out. Movie, pizza at the local joint, several beers while dancing the night away and the local club.

I will admit it has accelerated. Mostly due to debt. For years an ounce of gold was equal to a good men's suit. Now at $3000 an ounce, gold has outpaced the suit. You can still get a nice suit for $12-1400 or so. At least I think so, I haven't bought one in a good number of years since I retired.

By nice suit I am talking about the tailor chalking up here and there to take things in here, let things out there...actually fit it to you.

Another thought on inflation, one some people ignore.

Are prices really going up, or is our money less valuable?

Every time the presses start to roll out $100 bills, the money in your pocket loses value.

According to minimum wage and workers pay prices are going up. When wages do not keep up with inflation your buying power is less. You can find any reason for that you choose but that's the bottom line.

I just want Trump to show me those $1.98 eggs. And has anyone else noticed that gas prices always inexplicably go down under republicans? Everything else is going up except gas. But it’s not rigged…

I recognize that. That was drilled into my head by Mom and Dad every chance they got so I'm pretty much ok.

But please don't ever try to tell me that SS has kept up with inflation. It's not even close.

Actually it was. But inflation killed the intention.

There's an odd thing about those who say, "It was never intended to be a sole income" because in fact it was. It was before most average workers made enough money to save for retirement. The elderly by and large were impoverished. And many of the very same people who say this promote that many workers in America to day who work full time not make wages high enough t barely make ends meet much less save for retirement. Odd indeed.

But then by and large they're the same group that say minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage no matter how many times you show them the very words of FDR who said that was the very reason for it......................................

“It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.”

― Franklin D. Roosevelt

SS could be fine if people who did not pay into SS would not receive SS benefits. It should be paid out to those that paid into it in their working career.

Social Security includes disability insurance. That is part of its structure as well. We pay for that as part of the those payments to social security.

Social security would also be fine if people died at 67 and not live to 100. sheesh.

SS should be paid out to people who worked and paid in. No one else. There are other handouts for those people.

So how long should they have worked and how much should they have paid in to qualify?

S&P 500 set to wipe out 2025 losses in remarkable turnaround
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 extended gains Tuesday as consumer inflation rose at its slowest pace in 4 years.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live...wn-by-unitedhealth-plunge-133029821.html

WUT???

I'm glad for all of those who depend on their 401k's for their retirement. Nobody wants to see those who are in that situation suffer. At least they've made it back to where they were.

Now if they can get consumer confidence back up to where people are spending so we don't suffer a negative GDP again.

Really like the "rose to slowest pace in 4 years". Wonder "who" was in charge those 4 years and in less than 4 months it is slowing to slowest pace in 4 years.

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

Looks to me like inflation has been trending down the past 4 years. It's not a light switch.


I'll celebrate with you if the latest trade war news turns out to be more than just a pause. All these gains can just as easily be wiped out if Trump runs his mouth again.

I get that. You need to think to get my point.

Raising wages is simply a reaction to the real problem. Raising wages contributes to inflation, but I admit it is an easy, popular, but temporary fix.

Look, I don't need to read you saying I am against the working guy and don't want people making a living wage. That just isn't the case, so please stop with that crap.

It is a complicated issue, but to sum it up in to two bullet points:

1. We waste too much money as a country. We are seeing many examples of wasting money on stupid S**t.

2. If we want people making a living wage, we can't keep buying products made in places that pay $1 per hour over products made domestically where people make $20 per hour

The President is spot on with tariffs. We have been getting screwed for decades.

That's just so not accurate. Or maybe it's accurate and you are simply against capitilism and free trade. Tarrifs worked both ways for each country that had them in place. No-one was getting screwed. Trump's claims of these gross imbalances was a complete and total fabrication ..... you just pointed out the issue, if a poor country has labour available for a $3 or $4 an hour - then their goods will be cheaper than making them in couttries where labour is $20-30 an hour.

If you think you can replace the cheap products from countries with low labour costs - then what do you think will happen to the price of goods? In order to make the goods here - how much capital investment is needed in manufacturing plants? Do you think companies build those for free? Or amortize the cost by increasing the price of their goods?

You thinking Trump is on to a winning idea with Tariffs pretty much pits you against every single non-politically motivated economist in the world. It's drivel.

He’s backed off most of them. China’s is the highest at 30% now. So far, the only foreign gain he has made was shaking down Ukraine for rare earth minerals. #wInNiNg.

It's not so much that I'm rejecting your point as it is what it all boils down to. The bottom line to everything you said means this is the result.

Everyone in the upper middle class and beyond gets hurt the least. They can afford inflation. They can absorb the tariffs. Sure it still hurts but they come out the other side okay. Your reasoning seems to be that raising the wages of those with much less is only a temporary fix. And I don't even disagree with that.

But the problem with all of that is what's the alternative for these people? What you're suggesting creates a vicious circle. They can't afford to purchase American goods. They can barely make ends meet as it is while buying cheaper foreign goods. So by not increasing their wages we have created the very situation you claim we need to stop. Do you think people that make less than $20 an hour with a couple of kids can suddenly begin to afford to clothe themselves and their children in $100 pairs of blue jeans?

What tariffs accomplish is even more suffering by those at the bottom of the income scale. People who can NOT afford to purchase American goods now. As per usual your answer seems to be to make those with the least suffer the most. I'm not trying to insinuate that's your motivation. I'm factually claiming that's the results of what you're proposing. I understand that in your situation you may have trouble relating to what your "solution" means to millions upon millions of Americans.

You really aren't solving a problem when you put so many Americans in a situation where those struggling to get ahead will only get further behind. One thing we should all be aware of by now is that when you put money in the hands of those who need the most they spend it. That stimulates the economy. When you put prices out of reach for those very same people the economy stagnates.

I understand your goal. I understand your reasoning. But I also understand the impact it will have on millions of American households. Those who can least afford to pay the price. Those in power need to fix the problem rather than make those with the least suffer the most. Some of us are not so far removed from that situation that we don't remember.

The ones getting screwed will be the lower middle class and below.

Mac, maybe a conversation about “Trump tariff inflation” would be more helpful when we actually have some “Trump tariff inflation”. I just saw the current numbers and 2.3% is the best we have had in four years. Someone must have been running the show those five years who couldn’t manage to control inflation.

I feel just awful,Mac, that your Johnsonville brats went up a dollar. Maybe try the store brand to save some money. I always got mine at Kroger and was satisfied. But using 1-2 items to suggest inflation is running wild is silly. You realize that we could have a quarter of 0% inflation and there would still be products that would go up in price. Shoot maybe those jville brats would still go up. But system wide we are at 2.3%. Best we’ve had in a while. Why didn’t you celebrate that instead of griping about your brats. I guess you really love those brats!!

What I find a wee bit amusing is the lefties on here decrying the still unseen Trump tariff inflation. How dare he have a policy that causes inflation. Well you guys were strangely silent a few years ago when Biden was trying to increase the corporate tax rate from where it is, I think low 20’s , to 35 or 39%. Of course those additional taxes they would pay would be added into the price of there products, aka inflation. Apparently you only get worked up when Trump is connected to it. An obvious symptom of TDS.

I think the next 6 months or so the tariff situation will be highly flexible. I think his goals for using tariffs are noble ones and I hope he accomplishes them.

An obvious juvenile response in hopes of getting people to stop people reporting what trump is doing. But a dumb acronym is what people should expect from the crowd that use it.


If the goal is to get businesses to come back to the U.S. then lowering tariffs to the point it doesn't make sense to move businesses back to the U.S then the exact stated goal he gave for the tariffs will be lost.

I'm sure somehow in your MAGA mind you think trump can increase the prices on all foreign goods yet either small businesses or the consumer will not see an increase in prices. Your math doesn't add up.

If we continue doing what we have been doing, shipping good American jobs and businesses overseas, we will continue getting the same result. Trying something different to fix the problem is what problem solvers do. If it doesn’t work you try something else. But unlike you I am willing to try things to get those businesses and jobs back to America. Youand the other lefties offer nothing. No solutions. Just let it keep happening. Wouldn’t you like to see businesses and jobs come home to America?

Unlike some who are fine with the status quo, I do not want to be in the position of depending on the Chicomms for PPE during a pandemic. Trusting the Chicomms to provide valuable medications that we need. Right now we depend on a country that is not our friend. Those things need to be produced in America. If they want to supply us with cheap toys fine. But the vital stuff needs to be made here!

But in addition to trying to bring jobs home Trump wants to “even the playing field with tariffs”. I put that in quotes because I heard both Pelosi and Schumer say those exact words when advocating for tariffs in the late 90’s. Back then tariffs were a Democratic Party position and Republican Party opposed them. Many establishment Repubs oppose them now. Trump has turned the party to a more blue collar populist party.

Truthfully if I were in charge tariffs are not the way I would go to accomplish his noble goals. I would offer any company that brings capital investment and jobs into America a 0% income tax rate for 3-5 years with a long term commitment. We would be flooded with employers. Of course you lefties would fight that too wouldn’t you.

But Trump is using tariffs and hopefully it works on both goals.

I'm for tackling the problem where it is. You yourself just stated that it's "shipping good American jobs and businesses overseas". But "we" aren't doing that. We didn't do that. American businesses did that for decades. There should have been policies in place to put tariffs on goods those businesses produced overseas by moving those jobs. And while you want to blame that all on "lefties" both democratic and republican administrations sat on their hands the entire time this has been happening.

And the problem with "evening the playing field" is that he is not doing that. That much is easy to see. So rather than spew rhetoric like "Chicomms" I'll give you a prime example.

Vietnam. Trump placed a 46% tariff on Vietnam. Vietnam's tariff on American goods is an average of 9.6%. But what he's actually doing is including the trade deficit in this "evening the playing field" nonsense.

Vietnam has one third the population of the U.S. The average wage in Vietnam is just less than $700 a month. Can you explain to me how it makes any sense to think that a population of one third as many people as we have that make far less average wages than Americans make could ever buy as much from us as we buy from them?

I'm for trying things that make sense. Even you yourself don't feel he is going about it the right way.


Of course you had to add in your lefties comment at the end but otherwise even you think there are better methods.

What tariffs will do is make the almost 50% of Americans that live paycheck to paycheck finding it impossible to make ends meet. And as for being willing to try just anything and " If it doesn’t work you try something else" goes.........

Punishing consumers at the bottom of the economic ladder isn't the answer. Sadly while it seems to escape you we all have the same goal. The difference between us is I don't support cutting off my hand because one of my fingers gets infected. This entire formula of having the trade deficit included in his formula in nonsense. Many of these nations neither have the population nor do their people make an income where that is feasibly possible. China on the other hand i completely agree. I'm for supporting things that make sense. I'm not for supporting things that make no sense at all.

And once again, trump claimed it was to make tariffs so high that it would force manufacturers back to the U.S. Since then he has cut that tariff rate to the point that doesn't make any sense either.

Try thinking about what makes sense and what doesn't. Then maybe consider supporting things that make sense while not the things that don't.