Boy I'd like to shop where these boys stop…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 1:19 PM Permalink

From today's NYT, in an article artfully titled, "Inflation Held Steady in February," which as far as I can see here in California is total nonsense:

Inflation held steady in February as consumers prices stayed flat, the government said on Friday, taking some pressure off the Federal Reserve as it considers a new round of interest rate cuts.

The Consumer Price Index was unchanged in February as the cost of gasoline and automobiles declined. The closely watched core index, which excludes the prices of volatile food and energy products, also stayed flat.

The inflation report comes as a relief after several months of steadily building price pressures. With the economy in a significant downturn, and possibly a recession, some had feared a repeat of 1970s-style stagflation. Inflation rose 0.4 percent in January and December, and economists had been bracing for another uptick last month.

Instead, the Labor Department report showed price declines for clothing, transportation-related products, personal computers and commodities. The fall-off came despite a record-low dollar and a rise in the price of imports.

Where do people accumulate the sheer unmitigated gall to print things such as this that are absolutely untrue? Oh, they may have a magic list showing no increases in the prices of eye of newt and toe of frog, but I gotta tell you that prices on everything else is skyrocketing in California. (Of course bush did not win in California, has previously refused government help to California [can you say Enron and electric power price manipulation?], and he could not care less if California fell off into the ocean.)

Gasoline is much higher, $5.00 a gallon in some California locales; it cost my son over $36.00 to fill-up his Ford Focus!

Food, clothing, and everyday things needed is following the increases for fuel that must be paid by shipping companies, and the retailers aren't hesitating to pile on the additional costs. How convenient to omit many of the price increases for commodities from their report, which requires a secret decoding ring to figure out.

Just looking at the vast difference in exchange rates, greatly cheapening American goods for anyone not carrying dollars, dictates that products coming in from overseas will have to sell at much higher prices in order for those shipping foreign products to make a profit.

Milk, bread, meat, vegetables, and all other foodstuffs have been going up in price by hugh percentages. I estimate we are now purchasing about two-thirds of the food we used to buy for the same money due to the rising costs. Even soda, beer, wine, and other beverages have gone up by two or three dollars per item.

Clothing is going up out of sight as is everything else.

On what planet do these so-called financial analysts live? And why are they telling tales that anyone who does their own shopping knows are blatantly untrue?

It is no wonder that the dollar has lost it's luster. If it loses even more value it won't be long before the world rejects our currency for the worthless paper it has become under Republican rule and opt for payments for oil and such in Euros, Canadian dollars, Chinese or Japanese yen, or Mexican pesos.

But never fear! The Republicans stand ready to reduce taxes and devalue our money even further.

In my mind this devaluation and destruction of our economy has been a Republican goal ever since bush was appointed president and decided with his neocon buddies that he would use America's armies, previously defensive in nature, to go on offense with the intention of conquering the world and seizing its natural resources.

We all see how good illegal wars work out.

And, coincidentally, this reckless and feckless spending prevents using our tax dollars to actually benefit the taxpayers.

Labels: Bush, bush as chimp, bush war doctrine, capitalism, Economy