'Home Alone ' was filmed 1990 . 2 bags of groceries containing a half gallon of milk, a half gallon of orange juice, a TV dinner, bread, frozen mac and cheese, laundry detergent, cling wrap, toilet paper, a pack of toy soldiers , and dryer sheets were $19.83 (with a dollar off coupon for the OJ ) He broke into his piggy bank for the money

Today the same 2 bags with the same groceries costs $72.28

So you think 'that was 33 years ago true . But just last year those same 2 bags cost $44.40 . A $28 increase in a year

and that is under the assumption that the container sizes are the same and have not been creatively shrunk .

How anyone can vote for this current administration is just beyond me. And to be fair, the repubs don't seem to have the courage to effectively resist this craziness. We are carrying a national debt equivalent to 100K for every man, woman and child in the country.

Either the Fed is playing things by the seat of their pants ;looking in the rear view mirror to predict the future ;or they are getting marching orders .

The unconstrained spending is of course a huge issue. But the Fed since 2008 has played money games with easing and tightening.

The Fed now employes 24,000 people . Of them are 400 PHD egg head economists . You can't tell me they don't see what is clearly evident to idiots like me.

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You can't tell me they don't see what is clearly evident to idiots like me.

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That is the really strange part. They have to see the damage this is doing. If that's true, then there is a direction to this thing.

The massive increase in the cost of living isn't limited to the USA, it's a Global issue, fueled by the massive uncertainty in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as well as profiteering companies.
Global inflation is forecast to rise from 4.7 percent in 2021 to 8.8 percent in 2022 but to decline to 6.5 percent in 2023 and to 4.1 percent by 2024.

You are right . It is a global problem Since 2008 central banks have had the printing presses churning out monopoly money . All this QE has come due .
Global debt is currently somewhere around $305 trillion. Combined public and private debt owed is 238 % of global GDP . I don't see a way out .

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Global debt is currently somewhere around $305 trillion. Combined public and private debt owed is 238 % of global GDP . I don't see a way out .

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Chilling post. In the meantime, people worry about Trump's hair.

Like you, I don't see a plausible way out of this, but other than having stayed in a Holiday Inn Express, I have no credentials at all. I do know that if my wife and I were carrying a combined 200K of debt, I'd be terrified.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Chilling post. In the meantime, people worry about Trump's hair.

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And his mental abilities that lie under that orange mop.

You support Biden and yet worry about someone else's mental abilities??? Curiouser and curiouser.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

You support Biden and yet worry about someone else's mental abilities??? Curiouser and curiouser.

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Oh, I haven't unloaded yet on Biden. (Who says I support him? The door to the candy shop is still open.)

Correct. You have predictably said nothing negative about Biden.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Correct. You have predictably said nothing negative about Biden.

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Actually, I have. He's too old to be president again. And yes, he fumbles and stumbles and trips.-- both body and tongue.

I commend you! I would only add that it's his fumbling and stumbling of mind that would give me greater concern than his speech or body.

At least he doesn't babble about peach-tree dishes and bowel movements.

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peach-tree dishes and bowel movements.

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First of all, the peach-tree dishes fumble was by MTG and not Trump, so I think you missed that one. I have no idea what the BM comment is about. At any rate, I don't concern myself with silliness such as that. I try to ask some common-sense questions.

1. Would I prefer the Trump economy or the Biden economy?
2. Would I prefer 3% inflation under Trump or 8% under Biden?
3. Do I want a pres who will appoint qualified judges who believe in the rule of law or liberal idealogues?
4. Would I prefer a pres who refuses to force me and other taxpayers to pay off student loans incurred by others, or the pres we have now?
5. Do I really want to have a pres who, along with his son, engaged in a corrupt influence peddling scheme to the tune of millions of dollars?
6. Between Biden and Trump, who did a better job of controlling runaway fed spending and budget deficits?
7. Would I like to have a pres who will make a legit effort to control immigration on our southern border?
8. Do I want a pres who loves the killing of unborn children or a pres who opposes it?

That's how I am approaching it. Ideally we'll end up with DeSantis.

Your #5 is an interesting one considering the totality of current criminal actions.

That's a fair observation as long as we consider the purpose of the criminal prosecutions.

You can refer to Tom's related post here. https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/curren...-a-851084.html

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

First of all, the peach-tree dishes fumble was by MTG and not Trump, so I think you missed that one. I have no idea what the BM comment is about.

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It may as well have been from uneddicated Trump.

Without addressing her gaffe, Greene continued and warned of Americans receiving a "zap" if they eat meat.
"You will probably get a little zap inside your body and that is saying 'no, no, don't eat a real cheeseburger, eat the fake burger,' the fake meat from Bill Gates," Greene said.

"They probably also want to know when you go to the bathroom, if your bowel movements are on time or consistent, what else do these people want to know?"

https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-ta...eorgia-1711261

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It may as well have been from uneddicated Trump.

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I know. Anything to keep you from having to admit you were wrong.

So you had two objections to Trump, and all you proved was that you didn't know who you were talking about? Oh well.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

I know. Anything to keep you from having to admit you were wrong.

So you had two objections to Trump, and all you proved was that you didn't know who you were talking about? Oh well.

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Huh? You're still having problems tracking. I had said:

"At least he doesn't babble about peach-tree dishes and bowel movements."

My mistake. I took that to mean Trump since he and Biden were the only two under discussion.

Since Clueless Joe assumed the reins food prices increased 16.7 % while real wages declined 3.1%

That means it costs 20% more to feed your family this Christmas Ho ho ho

And yet the criticism of Trump will continue unabated. There is no comparing the Trump economy versus the Biden economy. Trump's was plainly better, big mouth and all.

Clueless Joe was in Pa touting Bidenomics

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If you notice, they're feeling much better about how the economy is doing

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Biden stops by Pennsylvania stores to talk up his record on small business creation - CBS Philadelphia (cbsnews.com)

That's what the 5th column ....ooops I mean the 4th Estate cheerleaders were saying last month.

Surprise: Americans are starting to feel better about the economy and inflation (nbcnews.com)

So how are we really doing ?

Inflation is beginning to creep up again ;signalling the Fed may not be finished with raising interest rates . At very least it puts a damper on expectations that they will begin rate reductions .

U.S. inflation higher than expected in December as food and housing prices run hot - CBS News

Major companies started the new year with announcements of huge labor cuts .

BlackRock ;Google ;Amazon ;Citicorp ;Disney's Pixar , NBC News all announced layoffs .
Discord ;Xerox ;Intel ;Virgin Galactic , the list goes on and on. And those were just tech jobs

Ford ,GM ,and suppliers are laying off workers . Of course the insane UAW strike gets a hat tip for these actions .

During the debate ,Nikki Haley said :

Biden can say the economy is great all day long, but everybody knows that’s not true when they go to the grocery store and the gas station, or when they pay their mortgage and insurance," "Biden’s runaway spending is hurting American families. We need to stop the borrowing, stop the debt, and cut up the credit cards. But first, we have to retire Joe Biden from the White House."

The truth is that there is an illusion that the economy is doing better than it really is doing. The government handed out monopoly bucks to consumers in unprecedented amounts during covid and misguided stimulus. Consumers have been spending that down and are almost out of it . Their reactions to high prices and shrinking wallets is prompting them to cut back.

CES 2024’s Weird but Oddly Helpful Gadgets (pymnts.com)

This in turn will force companies to lay off even more.

All of Joe's optimistic fist pumping about the economy is based on fiction.

At some point in the past month, WG asked what Trump had managed to accomplish during his four years. I thought it was a really stunning question. It would be like asking what kind of accomplishments did Eisenhower have during WW2. And then to look at how Biden has limped along during these past three or so years just increases my amazement at how any thinking person can be a liberal dem. The only conclusion I can arrive at is that they must sure love their abortions an awful lot.

Kelly -Moore paints announced they are shutting down all their stores . 1200 employees will lose their jobs