Why Are Our Basic Needs Being Ignored?

We are told that the poor will always be with us. That’s an historical, empirical fact, as well as a biblical one.

Yet during the years under Joe Biden, the plight of the poor working class, and now the middle class too, has worsened day by day, with little public noise being made about our survival—the “elites” have gobbled up the wealth once held by we, the people.

Wednesday morning, The Wall Street Journal broke cover on the issue of food prices:

It’s Been 30 Years Since Food Ate Up This Much of Your Income

Ongoing high costs lead food manufacturers and restaurants to keep prices elevated.

The expression “kitchen table issues” speaks to a crucial, massive voting bloc, yet coverage of these concerns is relegated to the back burner in pre-election “news.” A ludicrously self-important female entertainer, or a failing female presidential, un-nominated candidate are apparently more apropos to the American people than whether they eat and/or have a roof over their heads.

Over the past many months, much journalism has been making a lot of noise about cultural, or nominally political issues. Yet in that period, inflation continued its alarming pace and the people who are “just Americans” suffered increasingly. From Forbes:

In January, core CPI inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was up 0.4% on a monthly basis and 3.9% from a year ago. Economists had projected a 3.7% annual gain.

In addition to those closely-watched numbers:

• Food prices were up 0.4% month-over-month and 2.6% compared to a year ago.

• Shelter costs continue to rise, gaining 0.6% compared to December and 6% compared to January 2023.

• Energy prices were down 0.9% on a monthly basis and are down 4.6% over the past 12 months. January marked the eleventh consecutive month energy prices have declined on an annual basis.

• Gasoline prices were down 3.3% month-over-month and down 6.4% compared to a year ago.

While energy and gasoline are reported as slightly down (by less than 1% year-to-year), food and shelter costs continue to rise. This is bad news for both groceries and your mortgage interest if you hold a mortgage:

Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital, says the hot January inflation report may push the first FOMC rate cut back to the second half of 2024.

‘Getting to the Fed’s magical 2% inflation target may prove more difficult than expected and result in elevated interest rates for a longer period of time,’ Weinland says.

‘We expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates two or three times in 2024, which is much less than the six rate cuts that the market expects.’

Yet contrary to the demands of reality, the Biden administration’s response to the American food crisis is bureaucratic, indirect, highly speculative, and federally self-enriching:

Biden-Harris Administration Releases Draft National Strategy to Reduce Food Loss and Waste

EPA, USDA, and FDA announce steps to reduce waste and increase recycling of organics to reduce climate pollution, save families and businesses money, and support a circular economy for all.

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the ‘Draft National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics’ as part of President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to tackle climate change and promote a circular economy.

What does this actually mean? It means more government spending on programmatic/political grants. It means that the politicization of food continues as more actually go hungry. NPR reported that hunger has hit children the hardest:

The report [USDA, 2022] found that 44.2 million people lived in households that had difficulty getting enough food to feed everyone in 2022, up from 33.8 million people the year prior. Those families include more than 13 million children experiencing food insecurity, a jump of nearly 45 percent from 2021 (emphasis added).

The “circular economy” federal folderol is in essence, a recycling of the United Nations’ stale political priorities; it’s a “climate change” issue with a hefty price tag.

And what about shelter? The data on the homeless is actually just as bad:

• In 2022, counts of individuals (421,392 people) and chronically homeless individuals (127,768) reached record highs in the history of data collection [emphasis added].

• Unsheltered rates are also trending upward, impacting most racial, ethnic, and gender subgroups.

Here’s this, from Reuters:

Rising rents push US inflation higher; rate cuts still expected in 2024

U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in January amid a surge in the cost of rental housing, but the pick-up in inflation did not change expectations the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates in the first half of this year.

The increase in prices reported by the Labor Department on Tuesday was the largest in four months and occurred against the backdrop of labor market strength and economic resilience. But January is typically a strong month for inflation readings as businesses push through prices increases at the start of the year, which some economists believed were not completely addressed by the model used by the government to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data [emphasis added].

Although federal COVID legislation prevented foreclosures and “supported” (read, “delayed-the- pain-for”) mortgage holders up into 2022, foreclosures are now on the rise:

U.S. Foreclosure Activity Shows Continued Rise In Third Quarter [2023], Approaching Levels Seen Before Pandemic

The Biden response to our citizens’ basic survival now is one of (firstly) political posturing, as well as expanding welfare—hence manufacturing more government dependence across the demographic board (excepting our voracious Feds and the elite, of course). However, the grotesque failures of the welfare state—dating back at least to FDR, and evidenced by the collapse of families and family farms, and attacks on Christian charity (bulwarks for national survival)—are clearly advancing in plain sight. The expansive funneling of our precious national survival resources to benefit on-going illegal immigration, now in full leftist swing, more than threatens our livelihoods today. After trillions of dollars spent on welfare programs, we the people are poorer than ever.

The political ghosting of Americans’ basic needs is more than obvious—in the verifiable absence of the discussion from the mainstream, and in the policies put forth by the prevailing regime, and this needs no substantiation. Expect to eat less, and watch the roof over your head. And, pity the poor, especially the working poor, who are once again taking the back seat—on everything.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.