This is expert-level cluelessness right here!
Yes, Mr. President, we ARE aware that beef prices have skyrocketed.
In fact, my family's weekly grocery bill has been ticking upwards for awhile now.
But look at how unaware he is as he's talking. It's like he's realizing inflation is happening for the first time:
Of course, somewhere in that mind of his, Biden is aware that the economy is tanking – or at least that his poll numbers are tanking because of something having to do with the economy.
Per the New York Post, here's what he had to say immediately following the above clip:
"And here's some historical context: Fifty years ago, ranchers got over 60 cents for every dollar a family spent on beef," the president went on. "Today, they get about 39 cents. Fifty years ago, hog farmers got 40 to 50 cents for each dollar they spent. Today, it's about 19 cents. And the big companies are making massive profits."
"While their profits go up, the prices you see in the grocery stores go up commensurate," Biden added. "And the prices farmers receive for the products they are bringing to market go down. This reflects the market being distorted by lack of competition."
Big business is the scapegoat Joe's chosen. It couldn't be his policies that are driving inflation, after all! It's those evil Big Meat companies. You know... the ones with lobbyists who spend their time cozying up to big government guys like... [checks notes] Joe Biden.
Biden's administration is planning to solve this problem, of course, by throwing money at it.
Earlier Monday, the White House announced plans to spend $1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds to support independent meat processing companies, pinning much of the blame on four major firms.
Though Biden did not name the companies, they are Minnesota-based commodity trader Cargill, Arkansas-based chicken producer Tyson Foods, Brazil-based meatpacker JBS and Missouri-based National Beef Packing Co., which is owned by Brazilian beef producer Marfrig Global Foods.
I'm all for supporting local farmers, and millions of Americans do on a weekly basis.
But the whole point of this act is to pretend like inflation is being caused by bacon barons sitting in smoke-filled rooms with their top hats and monocles, instead of Biden's own policies.
The cost of ground beef increased 13.9 percent over 12 months, according to government data. The cost of bacon increased 21 percent, chicken increased 9.2 percent and fresh fish and seafood jumped 10.6 percent.
But other foods unrelated to the meatpacking industry also increased in cost. Apples cost 7.4 percent more than one year ago, coffee is about 7.5 percent higher in price and canned vegetables are up 6.5 percent.
Biden's critics blame him — rather than meat processors — for high inflation, arguing that Biden's American Rescue Plan, signed in March, pumped $1.9 trillion into the economy without new revenue streams, in effect devaluing US dollars.
The president's stimulus push followed bipartisan legislation in 2020 that doled out about $4 trillion to keep the US afloat during the pandemic.
Biden's gonna have a hard time explaining how big business is to blame for every increase across the board!
Hopefully he gets a solid nap between all the scapegoating!
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