It all started back in 2021 when the fresh Biden White House was ready to claim some victories after a rough start to Biden's first year in office. And they made sure to claim every last penny they could find in their favor:

Well, that $0.16 claim turned out to be a bit of a stretch (the National Retail Federation shows that the price had increased per person by more than $4 that year) but after the disaster year that was 2020, it wasn't totally unbelievable that prices may have decreased a few cents after increasing dramatically the previous year.

The following summer, inflation rates continued to climb, and food prices continued to soar.

That $0.16 cents just didn't stretch as far as it used to back in Biden's "golden" era of early 2021.

Now this year, the NRF's latest data claims that the price-per-person for the Fourth of July has gone up $9.22 since last year! Now totaling $93.34, that number is up a full $20 since the summers of Donald Trump's term.

This year, Americans will spend a collective $9.5 billion on Independence Day food items, up from the $7.5 billion Americans spent that year we all supposedly saved $0.16.

But despite the rise in food prices, the NRF survey found that 87% of Americans are still planning to celebrate the holiday. Perhaps remembering the liberty and prosperity we once enjoyed over some $10 bottom-shelf hot dogs will give us the kick in the pants we need to turn the country around.