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CNN hosts and a guest appeared to be stunned by the Labor Department’s report on Tuesday showing that inflation under President Joe Biden remained stubbornly high in January, despite his encouraging words on the subject during last week’s State of the Union address.
The network’s flagging morning show was examining the cost of ordinary goods and services, including food, housing, and energy following the department’s report that inflation appears to be rising yet again, which came in at 6.4 percent in January, as take-home pay, on average, has also decreased.
As such, Americans are continuing to pay elevated prices for just about everything they most commonly need or use, such as food, clothing, housing, fuel, energy, and automobiles. The department said inflation rose a half-percent, driven primarily by rising fuel and food prices.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has attempted to calm inflation by raising interest rates to levels not seen since 2006 in an effort to cool demand and, thus, see prices fall. But while rates remain high, so do prices, putting the economy at risk of a recession this year.
In discussing the latest figures on Tuesday, CNN hosts appeared to be stunned at the figures reported by the Labor Dept.
WATCH:
“Wow:” CNN reports on the sky-high costs of groceries, rent, and energy.
"You are feeling inflation everyday." pic.twitter.com/BstV0JVet6
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 14, 2023
The CNN crew noted that gas prices are up 1.5 percent from last year, while food rose 10.1 percent and shelter rose 7.9 percent. “You are feeling inflation every day,” one host said.
“Wow,” co-host Don Lemon said as prices for products like hot dogs, eggs, coffee, and butter were displayed, all of which have risen by double digits in the era of Biden.
“Eggs up 70 percent!” a stunned guest noted as she ticked off the price increases.
During his speech, Biden touted the small amount of progress that has been made regarding inflation.
“But here at home, inflation is coming down. Here at home, gas prices are down $1.50 from their peak. Food inflation is coming down — not fast enough, but coming down,” he said.
“Inflation has fallen every month for the last six months, while take-home pay has gone up. Additionally, over the last two years, a record 10 million Americans applied to start new businesses. Ten million,” he added. “And, by the way, every time — every time someone starts a small business, it’s an act of hope.”
Breitbart News adds:
Core prices, a measure that excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.4 percent compared with December. Compared with a year ago, core CPI is up 5.6 percent. Bother were slightly higher than forecast. In December, core CPI was up 0.3 percent for the month and 5.7 percent over 12 months.
The gauge of food prices rose 0.5 percent, with grocery prices rising 0.4 percent. Compared with a year ago, food at home prices is up 11.3 percent.
The energy index rose two percent compared with the prior month. Gasoline prices rose 2.4 percent. Compared with a year ago, energy prices are up 8.7 percent and gasoline prices are up 1.5 percent.
Biden and, by default, the Democratic Party he presides over, got the lion’s share of the blame for the country’s worsening inflation last fall.
Just weeks out from the November midterm elections, according to a survey from CBS News, Republicans appeared likely to take control of at least the House — which happened — as a majority of respondents put the blame for higher prices on Biden.
“The CBS/YouGov Battleground Tracker poll surveyed 2068 registered voters between October 12th and 14th, asking a number of questions about the upcoming elections, the overall state of the economy, and whether or not they were satisfied with the direction the country was heading,” The Daily Wire reported, citing the outlet’s survey data.
“The worst news for Democrats came from the questions about the economy, as 65% of those polled said that they felt like the United States economy was getting worse compared to only 15% who believed it was getting better. Another 20% said that the economy was staying the same,” The Daily Wire added.
Democrats had gotten most of the blame. The survey found that nearly half — 48 percent — said Democrats and Democratic policies were to blame for the inflationary economy, while fewer than one-third, or 29 percent, said Dem policies were helping. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds, or 68 percent, said Biden could be doing more to combat inflation, while just 29 percent said he was already doing what he could.
