Tag Archives: Cost of Living

Members of Congress vote for a raise due to the cost of living: These are the same people that tell us the economy is fine

Important Takeaways:

  • A 1,547-page spending deal was released Tuesday night will give members of Congress a raise.
  • Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the top Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, explained in 2023 that the so-called “Member Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) automatically takes effect unless it is blocked.”
  • “News flash: a COLA is a pay increase for Members of Congress,” she stated unequivocally.
  • Congress often cleverly rebrands politically toxic items like congressional pay raises, as when they began referring to earmarks as “congressionally directed spending.”
  • This is not the first time in recent memory Congress has taken advantage of a last-minute lame-duck spending bill to benefit itself.
  • In the 2022 lame-duck spending bill, Congress snuck in a provision to allow reimbursement for a number of living expenses, including lodging, food, and travel while on the job in Washington, DC.
  • According to the New York Times, individual members could be reimbursed up to about $34,000 in the first year.
  • Most members of Congress earn $174,000 annually, although some in leadership positions receive higher salaries. The Speaker of the House receives $223,500, while the Senate president pro tempore receives $193,400.

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Cost of living is way up but experts want you to focus on the cooling inflation

Gas-Prices-June-2024

Important Takeaways:

  • How it started… how it’s going: Cost of living still way up compared to pre-Biden norm
  • President Biden welcomed Wednesday’s inflation report that showed prices rose less than expected in May, but the cost of living for millions of Americans is still much higher than it was before he assumed office.
  • Data from the Labor Department confirms that housing expenses, energy and vehicle maintenance costs have all increased by double digits since January 2021.
  • As of May, shelter costs are up 21.4%, home prices have increased 33.9% and rent is up 21.4%, according to indexes tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mortgage rates on a 30-year fixed loan have shot up to an average of 6.99% as of June 6, 2024, from 2.77% in January 2021 — a whopping increase of 152%, according to Freddie Mac
  • Gas prices are currently sitting at a national average of $3.45 per gallon, down from $3.50 last week as low demand and increasing supply provide relief at the pump, AAA said. But overall, today’s prices are still 45% more expensive than in January 2021, when it cost $2.38 per gallon to fill up.
  • Electricity costs are up about 29% since Biden took office.
  • It also costs more to buy a car (20.4% increase), maintain it (30.5%) and insure it (51.3%) than it did four years ago.

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Cost of Living washes out any increase in wages

Amazon-Warehouse

Important Takeaways:

  • Amazon Workers Say They Struggle to Afford Food, Rent
  • Five years after Amazon.com Inc. raised wages to $15 an hour, half of warehouse workers surveyed by researchers say they struggle to afford enough food or a place to live.
  • The national study, published Wednesday by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development, asked US employees about their economic wellbeing, including whether they’d skipped meals, went hungry, or were worried about being able to make rent or mortgage payments.
  • Fifty-three percent of respondents reported that they’d experienced one or more forms of food insecurity in the prior three months, and 48% experienced one or more forms of housing insecurity. Workers who said they took unpaid time off after getting hurt on the job were more likely to report trouble paying their bills, the researchers found.

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They tell you everything is fine but for too many the American Dream feels like an illusion

No-American-Dream

Important Takeaways:

  • Americans’ cost of living remains a massive headache, even as recession fears fade
  • The long-rumored recession has been postponed – or perhaps canceled altogether.
  • And yet, hidden behind these boomy-economic indicators, a frustrating reality persists: Life is far too expensive for far too many.
  • From the historically unaffordable housing market and budget-breaking day care rates to high car prices, the United States has a cost of living problem many years in the making.
  • Parents of young children are making difficult choices to afford child care — or they’re opting to evade it by dropping out of the workforce altogether.
  • Parents are also struggling to buy bigger cars to haul around their growing families while simultaneously socking away some money in college savings plans.
  • For too many, the American Dream feels like an illusion.

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German public on edge as Cost of Living rises

Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’

Important Takeaways:

  • Cost of Living Crisis: Food Prices Up 40 Percent on Last Year as Potato Costs Rise Over 70 Per Cent
  • The German general public is facing a massive surge in the price of food — a considerable contributor to the ongoing cost of living crisis — with government statistics released on Monday indicating that the overall price of groceries in the country has risen by nearly 40 per cent within the last 12 months.
  • The increased costs could not come at a worse time for citizens, with officials in the country worrying that riots and civil unrest remains possible should people be unable to properly heat their homes.

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One job isn’t cutting it when everything costs more

Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘I know how tough it can be’: Americans look for side hustles to fight inflation
  • The cost of living rose 8.2% in September, while wages rose just 5.1%. And there are still jobs to be had.
  • The labor market remains healthy, for now at least. The economy added 261,000 new jobs in October. The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, worries strong jobs figures will keep inflation at a 40-year high.
  • Half of women surveyed (53%) by Prudential Financial say they cannot afford their current lifestyle or are barely getting by — while 40% of men said the same thing.

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Inflation hits 8.3% from a year ago

Rev 6:6 NAS “And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Inflation barreled ahead at 8.3% in April from a year ago, remaining near 40-year highs
  • The consumer price index accelerated 8.3% in April, more than the 8.1% estimate and near the highest level in more than 40 years.
  • Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, also was higher than expected, rising 6.2%.
  • Shelter costs, which comprise about one-third of the CPI, rose at their fastest pace since 1991.
  • Inflation-adjusted earnings continued to decline for workers, falling 2.6% over the past year due to the surging cost of living.

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PM Bennett seeks to energize Israeli economy by slashing regulations

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former software entrepreneur, pledged on Tuesday to slash regulations to cut the cost of living and help Israel’s small and medium-size businesses flourish as well as its globally successful hi-tech sector.

“We want to ‘hi-tech-icise’ the rest of the economy,” he told a news conference. “We’re going to turn ourselves into a paradise for small and medium businesses … to make it easy and compelling to open a business and succeed.”

Bennett, who took office last month, took a swipe at his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Israel had endured 12 years of talk and “minimal execution”.

Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said there were 209 regulators in Israel, and that they acted mainly in their own interests instead of aiming to improving productivity, competition and growth.

He pointed to a 2018 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development which said that reducing the level of regulation to the OECD average would increase Israel’s per-capita GDP by 3.75% in five years, and 5.75% – 75 billion shekels ($23 billion) – over a decade.

A report by the prime minister’s office and finance and justice ministries says Israel’s per capita GDP and productivity have lagged Western peers for a decade due to over-regulation.

Under a framework law, the government plans to establish a single authority to oversee regulatory processes, and to factor speed of processing, competitiveness and pricing into corporate regulations.

($1 = 3.2630 shekels)

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Riot-hit Chile presses forward with social reforms

Riot-hit Chile presses forward with social reforms
By Dave Sherwood

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s president and lawmakers prepared on Thursday to push forward social equality reforms after the easing of riots in the latest flashpoint of protests against South American leaders.

Center-right leader Sebastian Pinera was to ship a bill to Congress that would overturn a recent hike in electricity rates, one of several measures he hopes will turn the violent demonstrations into an “opportunity” for Chile..

Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno also repealed the elimination of fuel subsidies this month after protests, while Bolivia’s Evo Morales faced demonstrations over an election, and Argentina’s Mauricio Macri has suffered a backlash over economic turmoil.

In Chile, anger over inequality and cost of living sent tens of thousands into the streets to demand an overhaul in one of the region’s traditionally most stable, and wealthy, nations.

Over five days of unrest that appeared to be dying down on Wednesday night, more than 6,000 people have been detained and at least 16 killed.

Pinera’s proposed reforms include a guaranteed minimum wage, a hike in state pensions and reductions in public transportation costs. Some, such as a bill to provide insurance against catastrophic illness, have already been delivered to lawmakers.

Octavio Solis, 43, an unemployed security guard, said he hoped the government acted quickly.

“We’re tired of all this, the protests, the looting. It’s a disaster. This isn’t the Santiago we once knew,” Solis said as he waited in line to receive an unemployment payment.

“We need good salaries and pensions for our elderly.

CITY LIFE

The capital city of about 6 million people awoke to relative calm on Thursday, as vendors peddling orange juice and fruit cups once again appeared on street corners.

Public markets reopened and thousands of commuters, dressed in work outfits and clutching coffees, made their way to work on the still hobbled underground transport system that has suffered more than $300 million worth of damage.

Trash, broken glass, graffiti and tear gas lingered in the aftermath of protests that went late into Wednesday evening, but ended peacefully.

Thousands of striking workers, including healthcare professionals and teachers, banged pots and carried banners past darkness in Santiago and other cities.

The marches were closely monitored by police and soldiers.

The unrest has included arson attacks and looting. At least 18 people died, according to one official count. Chilean prosecutors have since clarified that two of the total died in a car accident unrelated to the riots.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

French government offers sweeteners to head off fresh ‘yellow vest’ unrest

A French fireman extinguishes a burning car as youths and high school students protest against the French government's reform plan, in Nantes, France, December 6, 2018. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

By Richard Lough and Marine Pennetier

PARIS (Reuters) – The French government hinted at more concessions to ‘yellow vest’ protesters on Thursday in a bid to head off another wave of violence in the capital over living costs and regain the initiative after weeks of civil unrest.

With protesters calling on social media for “Act IV” – a fourth weekend of protest – Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said 65,000 police would be drafted in to stop a repeat of last Saturday’s mayhem in Paris when rioters torched cars and looted shops off the famed Champs Elysees boulevard.

Philippe told the Senate he was open to new measures to help the lowest-paid workers. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he was prepared to accelerate tax cuts for households and that he wanted workers’ bonuses to be tax-free.

“I am ready to look at all measures that will help raise the pay of those on the minimum wage without doing excessive damage to our competitiveness and businesses,” Philippe told the parliament’s upper house.

The rush of sweeteners to soothe public anger began with Philippe’s climb-down on fuel tax hikes, the first major U-turn of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.

Yet, five days after the worst rioting central Paris has seen since 1968, all signs are that the government has failed to quell the revolt.

A repeat of last Saturday’s violence in Paris’s city center — which saw rioters deface the Arc de Triomphe with anti-Macron graffiti — would deal a blow to the economy and raise doubts over the government’s survival.

Philippe said the state would do all it could to maintain order. At least four first division football matches have been canceled and several museums including Paris’ Grand Palais said they would close.

ACT IV

An official in Macron’s office said intelligence suggested some protesters would come to the capital with the aim to “vandalize and kill”. There is concern about far-right, anarchist and anti-capitalist groups like the Black Bloc, which have piggybacked off the ‘yellow vest’ movement.

The Paris prefecture on Thursday told restaurants and luxury boutiques along the Champs Elysees boulevard to close on Saturday and asked local Paris authorities to prepare their districts for violence.

On Facebook and across social media, protesters are calling for “Act IV”.

“France is fed up!! We will be there in bigger numbers, stronger, standing up for French people. Meet in Paris on Dec. 8,” read one group’s banner.

Security sources said the government was considering using troops currently deployed on anti-terrorism patrols to protect public buildings.

The protests, named after the fluorescent safety jackets French motorists have to keep in their cars, erupted in November over the squeeze on household budgets caused by fuel taxes. Demonstrations swiftly grew into a broad, sometimes-violent rebellion against Macron, with no formal leader.

Their demands are diverse and include lower taxes, higher salaries, cheaper energy costs, better retirement provisions and even Macron’s resignation.

STREET POLITICS

Reversing course on next year’s fuel-tax hikes have left a gaping 4 billion euro hole in the government’s 2019 budget which it is now searching for ways to plug.

Citing unnamed sources, Les Echos business daily said the government as considering delaying corporate tax easing planned next year or putting off an increase in the minimum wage.

The unrest has exposed the deep-seated resentment among non-city dwellers that Macron is out-of-touch with the hard-pressed middle class and blue-collar workers. They see the 40-year-old former investment banker as closer to big business.

An Elabe poll on Thursday showed that only 23 percent of people trusted Macron, now lower than his predecessor Francois Hollande at the same period in his presidency.

Trouble is also brewing elsewhere for Macron. Teenage students on Thursday blocked access to more than 200 high schools across the country, burnt garbage bins and setting alight a car in the western city of Nantes. Hundreds of students were arrested after clashes with riot police.

Meanwhile, farmers who have long complained that retailers are squeezing their margins and are furious over a delay to the planned rise in minimum food prices, and truckers are threatening to strike from Sunday.

Le Maire said France was no longer spared from the wave of populism that has swept across Europe.

“It’s only that in France, it’s not manifesting itself at the ballot box, but in the streets.”

(Reporting by Richard Lough and Marine Pennetier; additional reporting by Leigh Thomas, Michel Rose, Emmanuel Jarry, John Irish and Myriam Rivet; Editing by Richard Balmforth)