OPINION:
On Thursday, Americans will gather with their family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanks to President Joe Biden, it will be one of the most expensive meals in the history of the holiday.
The cost of Thanksgiving dinner is 14% higher this year, according to the Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving survey – the highest price in the survey’s history. The cost of a whole turkey has hit a record high – up 25% since last year, and nearly doubling compared to the price in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rolls have risen 15% in cost, and cranberries are up 11%. Nearly everything on your dinner table is more expensive than last year, as inflation has hit a 30-year-high. The largest price increases are with two staples: Meat and eggs.
Prices have gotten so out of control, in Florida, the 70-year “Turkey Shoot” conducted by a non-profit to give residents free frozen turkeys had to cancel, as the turkey prices in the region nearly doubled.
“Most often we pay between 49 cents and 69 cents per pound of turkey, and we try to do between a 10 to 11-pound bird which makes it very economical for us,” Jana Register, a volunteer with the Seville Village Improvement Association (SVIA), told the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
This year, turkeys in the area are selling around $1.19 a pound, making it unaffordable for the non-profit to buy the 60 turkeys they typically giveaway before Thanksgiving.
For many who haven’t seen their families for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these prices may have been hard to absorb, but worth it. What’s increasingly frustrating, however, is the lack of Thanksgiving staples on the store shelves.
Due to Mr. Biden’s supply chain crisis, “this year, you may have to trim your list of trimmings,” ABC News reported this month. CNN Business reported last week: “Thanksgiving items are running out of stock – but don’t panic,” concluding, “you may spend more than you’d like and have to make some substitutions.”
Tofu bird, anyone?
Holiday travel is also costing Americans more. Gas prices have surged to a seven-year-high, up 50% from one year ago. Jet fuel prices have increased 25% in three months, leading to higher airline ticket prices.
The Biden administration has been flippant, condescending, and has outright lied when regarding rising inflation. Mr. Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain has referred to it as “high-class problems,” and his press secretary joked the supply chain crisis is about the “tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed.” His administration has repeatedly told the American public inflation is “transitory,” and trillion dollars of new government spending will solve it.
No one is buying it. A plurality of voters believes Mr. Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan will make inflation worse, according to a Morning Consult/Politico poll released this week.
So, Mr. Biden, enjoy your holiday in Nantucket, where the average home price is $3 million, blissfully unaware of the struggles of everyday Americans.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.