Biden’s inflation hits Thanksgiving dinner

NEWS AND OPINION:

It was inevitable. Along with increased prices on gas and groceries, the heavy weight of inflation, which has bedeviled President Biden and his administration, has descended on Thanksgiving dinner this year.

“This year’s Thanksgiving feast will wallop the wallet. Nearly every ingredient, from the turkey to the after-dinner coffee, is expected to cost more, for a host of reasons,” The New York Times declared Tuesday.

Although the Farm Bureau has not yet issued its traditional annual survey of the cost of Thanksgiving dinner, the price of that famous meal in 2020 during former President Donald Trump’s time in office was the lowest in 10 years — weighing in at $46.90 for a gathering of 10 at last count.

“One thing U.S. consumers won’t be giving thanks for on Turkey Day this year: the higher cost of food, and just about everything else amid sharply rising inflation,” reported a new CBS News analysis.

“When you go to the grocery store and it feels more expensive, that’s because it is,” Veronica Nigh, senior economist at the Farm Bureau, told the network, noting that food prices are up 3.7% so far in 2021, versus a 20-year average of about 2.4%.

“As a result, the overall tab for turkey and all the trimmings will cost 4% to 5% more this year than a year ago,” CBS said in its own analysis.

The National Turkey Federation and other industry groups warned in August that a national supply of “nutritious and affordable animal protein” could be scanty due to shutdowns, supply chain disruptions and a dwindling skilled labor force which occurred after Mr. Biden took office.

“We need lawmakers willing to have tough conversations to solve this problem and jumpstart rural America’s recovery from the pandemic,” the groups said in an open letter on Aug. 16 — signed by the National Turkey Federation, American Sheep Industry Association, Catfish Farmers of America, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council, North American Meat Institute, the Catfish Institute and United Egg Producers.

Oh, and about the price of gas. The average price per gallon nationwide is now $3.37 according to GasBuddy.com. On Nov. 1, 2020, the price was $2.07.

AND IN SUMMATION

“Democrats backed up a gravy train of spending that’s made life so expensive, working families can’t even afford to celebrate the holidays this year. Family budgets are being pushed to the brink, and voters will quit House Democrats cold turkey because of it.”

That comment comes from Calvin Moore, Congressional Leadership Fund communications director, upon reviewing the aforementioned Turkey Day trends.

NOT GOING NATIVE

The College Fix, a savvy student-written news organization, has an update on the latest phrase which is no longer welcome on a certain campus.

The University of Nevada-Reno has just released a new “Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access Language” guide, written with the help of 50 professors and other contributors from the school.

“Among the advice: Avoid the term ‘native Nevadan’ when referring to people born in the state because it is ‘not respectful to Indigenous people who truly are native to the land here in Nevada.’”

MUTING THE BAD NEWS

A new study finds that the “Big Three” broadcast networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — have once again soft-pedaled bad news about President Biden and his administration — a courtesy not afforded former President Donald Trump.

“The last three months have been nightmarish for Joe Biden’s presidency. In August, his popularity started to nosedive, dropping precipitously so that, by late October, some polls had him dipping into the high 30s as Afghanistan, inflation and an inability to accomplish his domestic agenda have altered a once popular president’s fortunes. But in comparison to Donald Trump, ABC, CBS and NBC had almost double the number of mentions of bad polling for the Republican,” wrote Scott Whitlock, research director for NewsBusters.org, a conservative press watchdog.

Mr. Whitlock and a team of analysts monitored morning and evening broadcast news programs from Aug. 1 to Oct. 25, seeking trends on coverage about Mr. Biden. They also examined the comparable coverage for Mr. Trump from Aug. 1, 2017, to Oct. 25, 2017.

“While ABC, CBS and NBC mentioned Donald Trump’s unpopularity 37 times, they only noted the rapidly dropping numbers for Biden 19 times,” Mr. Whitlock wrote, noting the tone of the Trump coverage was “gleeful” at times.

“The Biden presidency is cratering, but network journalists are still in denial, pretending that everything is okay,” Mr. Whitlock said, citing Mr. Biden’s approval rating, which is now as low as 38%, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.

“Perhaps reality will force ABC, CBS and NBC to stop protecting Biden and start informing the public,” the analyst concluded.

FOXIFIED

During the week of Oct. 18-24, Fox News soundly trounced rivals CNN and MSNBC, according to Nielsen Media Research, drawing an average prime-time audience of 2.3 million, compared to 1.2 million viewers who chose MSNBC and 735,000 who went with CNN.

In addition, Fox News aired the top 25 cable news telecasts during the week, and also bested multiple National Basketball Association games.

“Tucker Carlson Tonight” (3 million viewers), “The Five” (also 3 million viewers), Hannity (2.8 million), “Special Report” (2.3 million) and “The Ingraham Angle” (2.2 million) drew larger audiences than four basketball games that aired on TNT and ESPN. TNT had an average audience of 2 million for the games, and ESPN 1.8 million.

POLL DU JOUR

• 75% of U.S. adults disapprove of the job the U.S. Congress is doing; 92% of Republicans, 74% of independents and 65% of Democrats agree.

• 83% of Whites and 59% of Non-whites also agree.

• 21% overall approve of the job Congress is doing; 5% of Republicans, 22% of independents and 33% of Democrats agree.

• 14% of Whites and 35% of Non-whites also agree.

• 4% have no opinion or refused to answer; 3% of Republicans, 5% of independents and 2% of Democrats agree.

• 3% of Whites and 6% of Non-whites also agree.

SOURCE: A Gallup poll of 823 U.S. adults conducted Oct. 1-19

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin