Inflation Gobbles Up Americans' Thanksgiving Budgets

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• High inflation is straining Americans’ budgets, making Thanksgiving dinner – from turkey to potatoes – much more expensive this year.
• Soaring costs are squeezing farmers and ranchers, with production expenses expected to be $66 billion higher in 2022 than last year.
• Americans have Democrats’ reckless spending policies to “thank” for driving inflation to painfully high levels. 

Soaring inflation is raining on Americans’ parade this Thanksgiving. It’s the second straight holiday season of painfully high prices: in November 2021, consumer prices were up 6.8% from a year earlier, and inflation is up 7.7% since last October. Consumer prices have increased a total of 13.9% since President Biden took office. Democrats’ massive spending in spring 2021 set off inflation’s rise, and people have been feeling squeezed ever since. Americans can’t escape high inflation, whether they’re paying to heat their homes, filling up their car to gather with family, or going to the grocery store to shop for Thanksgiving dinner.

Democrats’ Thanksgiving Day Parade

a Buffet of High Prices

According to the Labor Department, grocery prices are up 12.4% from a year ago. Hosts may have to pay record prices to have turkey as the main course. Prices are exceptionally high because of inflation and recent bird flu cases. In October, poultry prices such as turkey were up 16.9%. Home cooks will pay 15.2% more for sides like potatoes, and 18% more if using canned green beans to make a traditional casserole. Staple ingredients like milk are up 14.5%, and butter is up 26.7%, while prices for eggs are up 43%. Canned fruits like cranberries are up 18.7%, and prices for dinner rolls have jumped 13.6% from a year ago. Even spices like cinnamon for pumpkin pie and poultry seasoning are 10.3% more expensive than this time last year.

Soaring Prices Hit Thanksgiving Dinner

Consumers dining out for the big meal can’t escape inflation either. Prices for full service meals were up 9% in October.

Higher food prices do not necessarily mean farmers are making more money: the farm share of each food dollar is only 8 cents. Producers also are contending with higher prices. While the U.S. agriculture industry has bolstered its productivity over the past several decades, rising costs for necessary inputs like fuel, fertilizer, land, and equipment are squeezing producers. In September, the Department of Agriculture predicted total production costs would increase $66 billion in 2022 from the previous year, the largest one-year increase ever. That’s after producers endured a 12% increase in their costs in 2021.

No Thanks for Democrats’ bad policies

In March 2021, Democrats poured $2 trillion in “COVID relief” into the economy, despite warnings about inflation risks. After inflation started on its meteoric rise, Democrats trotted out one excuse after another, blaming everything but their misguided policies. Consumer and producer prices kept soaring, consumer sentiment plummeted to a record low, and the economy shrank in back-to-back quarters. Instead of going cold turkey on their reckless spending habit, Democrats dished out another massive spending package, stuffed with job-killing tax hikes and billions for their Green New Deal priorities.

President Biden has been trying to convince Americans the economy is strong, even though many economists say a recession looms within the next year. Workers whose paychecks are eroded by inflation month after month know the situation is not as rosy as Democrats think. In a recent poll by Morning Consult and Politico, 65% of respondents said the country is already in a recession. Americans would be thankful for meaningful relief from crushing inflation, not the failed solutions and excuses Democrats keep serving them.