Grocery, Housing & Daycare Prices & Working Class Americans

[bassydude77]

Yep. And this is one of the few things that aren't Trump's fault but he's going to get the blame for it. C'est la vie.

You don't think tariffs and ICE raids/ threat of ICE raids haven't impacted grocery prices directly? Typically, prices/ inflation/ general economic forces can't be traced directly to Presidential policy or decisions. But in this case there is no doubt immigration policy and tariffs are absolutely without a doubt driving costs up.

 

[nrsair]

https://www.axios.com/2025/10/02/grocery-prices-rise-trump-poll

So Republicans are much less likely to believe that groceries are harder to afford, when in fact most prices have gone up. I’m not sure you could find more concrete evidence that they are living in an alternate reality.

Even my very-MAGA mother recently remarked on how expensive cream cheese and fresh produce is. I held my tongue, otherwise she’d tell me I’ll go to hell for voting for democrats (again).

 

[gtyellowjacket]

You don't think tariffs and ICE raids/ threat of ICE raids haven't directed grocery prices directly? Typically, prices/ inflation/ general economic forces can't be traced directly to Presidential policy or decisions. But in this case there is no doubt immigration policy and tariffs are absolutely without a doubt driving costs up.

Less so tariffs but definitely the ICE raids. You're right. Statement withdrawn. I do think there is also blame from Biden keeping the easy money going for a little too long, and environmental factors like the screwworm, but Trump's ICE policies are certainly right up there.

 

[uncleradar]

Less so tariffs but definitely the ICE raids. You're right. Statement withdrawn. I do think there is also blame from Biden keeping the easy money going for a little too long, and environmental factors like the screwworm, but Trump's ICE policies are certainly right up there.

So tariffs are OK but the screwworm- which has had ZERO impact on U.S. beef production- is a problem. It strikes me that you should limit your comments to issues you know something about.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

So tariffs are OK but the screwworm- which has had ZERO impact on U.S. beef production- is a problem. It strikes me that you should limit your comments to issues you know something about.

Zero impact? It strikes me that you should limit your comments to issues you know something about.

There are a number of factors contributing to the high prices, including tariffs on Brazilian imports, and a USDA ban on Mexican cattle due to a parasitic fly infecting cattle across the border.

Even at record prices, beef demand is still strong

A small U.S. cattle herd is keeping prices the highest they’ve ever been.

www.marketplace.org

 

[UNCatTech]

I posted this in the Current Events thread but it really struck a chord with me due to some recent personal experiences:



Just this past Sunday, I stopped at a grocery store I had not previously visited in a less well off part of my county on my way home from the mountains to grab a few things for the week. It is a very nice Ingles. But by some coincidence there were two different families circling the aisles at the same time I was and I couldn’t help but overhear both families having separate pressure due to grocery prices.

One family had their kids with them and were more in a constant put that back, everything costs so much you only get one treat and then the parents were huddled in the meat aisle talking about how they could save on meat to get something for the kids.

The other was a couple having a tense back and forth about their grocery list and prices. Several times the guy picks up something and loudly declares how expensive it is and the wife retorts with some version of see, I keep telling you, we can’t get a week’s groceries on this budget. I keep telling you I can’t afford this And that, we have to make do.

I’ve also heard repeatedly from elderly relatives how shocking grocery prices are for a few bags of food.

I know the data shows that wages have also increased dramatically. And I know the working class is always struggling to meet monthly budgets and pay all the bills. That was my family for a long time when I was a kid. For years I kept a running tally of the $$ in our cart because we had a very fixed budget that had to be stretched and plenty of times my mom made me double check my total and then had to go back through the cart and either put stuff back or trade down to a cheaper option. I learned basic division very early to help sort out the price per unit of different size packages and got a calculator for one Christmas (when a handheld calculator was still expensive, at least to us) to share with my mom not just for school (when we were still doing basic grade school multiplication tables and math so I didn’t even need a calculator) but also to help with the grocery tallies and for my mom balancing the checkbook before going grocery or clothes shopping.

But I’ve also been insulated from any pain of grocery costs for decades now, and I admit I seem too focused on macroeconomic data that suggests that wages and grocery costs are historically out of whack, but a lot of Americans are individually having a very different experience (maybe because the historic cost of housing is high now, which is pressuring everything else?).

Anyway, we’ve played political football with egg prices, which had external but seasonal inflationary pressures from bird flu resulting in wild price swings, but it seems there is something more serious afoot. And grocery prices seem to be a flashpoint for working class Americans.

But what can be done?

Not sure how I missed this.

This really hits home for me. I'm going to respond later, when I am at a place i can better express my thoughts.

This morning has really started out bad and I'm struggling to pull myself together enough to function.

 

[uncleradar]

Zero impact? It strikes me that you should limit your comments to issues you know something about.

There are a number of factors contributing to the high prices, including tariffs on Brazilian imports, and a USDA ban on Mexican cattle due to a parasitic fly infecting cattle across the border.

Even at record prices, beef demand is still strong

A small U.S. cattle herd is keeping prices the highest they’ve ever been.

www.marketplace.org

Zero impact? It strikes me that you should limit your comments to issues you know something about.

There are a number of factors contributing to the high prices, including tariffs on Brazilian imports, and a USDA ban on Mexican cattle due to a parasitic fly infecting cattle across the border.

Even at record prices, beef demand is still strong

A small U.S. cattle herd is keeping prices the highest they’ve ever been.

www.marketplace.org

My family has a small beef cattle operation- we run around 1500 head on 2000 acres. Screwworm has had ZERO impact on U.S. BEEF PRODUCTION. There has been exactly one case in the U.S.- and that was a "tourist" case in Maryland. Your article refers to problems in Mexico and further south. Tariffs on Brazilian imports have been a large factor as they provide the lower quality cuts used to improve fat content in hamburger. Perhaps you could brush up on your reading skills and review my comment. When it comes to the cattle business I am fully qualified to recognize bullshit.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

My family has a small beef cattle operation- we run around 1500 head on 2000 acres. Screwworm has had ZERO impact on U.S. BEEF PRODUCTION. There has been exactly one case in the U.S.- and that was a "tourist" case in Maryland. Your article refers to problems in Mexico and further south. Tariffs on Brazilian imports have been a large factor as they provide the lower quality cuts used to improve fat content in hamburger. Perhaps you could brush up on your reading skills and review my comment. When it comes to the cattle business I am fully qualified to recognize bullshit.

The article refers to limitations of imports due to a screwworm infestation in Mexico and the USDA severely limiting imports from same. The limitation of imports is limiting supply driving up the price. It's one factor. Certainly not the only factor.

 

[altmin]

So Republicans are much less likely to believe that groceries are harder to afford, when in fact most prices have gone up. I’m not sure you could find more concrete evidence that they are living in an alternate reality.

Even my very-MAGA mother recently remarked on how expensive cream cheese and fresh produce is. I held my tongue, otherwise she’d tell me I’ll go to hell for voting for democrats (again).

my mother would just say the greedy corporations have raised prices to help out their Democratic friends who want to prevent healthy things (i.e raw milk) from reaching the market, then go back explaining to me how windmills kill whales. (last part happened on Tuesday)

 

[UNCatTech]

Less so tariffs but definitely the ICE raids. You're right. Statement withdrawn. I do think there is also blame from Biden keeping the easy money going for a little too long, and environmental factors like the screwworm, but Trump's ICE policies are certainly right up there.

By easy money you mean the low interest rates?

The rates that the fed increased in 2018 and then lowered three times in 2019?

 

[UNCatTech]

The article refers to limitations of imports due to a screwworm infestation in Mexico and the USDA severely limiting imports from same. The limitation of imports is limiting supply driving up the price. It's one factor. Certainly not the only factor.

And you don't believe that trumps tariffs are not impacting imports to a much greater extent?

 

[farce©]

Who are you gonna believe? Trump or your lying eyes?

 

[Calheel]

https://www.axios.com/2025/10/02/grocery-prices-rise-trump-poll

This is a crazy chart. Prices don’t discriminate between Republicans and Democrats. It is just math. Sure, Republicans may drink more beer and Democrats more wine, but by and large, they are paying the same price for groceries.

Yet, Republicans are much less likely to FEEL like they are paying more for groceries. This chart is a perfect encapsulation about how team politics color your entire world view.

 

[StrangePackage]

This is a crazy chart. Prices don’t discriminate between Republicans and Democrats. It is just math. Sure, Republicans may drink more beer and Democrats more wine, but by and large, they are paying the same price for groceries.

Yet, Republicans are much less likely to FEEL like they are paying more for groceries. This chart is a perfect encapsulation about how team politics color your entire world view.

Counterpoint-

Republicans are much more likely to lie about their actual feelings because they put party loyalty ahead of truth.

They know what their checkbook says. They just can't bring themselves to admit it.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

By easy money you mean the low interest rates?

The rates that the fed increased in 2018 and then lowered three times in 2019?

Biden doesn't control the fed.

I am mostly talking about the American recovery plan. And that is mostly hindsight is 20/20. It's hard to get something like that exactly right coming out of the largest economic disruption in 100 years. Who knows how much stimulus was needed. But as it turns out, it was too much.

You could throw in policies like the treasury department buying up corporate bonds, extending the no interest student loans, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and even the chips act but those were mostly pretty tiny compared to an almost two trillion dollar stimulus that pumped money into the economy while at the same time exacerbating labor shortages.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

And you don't believe that trumps tariffs are not impacting imports to a much greater extent?

I'm certainly starting to change my mind. I didn't realize how much beef we were importing from places like brazil. I was really thinking more about all the crops we weren't selling overseas because of our tariffs.

So yeah. Reading up on it, I think the tariffs are a significant secondary cause. I also think environmental factors like the screw worm and droughts are also a significant secondary cause. At least with beef.

 

[UNCatTech]

Biden doesn't control the fed.

I am mostly talking about the American recovery plan. And that is mostly hindsight is 20/20. It's hard to get something like that exactly right coming out of the largest economic disruption in 100 years. Who knows how much stimulus was needed. But as it turns out, it was too much.

You could throw in policies like the treasury department buying up corporate bonds, extending the no interest student loans, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and even the chips act but those were mostly pretty tiny compared to an almost two trillion dollar stimulus that pumped money into the economy while at the same time exacerbating labor shortages.

The term easy money has also been used to describe the extended low interest rates. While not controlled by the president they were often influenced by the president. I've read several economist that put more blame on that and some that report that we waited far to long to start increasing them. Then looking at the history, they are starting to increase under trump but that changed and they lowered then.

 

[UNCBAdookJD]

Biden doesn't control the fed.

I am mostly talking about the American recovery plan. And that is mostly hindsight is 20/20. It's hard to get something like that exactly right coming out of the largest economic disruption in 100 years. Who knows how much stimulus was needed. But as it turns out, it was too much.

You could throw in policies like the treasury department buying up corporate bonds, extending the no interest student loans, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and even the chips act but those were mostly pretty tiny compared to an almost two trillion dollar stimulus that pumped money into the economy while at the same time exacerbating labor shortages.

Almost none of the stimulus came from Biden. Virtually all of the tax rebate checks were Trump. PPP was Trump. What stimulus did Biden had out that was easy money?

 

[UNCBAdookJD]

Counterpoint-

Republicans are much more likely to lie about their actual feelings because they put party loyalty ahead of truth.

They know what their checkbook says. They just can't bring themselves to admit it.

That is the correct answer. That they are 20 points off independents shows that they are just completely disassociating from reality.

 

[finesse]

So tariffs are OK but the screwworm- which has had ZERO impact on U.S. beef production- is a problem. It strikes me that you should limit your comments to issues you know something about.

That's such a polite way to ask hm to just shut up and read.