Opinion: Financial crisis looming for working class as inflation hits record high

Mike Gibbons
·3 min read
A man looks at beef in the meat department at Lambert's Rainbow Market, on June 15, 2021 in Westwood, Mass. The Labor Department said Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, that consumer prices jumped 7.5% last month compared with a year earlier, the steepest year-over-year increase since February 1982. The acceleration of prices ranged across the economy, from food and furniture to apartment rents, airline fares and electricity. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Middle-class families are bound to struggle paying the bills in 2022 with prices skyrocketing across the nation under the Democrat-controlled White House and Congress.

The White House attempted to calm tensions by saying they expected prices to drop after the new year, yet the assertion remains doubtful as prices climb higher than ever.

Let’s get the facts straight: The consumer price index is up 6.8% – a 39-year high – and still rising. Compared to one year ago, gas is up 58%, groceries are up about 6%, energy expenses are up 33% and used cars are up 31%.

This inflationary period is a tax on Americans and is taking place under complete Democratic leadership. The White House and both chambers of Congress are controlled by the left, and they are not just hurting middle-class families but low-income families as well – a combined total of about 80% of the population.

Biden has proudly claimed that pay for Americans is up, while basic economics tells us the growth means nothing when the buying power of the U.S. dollar is in decline. Ohioans are having to spend more money and are feeling the pinch. Budgets are about to get a whole lot tighter in the next few months and revenues for both small and corporate businesses are likely to fall dramatically.

A person shops in the meat section of a grocery store in 2021, in Los Angeles.
A person shops in the meat section of a grocery store in 2021, in Los Angeles.

The current economic trends are a telltale sign of what’s coming for the 2022 midterms: A return to conservative values in our federal government to turn around the mess made by those currently in power.

Despite COVID-19 causing a whirlwind of instability for nearly two years, today’s unstable economic trend is a result of ongoing liberal initiatives, like the extensive stimulus packages that didn’t just diminish the value of our currency but discouraged a return to work. Thankfully, the Build Back Better disastrous spending spree has been put on hold, but passing the $1.3 trillion infrastructure bill and increasing the debt limit to $2.5 trillion has only furthered today's unstable economic trends.

The solution is to stop treating our money like it is never-ending and learn some financial responsibility, starting with the federal government. Wasteful spending in 2021 alone reached $52 billion, according to the Festivus Report, and our national debt rose to over $28 trillion.

So while politicians had a "productive" year wasting billions, the working class, especially low-income families, will be hurt the most in 2022 as the value of the dollar diminishes.

There remains one positive result of inflation that is developing across the nation: a united distaste for President Joe Biden. A recent poll shows about 70% of Americans disapprove of the way he has handled inflation, which shows that there is still hope for unity between political parties.

With the never-ending virus variants only encouraging fear and more disruption to normalcy, 2022 is not going to be easy, but it will be an opportunity for voters to make a change to the failing leadership in control of Washington.

Mike Gibbons is a businessman from Cleveland and running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate.

Mike Gibbons
Mike Gibbons

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: Financial crisis looming for working class as inflation hits record high