Health of The Economy Inflated by Core Inflation Spin.

To play Devil's Advocate for a second, the idea was to reflect what median American families face in inflation, and to exclude items such as food, energy, and housing, because (in theory) most of the poor can adjust their spending on these items, to reflect their conditions. Such as, the price of food shoots up, so Joey buys less steaks or burgers, and buys hotdogs. Gasoline goes up, Joey drives less. Housing costs go up, and Joey gets a roommate.

However, excluding food and energy doesn't reflect what inflation is for 75% of the US public. Gas prices have doubled in the past 7 years, so an average Arizonan - making $2500/mo , who was shelling out $60 for gas a week to get to and from work (240/mo, just about 10% of his monthly income), is now paying $500 a month, or 20% of his monthly income, before taxes - and this guy isn't paying much in income taxes, but he is paying SocSec, FICA, Medicare, etc. His rent has gone up, his utilities have gone up, his food bill has gone up. So, for the median Arizonan family, the increase in gas is a huge hit to his bottom line.

Yup.  You said it Free Thinker.  And the story of numbers manipulation doesn’t stop there. 

The apologists for this chicanery on the part of our government parrot the official line that our unemployment rate is regularly less than that of the European Economies.   The thing that they neglect to point out is that the Europeans count you as unemployed if you want to work but don’t have a job. 

Our government takes the easy (and false) approach of counting only those that are registered for and receiving unemployment benefits.  If you have ever been an unemployed American, you know that the unemployment does run out, but you may not know that even if you are still trying to find a job, for all intents and purposes you have ceased to exist as far as our government is concerned.  Either you get a job, or you don’t, but either way you are taken off the unemployment rolls and no longer count.  Oblivion, my friend, for those discouraged job seekers, and even for those that are still scrabbling for a job.  That is the American way.  

Rugged individualism rules!  Pull yourself up by the bootstraps!!  You are responsible - don't expect any handouts.  What!?!   Bear Stearns???  Never heard of them. 

Ladies and Gents, step right up.  See the shells, and the unemployed worker.  Now I am going to count the unemployed worker and put him under one of these three shells labeled unemployed.  Then I will mix the three shells and you choose the shell that contains the worker!  Ready?  Here we go … 

Oh look, when I lift the shell you have chosen the worker has disappeared.  Isn’t that wonderful.  We now have no unemployed workers.  And note that neither of the other two shells have a pea, I mean unemployed worker either.  Anyone that wants to work is employed!  That is your taxes at work, and we all win. 

What’s that you say?  What hole in the table?  What pile of peas?  I am NOT standing in a pile of peas!!  Move along now.  There is nothing more to see here, and there are others that want to participate.  

Ladies and Gents, step right up... 

Makes me wonder if the Europeans play the core inflation shell game. 

Hmmmmmm…

Maybe Cheney knows something we don’t and is getting out of town while the getting is good?   

Ref: Jericho - A Blueprint?

http://az.vona.com/Jericho__A_Blueprint-5031-37-18609.htm 

To:  AZ Moderate

???  When you say "from the Fed" do you mean from the Federal Reserve or from the Federal government?  When I first read it I was thinking maybe you meant from the Federal Reserve - and that's not correct.  The inflation rate is determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics - but it is the Federal Reserve's job to keep the inflation rate in control.

If they included food and energy as core inflation products, it would cost both the government and industry more.  Example:  The government provides COL increases to government employees, recipients of Medicare and Veterans based on the yearly inflation rate determined by the BLS - companies, in turn, provide their employees a cost of living increase based on this same number.

My guess (and it's only a guess) is they took out food and energy back in the 70's when oil prices were out of control.  I don't know that for a fact so I just sent an e-mail inquiry to the BLS for clarification.  Once you take something out, it's difficult to put it back because it then distorts any follow-up year-to-year comparisons.

As far as smoke and mirrors and this administration, when it comes to numbers - it's a joke.  There isn't a report that hasn't been 'altered' in some way by this administration to shed a more positive light on the economy.  The problem is, creative accounting procedures will always come back to bite you on the butterball.

P.

When I was a wee tad all those many decades ago, we could get a double scoop ice cream cone for a nickel.  We thought we were ill used when the price doubled for the double scope, but we could still get a single scooper for a nickel.  What does a single scope cost today? 

(And to put it into perspective for youngsters like you MoronInCharge, that was post-WWII, not back in the colonial days!)  

As a kid I got my haircut and a nickel change from a fifty cent piece.  I immediately squandered it on a cone of course.     

I remember gasoline at 0.199 per gallon - with S&H stamps that we would paste in a little booklet and then redeem for merchandise.  Or at other filling stations there would be glassware, the eligible piece(s) for your choosing depending on how much gasoline you bought. 

And perhaps some of you remember when the dollar dial for the first time in history spun as fast as the 'gallons' dial on the pump.  They rolled along in lock-step for awhile, and then the dollar dial ran away to the blur we see today.     

As I have preached here in articles and comments, the USD is a confidence game.  Nineteen-point-nine cents to three dollars and nineteen-point-nine cents in a large part represents the erosion of confidence - called inflation.  And as the rest of the world watches this disaster in the White House squander our human, financial and trust (both domestic and international) resources, what we've seen will look like a rehearsal.  

Of course wage rates have increased too.  It’s all relative.  And I think for some of the last half century wages have actually beat cost inflation – although at other times (late seventies is a case in point) wages lost ground.  But during the Bu$hite debacle wage rates have taken a severe beating, and the losses will never be recovered because of the great leveling plan I have outline in articles and comments.  

We are approaching the time when the smoke will clear and the Average American will see the broken mirrors, and gnash his teeth and rend his garments for being so deceived. 

But don’t get me started …

Yes P. – Federal Government.  I couldn’t remember at the time which ‘Gov’ unit generated the statistics, so I painted with a broad brush.  I should have spelled it out.  Thank you for the detail. 

On another note, did you mean “The government provides COL increases to government employees, recipients of (Social Security) Medicare and Veterans based on the yearly inflation rate determined by the BLS“?  I am not aware of a cost of living increase with Medicare , but I could be ignorant of it.  Please enlighten me.  

And you are right about the numbers coming out of the Bu$hite Regime: any relationship to the reality they claim to represent is purely coincidental. But this whole Bu$hite Regime is a joke, if you like sick humor.  The numbers of Average Americans that are finally joining us in not laughing, however, is legion. 

It’s way past time for a regime change!! 

Impeach this Imperial President and his Rasputin in an undisclosed location!!!