Fuel Price Hikes Fuel Inflation Concerns

Oh, fucking great. The Editor of this web log spent three & one half hours of his life, which will never be returned to him, in the waiting room of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services this a. am., waiting for a 10 minute interview w/ the mental health eligibility worker to determine if funding for this web log would continue another six months w/o the necessity of looking for a "job." [In Maynard G. Krebs voice: "Woooork?"] We could have told her over the 'phone that we're in no shape to look for anything, saving us a trip to Pico & Sepulveda. (Yes, the very same intersection made famous by Dr. Demento on his radio show in the '70s.) Now we see that inflation is about to raise its ugly head, putting a big dent in our venture capital of $221.00/month in cash & $165.00/month in Food Stamps.

The big concern: As energy and commodity prices soar, cost increases will seep into areas beyond food and energy, sparking a full-blown episode of inflation. So far, government statistics say that hasn't happened. Core prices — those minus food and energy — have risen just 2.3% the 12 months ended April, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Nevertheless, the inflation that consumers feel the most is much higher. Energy alone has soared 15.9%, and the price of a barrel of light sweet crude oil has skyrocketed 107% to $131.03. Including food and energy, prices are up 3.9%, the government says. Already, says David Huether, economist for the National Association of Manufacturers, soaring energy prices mean that the average worker's wages have fallen, when adjusted for inflation. "If you exclude energy, real wages would be rising now," Huether says.

St. Nick on a Stick, when the NAM (they would have been w/ Prescott Bush supporting Hitler in the '30s, they are so right wing) says it's a problem for workers, you'd better take it seriously. It happened during the Nixon/Ford administration, now America's idiots let Bush in once & sort of reëlected him the second time around & the result is the same. Do you fucking morons never learn? And by the way, "inflation concerns?" Have you priced (let alone purchased) milk or bread lately? The very staffs (staves?) of life (along w/ circuses, of course) aren't exactly what they were a yr. ago.