For some time, the drumbeat from Washington and Wall Street is that inflation hasn't and isn't happening here. The usual dodge is that food and energy prices are "volatile" and therefore don't count. This bizarre logic does not change the fact that most people have less spending power.
A recent poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports noted that 93% of those Americans polled believed they are spending more on groceries now than they did last year. Four percent said they're not paying more. I would like to meet some four percenters and ask them just how they reached their conclusion. (Thanks to the financial blog Zero Hedge for posting the Rasmussen Reports story.)
There are times the official denial of reality just gets tiring. One can pretend necessities don't cost more only for so long. One can deny the federal government is essentially bankrupt, even though the nation has lurched from billions in budget considerations to trillions in a breathtakingly short amount of time. But how does that denial help the nation soberly consider solutions to the fiscal disaster?
It may be convenient to avoid discussing the routine race baiting of an American president. However, our country would greatly benefit from confronting the racism and racists. It may feel good for some to call the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank a traitor. We all know what happens to traitors, don't we? Yup -- they get executed. Does this sound like a cogent view of reality? One can claim the recession is over, but only by ignoring the grim fact that there are an historically high number of Americans receiving food stamps.
Does one really need a poll to conclude that something is dreadfully wrong in the United States?
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