Vice President Kamala Harris, the Biden administration’s vapid response specialist, was making the rounds touting economic good news out of the White House (so, basically, BS). This week’s packaged perfidious pablum?
How they’ve lowered energy costs and saved us all money.
Kamala Harris claims Biden has “reduced heating and electricity bills so folks have more money in their pocket.”
What is she talking about? Electricity is up 11.9%, fuel oil is up 27.7%, and natural gas is up 26.7% over last year. pic.twitter.com/eja3ER4rr3
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 22, 2023
Oh, pish posh, naysayers! What’s a little bit of balderdash between friends?
It’s only February, but Kamala might’ve told the biggest lie of 2023 already
Shot/chaser pic.twitter.com/zRs59ceddn
— Alexis De Popeville (@JohnPaulThee3rd) February 23, 2023
Well, never mind. She’ll be out there cheerleading, regardless, just like her boss.
This is utterly and completely false. Inflation was 1.4% when Biden took office. It’s now 6.4% higher than it was one year ago. Wages are not remotely keeping up with inflation. But don’t expect any fact-checks on the national broadcast network evening news programs tonight. https://t.co/YVzOMUJUXU
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) February 15, 2023
I’m not falling for the gasbag in the tailpipe joke, either.
If things are “working,” there should be some manifestation of that somewhere, right? I know what my utility bills look like.
As hubs has to drive to work every day, I’m delighted the ’96 Camry is: 1) still running 2) gets 28+ mpg because the monthly petrol bill has almost tripled from what it was. I’m also glad Ebola’s independent because I can’t imagine what feeding a family costs right now – especially if you had growing boys – OMG. There’s only two of us and no matter what we do – and this is at the commissary, mind you – it’s inevitably a hundred bucks getting out the door, with an “I didn’t even buy any meat!” whine on top of it.
Judging by the indicators I see in my feeds online, there are tons of other folks and trends marking the economic hurt, too. Earnings results are pointing to consumers actively looking for ways to save any money they can, where they can.
Wlamart gaining “higher-income shoppers”
This is what happens when people can’t afford whole foods.. pic.twitter.com/yu8nGRxHi8— Frog Capital (@FrogNews) February 21, 2023
Budgets are stressed.
The fixed-income folks are taking it in the chops inflation-wise. One calculation I saw is that the average “family” has already lost up to $6000 of their purchasing power, so I imagine that was for a two-income household. How worrying must it be if you are living on a pension, Social Security and/or watching your hard-earned and lovingly nurtured 401K getting just crushed by Brandon’s awesome “working” economy?
YOICKS
Retirees lost 23% of their 401(k) savings in 2022, Fidelity says
In a year marked by stiff economic headwinds, retirement savers paid the price.
Although the average 401(k) balance rose in the fourth quarter of last year, balances ended 2022 down 23% from a year earlier to $103,900, according to a new report by Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest provider of 401(k) plans. The financial services firm handles more than 35 million retirement accounts in total.
The average individual retirement account balance also plunged 20% year over year to $104,000 in the fourth quarter of 2022.
…And despite the ongoing inflationary pressure straining most households, only 16.7% of plan participants had a loan outstanding from their 401(k) at the end of the year, Fidelity said.
Fidelity wasn’t the only fund manager reporting the sobering numbers. Or that people were eating into their savings, emergency and otherwise, across the board meeting everyday expenses (That’s if they were lucky enough to have “emergency savings.”).
…A separate analysis from Vanguard also found that average 401(k) balances fell 20% in 2022 to $112,572, and hardship withdrawals ticked up slightly.
At the same time, many households also ate into their emergency savings over the course of 2022, other research shows.
…The growing savings shortfall has many older Americans worried about their retirement security. Nearly half, or 48%, of retired Americans believe they’ll outlive their savings, a separate report by Clever Real Estate found.
I mean, you read things like this as a plain Jane middle class type, and vurt-da-furk?! That’s never gonna be me or us, especially now!
Have these people seen the price of eggs?!
…More than 1 in 3 millionaires said it would “take a miracle” for them to retire securely, according to a 2022 survey from Natixis Investment Managers.. As for what it would take to step back from the workforce without financial worries, a new study from the Bloomberg MLIV Pulse may have an answer: More than 7 in 10 investors said they would need between $3 million and $5 million to retire comfortably.
The findings underscore that anxieties are on the rise about retirement, especially after a year of brutally high inflation and negative investment returns. Workers are boosting their expectations of how much they’ll need to sock away in response to growing economic uncertainty — even as the typical American has saved far less than $1 million for retirement.
…There’s a good reason why millionaires may be worried about retirement. Using the 4% rule — withdrawing 4% of one’s total retirement assets in the first year of retirement, and then 4% plus the inflation rate after that — translates into starting retirement with an income of $40,000 a year for someone with a $1 million saved.
“I think a lot of people are shocked” when they see that figure, Goodsell said. “A lot of people have that belief that $1 million is enough.”
For most of us, a million bucks might as well be fifty million. NOW, thanks to Biden and his genius crew of drunk monkey spendthrifts, whatever we have is a boatload less than we had to begin with when everything we need costs more.
Working? Nothing’s working, especially not the laggards in the Biden White House.
The only work being done is the “working over” Americans are receiving in the taking-a-beating sense.
