Price gouging as her first policy announcement? Really?
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Anonymous
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"I think she’s a communist spouting communist policies."
When Nixon put a freeze on prices and wages in 1971 was it communism? |
Anonymous
Nixon is the one who got rid of the Gold Standard with the same bill that froze consumer prices and wages. August 15, 1971. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_shock |
Anonymous
The end of the gold standard started in ‘33 with Roosevelt and phased out slowly until Nixon ended it completely in ‘71. Well actually it started when the Federal Reserve was created, as that was never to be allowed by the Constitution. https://deanclancy.com/the-constitutions-seven-money-clauses/ |
Anonymous
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She is the current VP!!! She should be working on this right now!!!!! Actually past couple years as Biden is a lame duck and is handing over his duties to her…
She is useless… |
Anonymous
Why yes. Especially because mega mergers in the food industry mean that there are conglomerates 1-3 conglomerates providing many food staples. Capitalism can’t work if there is no marketplace competition. Because ranchers and farmers on the front end and consumers on the back end have no meaningful choice (I mean, “buy local agriculture” is nice— if you have local agriculture and the time and ability to go to a farmers market. But many Americans don’t). And those conglomerates raised prices during and after COVID in response to supply chain issues— and never lowered them when supply chain stabilized. And the don’t have to— because no competition. And they are raking in in the profits. 10 companies control the worlds food supply. And three— General Mills, Unilever, and Kellogg control almost all food commodities. And these three don’t offer the same commodores. In many cases, they aren’t even competing among each other. https://www.good.is/Business/food-brands-owners-rp This isn’t telling Food Lion what to charge. It’s saying we need competition because General Mills had $670+ million in profit For Q3 2024.. Not for the year. For one fiscal quarter. In part because they have monopolies on some food staples. https://accountable.us/relying-on-price-hikes-general-mills-rakes-in-millions/#:~:text=As%20General%20Mills%20posts%20massive,many%20American%20families%20food%20insecure. And unlike many poster here, I don’t think American families should do without food staples to feed their kids because one or two companies control all of the market in these areas and would rather charge more for less. Harris is not proposing price fixing. She’s proposing using antitrust laws to eliminate monopolies on food staples create more competition (heck— in many cases some competition), because capitalism needs competition. Otherwise, why would a corporation lower prices? This is not price fixing. Or socialist. In fact, it’s creating a system where there is competition so capitalism can work. If you are going to yell about how awful the plan is, at least be honest about what it does and how we got here (spoiler alert: Republican administrations are against regulating markets and mergers and mergers of merged companies so that monopolies on food staples happen). Debate in good faith. And educate yourself beyond Faux News. |
Anonymous
I agree with this 100%. Basic food staples should be affordable to everyone. I a, not a fan of “can’t afford basic cereal and milk, don’t eat breakfast”. Kids should not be skipping meals so a conglomerate with a monopoly can rake in billions in profits, and profits well above inflation year over year. |
Anonymous
Exactly. There needs to be enforcement. Which is what Harris is promising to do. And no, as VP she cannot do it now. |
Anonymous
What are you blathering about? VPs do not themselves make or implement policy. Their job is to be ready to step in at a moment’s notice to replace the president if the president is incapacitated. Their other job is to never outshine the president. What did Pence accomplish? |
Anonymous
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Actual price gouging occurred at that time. Face masks, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, cleaning products, etc, were sold at extremely high prices. The situation was the legal definition of price gouging. Like when a hurricane is coming and people sell cases of water and plywood for covering up windows for exorbitant prices because they know people need such items. Or generators when the power is out for weeks. That’s the legal definition of price gouging. Democrats are just using a term incorrectly and trying to fool low information voters into believing the president can make food production companies and grocery stores produce and sell food at a loss. The fed government does everything at a loss with zero consequence because they can take taxpayer dollars no matter what. If the fed gov had to make even a 1-3% profit or face going out of business, they’d have been out of business decades ago. Kamala and democrats want companies and businesses that produce food and sell food to make no profit because it’s “greedy.” In reality, where fed gov doesn’t live, it’s essential to make a profit to stay in business. Kamala can’t pronounce gouging, so her credibility is gone at the most basic level. How does she even know the definition of the word if she has so little knowledge of it she can’t pronounce it? |
Anonymous
I hope the democrats launch an investigation into every business in the US, including private home sellers, to try to prove hundreds of millions of people are “colluding” to sell consumer goods and services and private homes at exorbitant prices to profit. It’s bizzaro world that an entity (fed gov) that is trillions in debt is going after businesses and citizens because they make a profit, while they themselves owe American citizens trillions and can’t exist without taking money from the people who are making profits. |
Anonymous
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I work in a sector of the food industry. It tends to be cyclical - you have a couple bad years of low prices (for the producers) and then you have a “good” year of higher prices for the producers. They wouldn’t be able to survive without the up part of the cycle happening too.
Also - input costs at all levels plus labor costs at the processing plant level went up a lot and have not gone down. |
Anonymous
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Most packaged goods have a store brand version of them too. If the brand name is unreasonably price gouging wouldn’t people be shifting to buy the store brand and the store making a lot more $ off that shift?
I think people don’t want to shift their buying habits despite elevated prices and so the brands are not getting the right “go back down” signal that the economy would otherwise deliver. Maybe with the exception of meat there are store brand options |
Anonymous
| ^…for almost everything processed that the grocery store sells. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
I'd be interested in data about this. I know I have switched to the cheapest cuts of meat (bone-in, chicken drumsticks and so on) and my friend was appalled and said she could never cook and serve that to her family. |