By the Republican National Committee, July 3
FOURTH OF JULY COSTS REACH NEW RECORD HIGH
- Thanks to Bidenflation, 2024 will be the most expensive Fourth of July on record according to the American Farm Bureau.
<ul>
<li>The cost of a Fourth of July cookout is up <a href="https://www.fb.org/news-release/cost-of-summer-cookout-reaches-record-high">5 percent</a> from 2023 and up 30 percent from five years ago.</li>
<li>Ground beef is up <a href="https://www.fb.org/news-release/cost-of-summer-cookout-reaches-record-high">11 percent</a>, hamburger buns are up 7 percent, lemonade is up 12 percent, ice cream is up 7 percent, and chips are up 8 percent from last year.</li>
<li>While food costs continue to rise, <a href="https://www.fb.org/market-intel/record-high-july-4th-cookout-costs-inflation-hits-the-backyard">farm income</a> is dropping, falling 17 percent in 2023 and expected to decrease another 25 percent this year.</li>
</ul>
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<li>After the Biden White House <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/biden-admin-mocked-july-4th-cookouts-cost-16-cents-less">attempted to brag</a> about the price of an Independence Day barbeque going down by $0.16 in 2021, the same meal has since increased by <a href="https://www.fb.org/news-release/cost-of-summer-cookout-reaches-record-high">$11.72</a> since then.
<ul>
<li>Overall, it will cost <a href="https://signalscv.com/2024/06/july-4th-cookout-cost-reaches-record-high-due-to-inflation-farm-bureau-says/">$71.22</a> to host a cookout for 10 people this year, compared to <a href="https://www.supermarketnews.com/consumer-trends/july-4th-summer-cookout-costs-bit-less-year">less than $55</a> pre-pandemic.</li>
<li>Americans are estimated to spend <a href="https://qz.com/record-travel-expected-fourth-of-july-weekend-costs-1851569816">$9.4 billion</a> on food this weekend, compared to $6.5 billion in 2019.</li>
</ul>
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<li>It's not just food that is costing more this year – people wanting to celebrate with fireworks will feel it, too.
<ul>
<li>The average import price of fireworks in 2024 is <a href="https://www.omahadailyrecord.com/content/fireworks-sales-have-fallen-back-earth-after-years-explosive-growth-%E2%80%93-here%E2%80%99s-why#:~:text=During%20the%20first%20four%20months,down%20since%20the%20pandemic's%20peak.">$1.61 per pound</a>, up 42 percent from 2021.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>People are adjusting their plans based on inflation.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wallethub.com/blog/4th-of-july-spending-survey/39371">60 percent</a> of Americans plan to spend less on Fourth of July this year, with three out of five saying inflation has impacted their plans.</li>
<li>Nearly <a href="https://wallethub.com/blog/4th-of-july-spending-survey/39371">two-thirds of Americans</a> don't believe the founding fathers would be satisfied with the Biden economy.</li>
</ul>
</li>
GAS PRICES AND TRAVEL COSTS ARE MAKING IT A PAINFUL WEEK TO GET AWAY
- Americans looking to travel for the holiday weekend will face high travel costs.
- In July 2019, gas prices hovered around $2.75 per gallon. Today, gas prices are averaging $3.50 per gallon and expected to rise.
- Hotel prices are up 13 percent from 2019 while the cost of eating out is up 30 percent since 2019.
- According to NerdWallet, vacationing in 2024 will cost 15 percent more than it did pre-pandemic.
- More than a third of Americans plan to go into debt this summer for vacations.
- Other Americans are forgoing summer travels, with 65 percent citing affordability as the main issue.
- Jorge Costa of Michigan: Inflation "has made us think twice. You feel it in airline seats for sure. And even gas bouncing up and down. I think we generally as much as possible try to do a direct flight, instead of connecting flight, but you definitely see the disparity in prices, and I don't know how long we will be able to keep it up."
BIDENFLATION IS DECIMATING AMERICANS' FINANCES
- When Biden took office, year-over-year inflation was at 1.4 percent – having averaged just 1.9 percent under President Trump's leadership.
<ul>
<li>Just a little over a year later, Biden had delivered the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/13/us-inflation-new-40-year-high-june-00045541">highest inflation</a> in more than 40 years, peaking at <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0?output_view=pct_12mths">9.1 percent</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Under Biden, prices have risen by <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0">20.1 percent</a>, while real wages remain <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000013">lower</a> than when Biden first took office.
<ul>
<li>Groceries are up <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SAF11">21.2 percent</a>, rent is up <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SEHA">21.2 percent</a>, and electricity is up <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SEHF01">29 percent</a> since Biden took office.</li>
</ul>
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<li>The average family has lost <a href="https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/state-inflation-tracker">$25,920</a> paying for the increased cost of living under Biden according to the Joint Economic Committee.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/50978208/over-1-in-5-americans-have-no-emergency-savings">21 percent</a> of Americans have no savings, while <a href="https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/50978208/over-1-in-5-americans-have-no-emergency-savings">37 percent</a> cannot afford a $400 emergency expense.</li>
<li>Household debt is at a record <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc">$17.69 trillion</a> while credit debt has exceeded <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/americans-credit-card-debt-hits-record-113-trillion/story?id=106990807#:~:text=Credit%20card%20debt%20increased%20by,the%20fourth%20quarter%20of%202023.&text=Americans'%20credit%20card%20balances%20climbed,Reserve%20Bank%20of%20New%20York.">$1 trillion</a>.</li>
BIDEN'S POLICIES ARE TO BLAME FOR INFLATION AND AMERICANS KNOW IT
- Biden's radical tax-and-spend agenda is responsible for inflation.
- Even liberal economists say Biden's spending fueled inflation:
- Former Obama economic advisor Steven Rattner: "The original sin" was passing the $1.9 trillion, which has "contributed materially to today's inflation levels."
- Former Obama economist Jason Furman: Biden's spending is "too big ... don't know any economist" who supported that much.
- Biden's Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen: Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus was one of the "factors that are involved in inflation."
- Financial journalist Jacob Goldstein: "The problem is the economy overheated. In retrospect, the government should not have put so much money into the economy."
- The economy and inflation are the two most important issues to voters in 2024 and Biden's approval is dismal.
- Trump has a 14-point lead over Biden on who Americans trust to handle both the economy and inflation.
- 43 percent of Americans say they are worse off financially since Biden became president.
- 58 percent of Americans say the economy is worsening due to Biden.
