Analysis: Republican National Committee

THE BIDENFLATION NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

• This Christmas, Americans will pay more for just about everything under the tree (and the tree itself) thanks to Bidenflation.
• This year’s Christmas  price index – which calculates the price of gifts from the classic “Twelve Days of Christmas” – is up 10.5 percent, the largest increase since 2008.
• More than three quarters of Christmas tree growers plan to increase their prices between 5 to 15 percent compared to last year.
  • Christmas tree farm owner Todd Gannon: “Diesel fuel is more than double, fertilizer is more than double — even the smallest of things are up 20-30%.”
• Overall, retail data suggests “a more subdued holiday shopping season than in 2021” with consumers spending less and cutting back on what they buy themselves.

INFLATION SLAMS SHOPPERS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON 

• With inflation wreaking havoc on wallets this holiday season, shoppers are cutting back. 
• 41 percent of Americans plan to spend less this year than last, marking the most cautious holiday season since 2013.
• 57 percent of Americans say it’s harder to afford presents according to a recent AP-NORC poll, up 17-points from last year.
  • Americans plan to buy an average of just nine gifts this year, compared with 16 last year.
• A recent WalletHub survey found that “50% of consumers said Santa will be less generous and 40% of Americans are foregoing holiday gifts this year due to inflation.”
• 68 percent of Americans say rising prices have caused financial hardship for their household.

SPENDING TIME WITH LOVED ONES IS MORE EXPENSIVE

• Families are facing steeper prices to travel to see loved ones over the holidays.
  • A round-trip flight during the Christmas season is now 39 percent more expensive than last year, making holiday airfare the most expensive in five years.
  • Rates for hotel rooms and rental cars have spiked “12 percent and 46 percent respectively from where they were in 2019.”
  • Gas prices sit at $3.13 per gallon, remaining nearly $1 higher than before Biden took office.
• With 95 percent of Americans reporting higher-than-usual prices for groceries in recent months, cooking a holiday meal will be costlier.
  • Staples like a Christmas ham (+7.8 percent), pie (+19.4 percent), cookies (+19.2 percent), and milk for Santa (+14.7 percent) are all up.
• Along with a more expensive holiday, heating costs this winter are also expected to burn a hole in Americans’ wallets. 

HIGHER HOLIDAY PRICES ARE IMPACTING FAMILIES

• Karissa Warren, a mom who was recently laid off: “I would like to fill the tree a little bit more than what we’re going to be able to … We won’t have gifts under the tree this year, but [my daughter] will. So that’s all that really matters.”
• Karen Hilton: “Everything has gone up and it’s not just what you’re going to get for the gifts. It’s food, it’s decorations, it’s all the stuff to decorate with, and it goes quick.”
• Opal Holt-Philip told her children to each choose one “really good gift” and agreed to skip gifts with her husband, saying it all feels wrong but “we have to eat.”

AMERICANS FACE TOUGH CHOICES THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

• Bidenflation is cutting into charitable donations, with families strapped for cash unable to give back to the community.
  • Kenneth Hodder, National Commissioner for the Salvation Army, said requests for assistance from people in need are up 25 to 50 percent from last year, and that he expects fewer coins and bills will be dropped into the Salvation Army’s red kettles.
  • A survey by Crowdfunding platform Kiva found that many plan to give less to charity this year, with 44 percent blaming a lack of funds. 
• Holiday work parties are looking less festive, with many companies that are facing hiring freezes or layoffs saying they simply don’t have the budget for events this year.
  • Other businesses are feeling the fallout as a result, with restaurant owner Mani Bhushan saying he normally would have received dozens of catering orders for parties by this time in the holiday season, but this year he has none.
• Many small businesses are unable to keep up with the discounts that big-box retailers are offering, forcing independent stores to make sacrifices in order to keep customers.
  • This comes as 52 percent of small businesses say profitability “has not met expectations” even as 79 percent of small businesses have increased prices over last year.

Originally posted here.