Raising interest rates alone is not going to cut it, we need to after the price gougers

This needs to occur at all levels. Local, state and federal. We should have no tolerance for these shady business practices.

Uber and especially Lyft have been basically running a black market company with no one to call for customer service. It’s absurd.

Companies are still not offering pre Covid levels of service or product yet are charging almost double.

How did we let this happen and how do we stop it?

Too much consolidation and not enough competition plus Wild West unregulated companies are having a field day, making a FORTUNE, and are ripping of regular every day people.

It’s disgusting.

Corporations have more power in the US then we do as citizens.

[quote] Uber and especially Lyft have been basically running a black market company with no one to call for customer service.

And Instacart, and Door Dash, and....and.....and......

Voting Republican is how we got here.

I demand that the corporations do what I want!

Stuff like this makes me wish that our president WAS a dictator and could truly punish these companies and people!....

Who would have thought that a $15 minimum wage would have led to higher prices and lower staff levels? Also global supply chains have never been fully rebuilt.

I bought eggs yesterday for the first time in months. They were slightly higher than the old price but not like double and triple like they were.

R8 I wish we had two political parties who actually gave a fuck and would stop this cold. Instead we have only one who gives a fuck (Spoiler alert: It’s Democrats) and one (Spoiler alert: It’s Republicans) who have let corporations run amok with tax cuts, subsidies, and deregulation. Yes, bothsiders, Democrats aren’t blameless but it’s like 80/20 Republican’s fault. It’s not close. We wouldn’t be where we are if Democrats stayed in charge.

Why haven’t the Democrats stayed in charge?

R9 Come again? A $15 MW has nothing to do with inflation. Funny how other countries have HIGHER MW & benefits at places like McDonalds yet their food prices are LOWER. I’m not sure how the fuck corporations have hoodwinked so many of you to blame anyone but them for the shitstorm our country finds itself in in so many areas. Tax cuts since 1982 to the rich alone have kept $40 TRILLION out of OUR hands. Those oligarchs have fooled some of you good.

Companies have taken advantage and jacked up the price of goods and services beyond what cost increases would make necessary. Corporate profits are way up. But what exactly could be done? And should it be done? People keep on spending, spending. People, collectively, complain, but there's no hard proof that the prices can't be sustained. Again, that's collectively - obviously increased prices have made many individuals struggle.

The corporate bootlicker at R9 might also reflect on the minimum wage, which hasn't budged since 2009 at $7.25/hr. Maybe if this had been increased incrementally, there wouldn't have been such a shock when the peons finally refused to work for jack?

r13 you are a fool. Energy costs in Dem run California are higher than anywhere in the nation. CoL is the third highest. High taxes have driven out many businesses hurting the working classes.

People here live waaaaaaaay above their means. It is shocking how many people make good money yet spend it all and live paycheck to paycheck.

R16 No. You’re just a conservative idiot. 8 consecutive Republican presidents have seen a recession or depression start under their watch. The poorest states are Republican run. The richest are Democratic run. 90% of the poorest counties are Republican run.

[quote] fool.

[quote] idiot.

And ne'er the twain shall meet.

19 is blocked as a conservative troll from way back. In fact, one of the first posters I blocked.

Corporate bootlickers love to take it up the keister with a spiked dildo for them. There aren’t dumber people on Earth.

[quote] Why haven’t the Democrats stayed in charge?

Because the other party has demonized them

R22 And because corporations, who own the media, and have so much power, fuck with things when Democrats are in charge like withholding trillions during the Obama years, and price gouging with Biden. Despite it all, Democrats are so good with the economy they overcame their shenanigans.

R16 can you name a business that has left the state resulting in hardship to employees or consumers? I can’t think of a single one. Employees have their pick of shitty jobs and one company leaving that was probably an asshole company that didn’t want to pay taxes but use up the roads and police force to guard their property.

…is probably not a hardship to anyone but I will wait for you examples.

People FINALLY woke up and refused to accept shitty jobs being treated like shit for shitty pay. Corporations freaked out. Now, they’re actually repealing child labor laws so they can get poor kids to work shitty jobs.

Why don’t we have a consumers union? Or advocacy group that can sue them when they break the law and expose their gouging practices. M

Republicans are stupid in general and believe that Biden personally sets the prices. A consumer advocacy group could dispel this ignorance and teach deplorables where prices come from and how they too are getting ripped off to kingdom come.

Deplorables don’t care. They’d die willingly in a grease fire to own the libs.

R28 isn’t that THEIR strategy to wear us normal, sane folks down and make us say “it doesn’t matter”

Don’t do their dirty work for them for Christ sake. Give us a better comment. Dig deeper.

When it comes to the purse stings, some of this partisan crap falls away.

The truth is that ALL of us regular people are being controlled by like 10 billionaires. They have ENOUGH fucking money and regular people need to stop being so subservient and going as far as to help them do this to us.

R30 No, being partisan is exactly what we need. Only Democrats can and will stop them. That’s fact. Power is in elected officials. Vote Blue.

Because everyone was blaming Biden for the inflation, corporations had cover to raise their prices without blowback. So they did.

I'm as pro-Biden as can be, but seriously why is he taking the hit for this - price gouging needs to be called out and shamed. Dems need to do their own demonizing on this.

At the heart of the issue is this: business get treated like gold and we, the people, through the government are not supposed to put an “undue hardship” on corporations but boy are they clear to absolutely unload an undo hardship on us, with no shame or expectation of decency.

R33 Yep

Amazing ignorance. I blame the colleges and universities. Carry on.

Here comes the supply and demand troll as if BOTH the supply and demand have not been tainted and manipulated but the uneven laws favoring the corporatist profiteers vultures.

I just stopped buying things. Fuck'em.

Why can’t people just get their act together and figure out a way to fight back against this. Why is everyone so defeatist and quick to give up and throw their arms up in despair.

Where is the next generation of entrepreneurs that will find a way to compete and offer better alternatives.

Everybody is so fucking lazy and apathetic and expects someone else to make things better.

Rising interests doesn’t affect existing home loans, right ?

These are kitchen table issues.

Why are people taking about drag queens and crime in Philadelphia? It’s all a distraction.

We need to be talking about how gas is now trading below $75 and still retailing for prices that were closer to $100.

Gas should be at minimum 25 percent cheaper without the gouging.

Poor people and seniors who live mostly on ss are feeling the pinch the most. It’s cruel.

And companies are making the highest profits on record.

Covid was a huge distraction but it also illustrates that no companies lost a dime during a worldwide pandemic. It’s shows you it’s fixed.

I’m frankly sick to my stomach just dealing with any company anymore. They are all shady and unregulated.

Democrats shifted around $4 Trillion to the bottom 90% during Biden’s presidency. The bottom 50% now have more $ as a share of the economy since the 80s. Did you see the billionaire freak out when Biden and Ds wanted to raise the top bracket back a little over Clinton’s? And tax a few other high income earnings? They flipped the fuck out like you’d murdered their children (if they care) in front of them. Their response? Price gouge the fuck out of us knowing the media they own will never blame them they’ll blame Democrats. And that’s exactly what happened. Democrats know the rich are so powerful now, by design thanks to decades of Republican policies and SC rulings like Citizens United which is the #1 thing that truly fucked us all. Now, billionaires around the world give dark money in campaigns to convince us crime is out of control (when it is waaaaaay below the 70s, 80s, and early 90s) among other things. Democrats walk a fine line to change things. Biden, shockingly, did a lot in a short time to shift power back to the people in spite of the oligarch’s best efforts.

Yes there is a way out of this and the answer is more and not less.

We need more options and that means people are going to have to start to produce stuff and stop depending on zombie legacy corps that are sucking everything dry.

And we need more immigrants or else we are going to wear everyone who is working down to the bone.

Going to Walmart is like going to the slums of rio, this country has been picked dry by the billionaires.

Yet they want more.

The EU doesn’t allow 75% of the shit we do like the chemicals in our food, or in our products, and they sure as fuck don’t accept the notion that more money and more benefits is bad for business. We are such fucking suckers it is embarrassing.

In some countries, higher interest rates increase home loan interest payments. Hence less other spendings, resulting in less inflation.

Our interest rates have been too low for too long according to some.

[quote] The EU doesn’t allow 75% of the shit we do like the chemicals in our food, or in our products, and they sure as fuck don’t accept the notion that more money and more benefits is bad for business. We are such fucking suckers it is embarrassing.

Here the rapist repugs just say "Merica!" or call anything that isn't assraping capitalism "commie."

What we need is a good old fashioned recession!

We need another Revolutionary War!

Real estate and rentals are such an issue. Whatever happened to “starter homes” and rent that was more than a mortgage?

Prices went up again in Feb.

When are people going to say enough is enough with the gouging?

Americans are obsessed with buying everything all the time. STOP this bad habit and get some control over yourselves. Stop buying over priced shit that is now 4 & 5 x higher. No once needs to eat eggs every week. Even kids and no they don't.

Stop buying concert ticket from scalpers. Those cunts (stubhub) are the biggest price gougers but Americans are dumb and continue the bullshit.

How high will it go?

The average cost of a car went up again in Feb to almost 50k

And that is just the average.

Yeah! Instacart is taking advantage, and don’t get me started about Amazon and ho foods breach of contract.

Please check your groceries for expired items before you check-out.

Grocery chains have stated leaving expired items on the shelf and just marking them down “on sale”

This is two different grocery chains, so it’s probably all of them.

I guess it’s working because nobody is complaining but I did round them up and take them to front customer service counter. Maybe the fact that someone caught them will change their behavior. The next next stop is taking my evidence to the health department and local media.

r57, 50K? Are you sure? Do you have a link on that?

I saw Roma tomatoes for like 1.29/lb at Wal-mart a week ago. That truly shocked me. I'm still able to eat cheaply by being very deliberate - I get meat that's on clearance about to expire soon and cook and prep it all right away. I use cashback apps to get items for free or sometimes I even get paid to get it if the same manufacturer deal is available on different ones (For any other frugal DLers out there I really recommend trying the Ibotta app.). Certain things I've cut out of my diet completely though - seafood is just too expensive now. Even just cans of tuna, I've seen store brand cans around 1.29-1.49 which is nuts. Dry staples, household goods, and the rotisserie chickens from Costco, the rest of my proteins I buy when I find a good clearance deal at a different grocer (sometimes Foster Farms is like 0.99 lb on sale), produce I usually get at Aldi. I honestly don't think I remember how cheap things were before inflation started running up.

We were warned back during the Wall Street and 1% protests were going on for maybe a month? Our ADD got the best of us and we got distracted as usual. Now the rich have done it again. I'll say it again as I did back then. EAT THE RICH!

[quote]I just stopped buying things. Fuck'em.

Even if you didn't ever eat or leave the house, you'd still feel it. Electricity has gone up. Fuel oil (for winter heating) has gone up astronomically.

Forget about groceries and gas.

I hate buying anything now. Everything is a rip off or even an outright scam. How did it get this way? Every “business” person is a crook.

Many things cause financial stress, we have reduced our eating out and now mostly patronage counter order places, I have grown tired of the tipping along with the increased prices, yes of course the company gouges, and the workers expect 20-25% more! This is just what I said before, how about I just stay home and nobody gets my money, except the grocery store, and that's just what we do now. It has become unsustainable.

[quote]I guess it’s working because nobody is complaining but I did round them up and take them to front customer service counter. Maybe the fact that someone caught them will change their behavior. The next next stop is taking my evidence to the health department and local media.

Mary! Make sure Channel 7 gets your good side. Nobody is complaining because people like a good deal. Why ruin it for everyone else, dumbass?

These companies must be taxed heavily on these windfall profits. Make the motherfuckers pay for their price gouging.

R66 Because these include dairy products and other things that could make you sick not to mention the stale and dry food and the fact that they don’t tell you it’s expired so you don’t realize until you get home. They know you will throw it away and not complain and think it was an accident.

If they marked them in a section labeled “expired food, consume at your risk” but they don’t.

[quote]mostly patronage counter order places,

Oh, dear!

We need ideas.

It seems like people don’t do do ideas anymore. It’s always has to be like this one thing and you can’t introduce anything new or outside the particular solution that has been offered.

It’s fucking weird.

[quote]and other things that could make you sick not to mention the stale and dry food and the fact that they don’t tell you it’s expired so you don’t realize until you get home.

LOL! You must think there’s an expiration fairy who expires things at the stroke of midnight. It doesn’t work like that. These are suggestions, not a rigid time bomb.

Who is sticking up for billionaire price gougers in here?

You will never be a billionaire as long as you keep helping them to oppress everyone else and not letting anyone ever get a leg up.

Jesus r71 wants to be price gouged even more. They seem to enjoy it.

Not everyone is a pathetic masochists begging to be mistreated by corporations. Get a hold of yourself.

At least the raising of rates has exposed how many shady business out there are existing due to artificially low rates aka corporate welfare, mooching off of Uncle Sam.

r74 low interest rates cost the government nothing and help ordinary people borrow for less.

Low interest rates blow bubbles which then ultimately burst. Idk about you but I'm kinda tired of living in a boom-bust economy.

Let’s talk about why the prices are higher. Why don’t we have that conversation instead of just rushing passed that and throw our hands up like we have no control.

CEOs are making billions from ripping us off.

Where is the push back?

Yeah, let's take to the streets. But with class this time.

Even simple organized pushback will make a difference.

[Quote] CEOs are making billions from ripping us off. Where is the push back?

Most Americans are lazy and dumb. There will be no "push back." Sure a few will scream for a month or so but eventually everyone will get back on their hypnotize machine aka cell phone and be distracted. Americans are the dumbest cunts on the planet and they want to be that way. They enjoy it.

I’ve been going to flea markets and farms and buying a lot of second hand stuff and making my own food when possible and having fun with it.

Going to grocery stores and gas stations is enough to make you sick to your stomach. You know you’re making some asshole a fortune somewhere.

Who is going to go after the price gougers? The politicians/law makers who take campaign contributions from the corporations?

Wouldn't it be great if on a daily basis, legit news sources and networks, told the nation, which politicians were paid off (and how much) by the various corporations and what not. I know they have done with the N.R.A. but we need to be told where their dark and black money is coming from...

People are such doormats and pushovers. They will pay whatever you ask, no questions.

What gets me is just today we were at Bj's and they were busy as hell with ONE register open but a whole bank of self checkouts. This is a bulk store,so no one goes to pay with 2 items in their carts. Everything in that goddamn place has gone up,yet they have less and less staff to help the customers. I threw a damn fit and the manager opened a register just to get my bitching ass out of there. I let 2 people who had far less than I go first and boy, you could see he was mad as hell about it. Get over it,and hire some more people.

According to various economic studies, corporate price gouging and record profits are responsible for about 55% of the inflation.

[quote]I let 2 people who had far less than I

Oh, dear!

This chick is doing something to fight back against inflation. You go, girl!

We're all one step way from becoming D-Fens.

This economy is all a pyramid scheme. We are going to fail in 30 years. Money seems to have no real value anymore. Economists seem to think as long as the government owns the cash printing presses it'll be ok. Cuz of the faith in the American Government. But their are countries that will challenge the post WW2 World Order. India, China, Turkey I mean it's gonna get scary.

[quote] But their are countries

Oh, dear!

The Fed will stop raising interest rates. We've have had twenty years of free money and we're junkies .You can't just cut us off. So what if granny has to eat once a week. It's the price YOU pay for semi- free market capitalism. Suck it up.

Serious question: Could there come a day when you go to your bank and your money is actually completely gone and the bank can't get it back for you? I have this fear that I need to put more money under my pillow than a bank!...

Yes, of course, r93, if your bank goes under.

FDIC, however, insures up to $250,000 of that money, so unless you have more than that, you'll be ok.

*Note: I'm referring to banks only, not brokerage houses or stock accounts or anything like that. Just banks.

People have faith in the US government?? Yikes. And don't even get me started on the completely inept Fed.

R94, of course I have more than that, otherwise I would just keep it under my pillow.

Put your money into starting a business.

Oh yeah, that's a GREAT idea. An artesnial cupcake shop at $9 a pop maybe?

i'll be getting around 500 thousand when my parents pass. I need to find out ( if there is one?) a way to make that 500 thousand into 1 million....

that's legit as well as of course safe...

Double your money? Safely?

Call me.

OP, we can't because Republicans vote against it. They want prices to be high so they can blame Biden

Senators own stock and trade based on their own lawmaking. Government especially Democrats don’t use the power they have to reign in corporate greed. They also don’t use the anti trust powers they have to break up the ongoing terrible corporate giants just getting bigger and bigger and controlling massive swaths of the economy. Big oil. Big banking . Big pharma. Etc these companies like Chevron basically own so much of a the chain of getting you your energy that they control the price. Government is supposed to keep them from getting too big. Currently government doesn’t do its job. We went through this in the 20’s annd 30’s and the corporations were broken up by the federal government so they wouldn’t have so much power to suck the people dry. They sucked so much that they damage society. They have been let to get too big again and government is remiss in preventing this. As I see it practically the whole of American society at this point is made to serve the giants.

R102 doesn’t appreciate his job. The boss is your friend!!!

R102 mostly democrats? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time.

R8 posting from Mega City

I blame both sides. I blame the republicans more but let's face it. Both sides rely on rich donors that want favors and both sides give them freely. All the bills that get passed or don't are written by corporate lobbyists. We need to wake up. We aren't living in a Democracy anymore it is a Corporatocracy

We need to get rid of Citizens United and the electoral college. It cost 100s of millions of dollars to run a campaign. This whole tranny thing (sorry for bringing it up I and everyone else are tired of it) was pushed by Obama in 2008 because Pritzner a transgender straight man married with children funded Obama's whole campaign. Pritzker is a billionaire who also is funding a ton of other orgs including the ALCU and planned parenthood. We have to take the money out of politics and get rid of citizens united.

It's gotten out of control. I keep telling people the US is going to look like places we see in unstable countries, where there's the very wealthy and everyone else is piss poor. It's already begun. Gated communities, where the wealthy speed into their driveways with their 100k sports car to avoid theft. Same thing in the US starting, with an uptick in stolen vehicles, criminals following people home, home invasions, etc.

Don't ever think that the wealthy give a shit about the poor. In other countries they live in tandem with them and sleep just fine. They'll step right over the countless homeless to get into their 5 mil dollar apartment. If it's not them, and they can build fences, they don't give a shit.

There's a reason the US stopped investing into the country at the beginning of the 2000s. That's when our bridges were noticably neglected and when we saw other western countries advancing. Where's high speed rail? Why do we have slow internet? Where's the innovation? There's been nothing new in 2 decades.

My theory? The wealthy are parasites and sucking us dry. It's coming to a cross roads soon though -- millennials are due for one of the biggest wealth transfers across generations ever. They are waiting on that, so they can collect, before completely making it obvious they're screwing us. That's why no one gives a shit about climate. It's a good thing for the wealthy. They don't have to enslave us, or oppress the masses, because they know the bulk will kill each other for them when they're fighting over dwindling resources.

It's all set up perfectly. The debt enslavement (school loans, low wages, ridiculous house costs, etc). Them buying up land and water rights. The lack of wasting money on investment. The weird hardcore drug lacing. Their hoarded wealth is going towards the replacement of the majority, with AI and robots. They already have safe spaces set up in places like New Zealand, to avoid climate and revenge. They don't need 8 billion of us and wars over safe areas and clean water will eliminate the unwanted.

During the covid giveaway which was a lifesaver for me but the rich stole over a billion of that money. They suck up everything and they are not interested in this country anymore because all of them are globalists. They don't have loyalty to any country. If one goes bad they just move to another. You are right R109 they don't care.

R11 wasn't here during the boom of the Trump economy. What you have today is the direct result of the election fraud, and why Biden was installed by the globalist cabal.

R45 It's hard to believe anyone would seriously write that with a straight face. The exact OPPOSITE is what is needed.

Krogers bought Fred Meyer and then Albertsons. Now they are trying to buy Safeway stores. There will be no competition in our area and consumer prices will hike, as a result. Gougers 101.

I think our government is corrupt.

It's corrupt and it feels like there is no inertia to do anything about it from the politicians. Things keep getting worse and worse. Most politicians spend their time raising money for their next election and give the rich whatever they want because the elections cost so much money. It's insane.

It’s just outrageous out there and we don’t hear anything from our leaders. Not a peep.

Katie Porter is an exception and so is Liz Warren but most others are just mute.

The corporate buyout of the housing market is like something from an alternate universe.

Gas is ticking up just in time for the Memorial Day annual fund drive for the greedy gas companies.

Katie Porter is good and is one of the few. But the corporations spend tons on both sides so no matter who wins the corporations stay in power. They run the country and they are happy with a dumbed-down population. A dumbed-down pop. doesn't pay attention to what is going on. You can actually read where all the campaign finance comes from but no one bothers to look for it or read it. The country is so polarized and is fighting like school children while the people in power laugh and steal the country's wealth. And they own the media that keeps everybody fighting. The USA is a lost cause.

[quote] -- millennials are due for one of the biggest wealth transfers across generations ever.

We've heard these false promises before.

The smart millennials expect nothing and prepare for the worst.

What ever happened to co-op grocery stores?

The millennials won't get much because the medical community will keep the boomers alive to milk as much as possible out of them long past their sell date. It's ridiculous to keep people alive so long that they are chronically ill and fragile. And I say that as an old Boomer. I think after the age of 78 or 80 they should only give comfort care.

[quote] The millennials won't get much

That's fine. We're starting to get used to it. The message has been loud and clear for some time now: Millennials and younger, you are on your own!!

Gas and electric doubling because of gas even if you don’t use gas. One hyperinflated bill, then went back down again. Like a one time gouge they could get away with and then bring it back down and were so grateful we will pay an extra $20 bucks.

I resent being asked for a tip at counter service places before I even get the fucking food or drink.

Then get your own fucking food!

I look at the real estate market everyday and, at least in Miami, rents and home prices are increasing. So, not sure how increased interest rates are supposed to slow demand and, hence, inflation, especially since so many homes and condos are pending (many over $1 million). Are these corporate buyers or do more people have a shit ton of money than I thought?

[quote] There's a reason the US stopped investing into the country at the beginning of the 2000s. That's when our bridges were noticably neglected and when we saw other western countries advancing.

This is what really bugs me about the US (and probably deserves its own thread).

I was really mad when I would go to London and people there could pay at a restaurant right at their table due to chip credit cards. The card never left their sight. The US is so far behind in technology.

What ever happened to civic groups and consumer groups? And why don’t we ever see anything new anymore?

Everyone is a cell phone zombie now. There would be no Larry Kramer or Norma Rae.

I once read somewhere that in the future there will be no United States, but regions with corporate names and ownerships?

[quote] I once read somewhere that in the future there will be no United States, but regions with corporate names and ownerships?

Makes you wonder why Bill Gates buys up so much land. Maybe he knows something.

[quote]Krogers bought Fred Meyer and then Albertsons. Now they are trying to buy Safeway stores

Not quite. Albertsons bought Safeway a few years ago. Now Kroger wants to buy Albertsons.

How can we stop that merger?

Kroger will own us as they already do in some markets.

In SoCA, the largest grocers are Ralphs (owned by Kroger) and Vons (owned by Albertsons). If Kroger is allowed to buy Albertsons we're screwed. There are smaller chains like Stater Bros and the limited inventory Trader Joe's (which I love but they don't have everything).

Where are all the new grocery store chains that we were told would pop up in the place of the old ones? Hmm econ types? Well?

Kroger is a rip off. 3.29 for a 2 liter of Coke. 10.99 for a bag of frozen Tyson chicken. 10 pound bag of potatoes is 6.98. Actual rotting peppers in the fresh produce department for sale. And on and on...

r115 EXACTLY! We need someone strong like this guy to fix our terrible economy and fight for the poor like they did in Venezuela.

^^^^

How that story ended.

Another border caravan??? Hold me R138, I’m frightened.