[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 207 (Wednesday, December 1, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H6715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        INFLATION IN DAILY LIFE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Bost) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, real wages have decreased 7 out of the past 9 
months. The increase in the cost of consumer goods is at a 30-year 
high. What do these numbers actually mean in your daily life?
  You wake up in the morning and you go to make breakfast. You want 
scrambled eggs? They will be 11.6 percent more expensive. What about 
bacon? At a 20.2 percent increase on bacon, you might even take that 
off the menu. Don't forget your morning cup of coffee that is 5.6 
percent more expensive.
  You make a mad dash to get the kids ready for school and then out the 
door. That will be a 4.3 percent increase in the cost of their clothing 
and a 7.5 percent increase in the cost of their shoes. You have gotten 
the kids on the bus and now you can go on to work yourself.
  Gas prices are now 51.3 percent higher, so it is going to cost you a 
lot more to drive to work. Have you been thinking about that new car? 
You can forget that, prices are up 9.8 percent on new cars. You want to 
save money and maybe get a used car? Good luck with that because they 
are up 26.4 percent.
  You arrive at work, but you realize you left your lunch at home. The 
cost of a plate at a nearby diner is up 5.3 percent. On your way home, 
you stop to pick up your kids to take them to practice. You make sure 
to tell them to take it easy though and make sure they don't wear out 
their sports equipment because their sports equipment is up 8 percent.
  Now you are home for dinner and those pork chops you are making for 
dinner are up 15.9 percent. The canned vegetables are up 6.6 percent.
  Your long day is finally over. You made it. Time to kick back, relax, 
watch some TV--wait a minute, the TV last year that you bought for 
Christmas is up 10.4 percent, and there is no doubt that last Christmas 
it was down that much.
  So what is the difference here? I think it is called the Biden 
economy. Maybe if people in the administration spent a day in the shoes 
of the average person, the person that goes to work every day, the 
person that has to pay these prices that we are talking about, maybe 
then they would realize that the policies that are being done right now 
and being put in place right now and have been put in place over the 
last 10 months is the cause of this, and that they would work with us 
to get it fixed.

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