6 in 10 Americans blame Trump for high prices

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by 1blackman1

You realize 3% inflation isn’t lower prices, right.

Of course. Slowing the rate of inflation means prices continue to rise, just not as fast.

Originally Posted by 1blackman1

...and it’s not looking like lower prices. He was elected based on his promise of lower prices (those of us with sense knew better of course) and my question was simply in what way has Trump lowered prices.

Everyone knows that by promising ALL prices would come down, trump was indulging his well-known penchant for hyperbole. You treat all such promises by politicians skeptically, right? Having said that, if trump gets annual inflation down to 2% or less (Fed's long-run target) then it probably won't be a vote-getter for Dems to try and make an issue out of it.

More telling to me than cheap promises is - what policies does each candidate plan to pursue in furtherance of those promises? Trump's de-regulatory and pro-energy policies should over time help to unleash production and drive down prices, while his tariff policies will tend to push up prices. We'll see what the net impact turns out to be. But there's no doubt in my mind it will be a helluva lot less painful than what we would be experiencing under the free-spending, high-tax and suffocating regulatory agenda of a Kamala Harris administration.

Originally Posted by 1blackman1

He and some republicans on Fox claim prices are down. If so, where’s the proof.

If I wanted to be stupidly argumentative, I would scour the 200+ goods & services that are tracked each month and compiled into the Consumer Price Index, then cherry-pick the ones that have declined since January and say "here's your proof that prices are down" lol. But I'm pretty sure you understand the CPI is an overall weighted index. In any given month, some of its 200 individual components will go up in price, while others go down. The CPI is simply a weighted average created by economists to measure the OVERALL cost of living. You get that, right?

[1blackman1]

So went the long way to say that prices continue to rise, that prices overall are not down (maybe an item here or there) and at some point in the future Trump’s policies MIGHT result in a prices rising slower but he was lying when making promises to the masses that aren’t smart enough to know he was lying.

See how short what you wrote could have been.

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

...And I paid 5.20 a gallon for gas last week.

I paid $2.33, but then, I live in a free state.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by lustylad

I doubt it, at least when it comes to the inflation rate.

Biden and the Democrats inherited a 12-month CPI increase of only 1.4% when they assumed office in January 2001. They very quickly exploded it to a peak of 9.0% by June 2022.

From there, the pace of consumer price inflation began to slow again as the Fed woke up and belatedly tightened the monetary reins. Trump inherited a rate of 3.0% when he returned to the White House in January 2025. The most recent CPI report (for September 2025) put the annual rate at 3.0%, the same as it was on Inauguration Day.

To fuck things up as badly as Biden and the Dems did, Trump and his team would have to TRIPLE the current annual rate of inflation by driving it back up to 9%. I don't see them promoting ANY mix of policies (fiscal, monetary, tariffs, energy etc.) that would be that reckless and irresponsible.

Sure, Trump's tariff policy blunders might add as much as a full percentage point to the current inflation rate. But that pales in comparison to the damage wrought by the Biden team's insane 2021-22 spending spree, which exploded the inflation rate by over 7 percentage points in less than 18 months.

Yes, given he's not going to get his wish of a Fed that will rubberstamp 1% interest rates, the probability inflation will go up as much as it did in 2021/2022 is very low.

Trump and Biden seem like two quarterbacks who intentionally threw interceptions, because with their twisted logic they think that will help their side (the USA) win the game. Biden did it with the American Rescue Plan, and Trump did with his willy nilly tariffs. The problem during the Biden administration is that the left wing of his party managed to exert control. You had Elizabeth Warren's plants exerting influence in the White House, instead of wiser men like Larry Summers and Jason Furman. In Trump's case people who restrained him from his worst instincts on trade, like Steve Mnuchin, Gary Cohn, and Larry Kudlow, were replaced by sycophants and people who believe as Trump does on this issue. Bessent probably realizes the USA has gone too far, but he's not standing up to Trump to the extent he should.

It's not temporary inflation that's most concerning about the tariffs. Tariffs when implemented poorly promote crony capitalism/rent-seeking, inefficiency, retaliation, shortages, and decline in competitiveness. And for some products and some industries, that's happening now.

Originally Posted by lustylad

Of course. Slowing the rate of inflation means prices continue to rise, just not as fast.

Everyone knows that by promising ALL prices would come down, trump was indulging his well-known penchant for hyperbole. You treat all such promises by politicians skeptically, right? Having said that, if trump gets annual inflation down to 2% or less (Fed's long-run target) then it probably won't be a vote-getter for Dems to try and make an issue out of it.

More telling to me than cheap promises is - what policies does each candidate plan to pursue in furtherance of those promises? Trump's de-regulatory and pro-energy policies should over time help to unleash production and drive down prices, while his tariff policies will tend to push up prices. We'll see what the net impact turns out to be.

Agreed. I left out agreeing with the part about Kamala Harris, because I just don't know. Assuming Republicans had retained control of the House and Senate, she wouldn't have been able to do a lot of damage except on the regulatory front. And I suspect Republicans' prospects come election time would be better in 2026 and 2028.

[Precious_b]

Love how people list gasoline prices but neglect energy prices.

I don't know what type of state I live in but $0 goes to gas for me.

[SpeedRacerXXX]

Originally Posted by Precious_b

Love how people list gasoline prices but neglect energy prices.

I don't know what type of state I live in but $0 goes to gas for me.

The POTUS has little to no control over the price of gasoline at the pump. "Gasoline prices are going down primarily due to increased oil and gasoline supply, decreased consumer demand in the fall, and the seasonal transition to cheaper winter-blend gasoline. Higher crude oil production from both the U.S. and OPEC, combined with lower gasoline consumption as people return to their fall routines, creates a favorable imbalance that lowers prices."

Lustylad made excellent points in his post.

But it comes down to the perception of consumers and the recent elections in Virginia and NJ and polls show consumers are holding Trump accountable for what they consider to be negative economic conditions. "Two days later, voters blew away Republican candidates up and down the ballot in Virginia and New Jersey, results that reinforced NBC News polling showing that the vast majority of voters — about two-thirds — think the president hasn’t lived up to his promises to curb inflation and improve the economy. The common watchword for Democratic candidates who won on Tuesday — both progressives and centrists — was “affordability.”"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-economy-strong-rebuke-voters-rcna242686

[Yssup Rider]

Originally Posted by Why_Yes_I_Do

I paid $2.33, but then, I live in a free state.

You live in Texas.

Not a free state.

And definitely NOT the topic of this thread. But you knew that.

[Ripmany]

He need balance the budget, them inflation stop like under Clinton/newt Gingrich.

[Ripmany]

Originally Posted by Why_Yes_I_Do

I paid $2.33, but then, I live in a free state.

Gas or Btox,I live in free state unless you got brand name station like red rock, loves, shell. Gas has Btox that will eat a hole in gas tank slowly because I live in big bad business state there call free.

Many item may seem cheeper because there truly made cheaply junck.
Not all inflation comes higher prices but cheeper junck.

[Ripmany]

Originally Posted by Precious_b

Love how people list gasoline prices but neglect energy prices.

I don't know what type of state I live in but $0 goes to gas for me.

Why you got and EV with solor panel. My sister Tesla like that.

[Precious_b]

Originally Posted by SpeedRacerXXX

The POTUS has little to no control over the price of gasoline at the pump. "Gasoline prices are going down primarily due to increased oil and gasoline supply, decreased consumer demand in the fall, and the seasonal transition to cheaper winter-blend gasoline. Higher crude oil production from both the U.S. and OPEC, combined with lower gasoline consumption as people return to their fall routines, creates a favorable imbalance that lowers prices."

Lustylad made excellent points in his post.

But it comes down to the perception of consumers and the recent elections in Virginia and NJ and polls show consumers are holding Trump accountable for what they consider to be negative economic conditions. "Two days later, voters blew away Republican candidates up and down the ballot in Virginia and New Jersey, results that reinforced NBC News polling showing that the vast majority of voters — about two-thirds — think the president hasn’t lived up to his promises to curb inflation and improve the economy. The common watchword for Democratic candidates who won on Tuesday — both progressives and centrists — was “affordability.”"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-economy-strong-rebuke-voters-rcna242686

I've been waiting for someone to state that. It seems when the price of petrol goes down, the party in office likes to take the false credit for such. And it is funny they won't own it when the price is high.

I already know the heads of Big Oil dictate the price and won't even tell a congressional hearing about it.

Originally Posted by Ripmany

Why you got and EV with solor panel. My sister Tesla like that.

That's the nice thing about electric. You can get the source for electrons from various sources: solar, geo-thermal, solar cells, wind, various kinetic sources.

To get gas, you only have one source: oil. Too reliant on the natural. Can make the synthetic in a lab.

What is the more sustainable?

But as for myself, last car got over 30mpg for a 30+ year old vehicle. Current one, if absolute conservation of energy is more strictly observed, guessing 115mpg. And much more comfortable.

So, luddites, boo hoo and deride EV. I wasn't planning on buying one but have been waiting many years for the reintroduction of the vehicle line.