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This year’s Fourth of July is set to be the most expensive one to date. Inflation has increased by 8.6 percent in the past year and the cost of an Independence Day cookout is 17 percent higher, according to one study. Under the Biden economy, 57 percent of Americans are changing their holiday plans to account for higher prices.  

In July 2021, the Biden administration was insisting that the inflation problem would go away. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen described inflation as “transitory.”  

In fact, at this time last year, the Biden Administration posted a pun-filled, misleading tweet about how inflation was not a concern; in fact, they insisted that Americans’ Fourth of July celebrations would be cheaper, boasting that the cost of a independence day cookout was 16 cents cheaper.

 Well, that didn’t age well.  

The latest American Farm Bureau Federation marketbasket survey found that the cost of a Fourth of July cookout will be 17 percent higher compared to year ago, rising $10.18 to $69.68.

The survey tracked the price increases of the following goods: 

  • 2 pounds of ground beef, $11.12 (36% increase)
  • 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, $8.99 (33% increase)
  • 32 ounces of pork & beans, $2.53 (33% increase)
  • 3 pounds of center cut pork chops, $15.26 (31% increase)
  • 2.5 quarts of fresh-squeezed lemonade, $4.43 (22% increase)
  • 2.5 pounds of homemade potato salad, $3.27 (19% increase)
  • 8 hamburger buns, $1.93 (16% increase)
  • Half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, $5.16 (10% increase)
  • 13-ounce bag of chocolate chip cookies, $4.31 (7% increase)
  • 2 pints of strawberries, $4.44 (16% decrease)
  • 1 pound of sliced cheese, $3.53 (13% decrease)
  • 16-ounce bag of potato chips, $4.71 (4% decrease)

These are just prices for cookout food. If Americans plan to fly to meet family and friends, they would be paying 37.8 percent more on airfares than they did last year. If they plan to drive, they will pay $5 per gallon – over twice the amount per gallon than they paid when Biden first took office. If they want to stay at a hotel or motel, they will be paying 22.2 percent more than last year.  

As a result of these massive price increases, Americans are changing their holiday plans. A new survey from WalletHub found that inflation is affecting Americans’ 4th of July plans and is holding them back from living the American dream: 

  • 57 percent of Americans say that inflation is affecting their 4th of July plans. 
  • 61 percent of Americans don’t plan to go shopping this 4th of July. 
  • 62 percent of Americans say the cost of living is holding them back from living the American dream. 

As a result, Americans have gotten increasingly pessimistic about the current state of the economy and economic outlooks. About 44 percent of Americans expect the U.S. economy to be in recession next year while 25 percent expect the U.S. economy to continue slowing next year. Only 13 percent of Americans believe the U.S. economy will be growing in that time. Only 22 percent of Americans think that the current economy is good while 75 percent say it is bad – a new high for the Biden presidency.

Joint Economic Committee Republicans, led by Ranking Member Mike Lee (R-Utah) released a report which found that, since the beginning of Biden’s presidency, prices having increased 11.7 percent, costing the average American household $635 in May alone:  

“Prices increased 11.7 percent from January 2021 to May 2022, costing the average American household $635 in May 2022 alone. Over the 12- month period from June 2022 through May 2023, the inflation that has already occurred will cost the average American household $7,620 even if prices stop increasing altogether.” 

Evidently, the Biden Administration knew their policies could be tied to inflation, so they sought to downplay the problem itself.  

While the economy was already in recovery from the pandemic, Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion spending bill which included inflationary policies like paying Americans not to work, expanding tax credits, and sending out stimulus checks indiscriminately. The administration has also extended the pause on federal student loan repayments numerous times, costing taxpayers well over $100 billion.  

The Biden Administration also contributed to this problem by crippling the American oil and gas industry. After all, energy costs have largely driven overall inflation. President Biden cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline, halted new oil and gas lease sales, cancelled three oil and gas lease sales scheduled in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, and used his presidency as a bully pulpit to promise the demise of American energy.  

Even so, the Biden Administration blames all energy price increases on the Russian-Ukraine war. In reality, gas had already increased by 40 percent before the invasion.  

Despite Biden’s desperate attempts to justify his inflationary policies, he is actively still looking to exacerbate the problem.  

President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal is packed with trillions in new spending and tax hikes on the American people. His budget included at least $6 trillion in spending and 36 tax increases on American individuals and businesses totaling $2.5 trillion over the next decade. This includes 11 tax increases on the oil and gas industry. 

Biden’s proposal includes massive tax hikes on businesses, like hiking the corporate income tax rate to 28 percent, imposing a 15 percent global minimum tax, and increasing the top individual income tax rate which will hit pass through businesses. These tax hikes will certainly be passed on to consumers through higher prices, as if rampant inflation wasn’t painful enough. According to a 2020 National Bureau of Economic Research paper, 31 percent of the corporate tax rate is borne by consumers through higher prices of goods and services. 

Unfortunately, while Americans celebrate this great nation, they will be suffering the consequences of its leaders’ policy choices.