The U.S. Census Bureau Wednesday released advance estimates of U.S. retail sales which showed those sales fell 0.4% in May.
Motor vehicle and parts dealers took the biggest hit, with sales dropping 3.5%. Electronics and appliance stores sales decreased 1.3%. Furniture and home furniture stores, as well as health and personal care stores, also experienced a decrease in sales.
Read the full story
The ongoing difficulty of finding workers in Wisconsin is just part of the problem for small businesses in the state.
A new report from Help Advisor said Wisconsin is ranked third in the nation when it comes to the trouble of finding workers. Only Missouri and Vermont are ranked worse.
Read the full story
Diesel and regular gasoline prices hit a new all-time high Tuesday as they continue their rapid climb in recent weeks.
Diesel, up to $5.78 per gallon, has hit a new record almost every day this month.
Read the full story
Memphis Democrat U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) said that inflation was “not Joe Biden’s fault.”
“In Europe, gas prices have risen even higher than here and inflation is running at 8-10 percent. Inflation is a worldwide problem. It is not Joe Biden’s fault but we are doing what we can,” he said in a tweet.
Read the full story
The spread between 10-year and 2-year treasuries, a reliable indicator of incoming recessions that has predicted almost every recession in modern economic history, inverted once again overnight Monday amid financial markets turmoil with interest rates rising rapidly, the dollar strengthening and equities markets crashing.
That is almost certainly terrible news for President Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats ahead of the 2022 Congressional midterms. The White House has attempted to highlight relatively low unemployment numbers as signs of a healthy economy, with President Biden on June 3 declaring the latest jobs numbers as “good news.”
Read the full story
Tennessee Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) announced Saturday that he was selected to serve on the Ways and Means Committee.
“I am honored to be on this committee, & I look forward to advancing policies that will get our nation’s economy back on track,” Representative Kustoff wrote on Twitter.
Read the full story
Republican Candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Burt Jones, took to Twitter on Friday to propose a possible solution to Bidenflation, which recently peaked at a record 8.6%.
“Inflation is out of control—and it’s making virtually everything more expensive for Georgia families. As Lieutenant Governor, I’ll be focused on continuing to cut taxes, lower costs, and put more money back into the pockets of hardworking Georgians,” the Trump-endorsed Jones said.
Read the full story
CNBC editor Rick Santelli unloaded on the Biden administration on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday morning, saying anti-fossil fuel policies helped to spur inflation.
“What was the forward guidance with this administration on energy?” Santelli asked. “We know the answer. Maybe they can’t get things to happen faster, but by giving positive forward guidance, by not closing pipelines, by not talking pre-election about how much they don’t like fossil fuel, maybe things would have turned out a bit different.”
Read the full story
Republican politicians in Tennessee are blasting President Joe Biden and Democrats after inflation numbers from May showed prices rising 8.6 percent year over year, a 40-year high.
“I hope come November when folks head to the polls, they remember Democrats decided to put politics first instead of focusing on the real-life issues we all face today,” Rep. John Rose (R-TN-06) said Friday.
Read the full story
GOP nominee in VA-08 Karina Lipsman wants to focus on public safety, the economy, education, and mental health. Lipsman is battling Representative Don Beyer (D-VA-08) in a deep-blue district, and was nominated at the end of May in a ranked-choice convention. “We live in Northern Virginia. We don’t live in, you know, Chicago or Baltimore. It’s unacceptable how crime is affecting our daily lives,” Lipsman told The Virginia Star. “The soft-on-crime policies need to end and we need to really start investing in our law enforcement and make sure that they have the resources they need in order to keep our communities safe,” she said. She said that fewer people want to work in law enforcement, and there’s a need to incentivize those that want to work in the field to stay. Lipsman highlighted high inflation, rising gas prices, and rising taxes. “Right now the government just continues to tax and tax and tax, without any real way of controlling our spending. We also need to have manufacturing here in the U.S.,” she said, calling for a “Made in America” agenda with incentives to keep jobs in the country. She called for energy independence with expedited drilling permits. Lipsman is…
Read the full story
Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance criticized the energy and fiscal policies of his Democratic opponent and of the White House on Wednesday, blaming them for the steep gasoline prices Buckeyes now endure.
The average price of a regular gallon of gas in Ohio exceeded $5.00 on Wednesday. That’s a 118.91-percent increase over the $2.32-per-gallon average cost state motorists faced when President Joe Biden took office. In Vance’s estimation, “no one else” bears responsibility for this other than Biden and his “extreme allies in Congress like Tim Ryan (D-13).”
Read the full story
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Gulbransen welcomed U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) to the newsmaker line to comment upon historic gas prices, inflation, and the true intentions of the Biden administration for America.
Read the full story
A Chevron gas station in Los Angeles was spotted charging over $8.00/gal for gasoline on Tuesday, a stark reminder of just how much fuel prices have risen across the country. Customers were unsurprisingly frustrated by the price, but felt there was little they could do to avoid it.
Read the full story
In what has become a seemingly every day occurrence, gas prices rose to a new record high Sunday as the national average approaches $5 a gallon.
Nine states already have surpassed the $5 threshold, and several others are just pennies away.
According to AAA, the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline reached $4.85 Sunday, up an additional three cents from Saturday and 24 cents from last week.
Read the full story
Americans are changing their shopping habits because of soaring food prices. And disruptions in the international farming community have some worried about the food supply heading into 2023.
The BMO Real Financial Progress Index, a quarterly survey from BMO and Ipsos, shows that 42% of surveyed adults “are changing how they shop for groceries,” including “opting for cheaper items, avoiding brand names and buying only the essentials.”
The report found “46% are either dining out less or consciously spending less when dining out.”
Read the full story
Gas prices reached another all-time high in Tennessee Friday, and according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), they are only expected to continue rising. “While drivers might have seen a small break in pump price increases this holiday weekend, we could be looking at the calm before the storm for gas prices,” Megan Cooper, a spokeswoman for AAA, reportedly said. The average price for a gallon of gas in Tennessee was $4.39 on Friday, the highest ever recorded in the state. That price jump represents a 12-cent increase over the past week alone, and a 48-cent jump over the past month. A year ago, the average cost of a gallon of gas was $2.88. Nashville has been hit the hardest, where on Friday, the average cost of a gallon of gas was $4.44, five cents higher than the state’s average. Clarksville clocked in at $4.43 per gallon on average, just behind the state’s capital city. “A dip in gasoline demand provided drivers with a bit of stability at the pump, as the national average for a gallon rose less than three cents over the past week to reach $4.62. But this respite could be brief,” AAA said in a news…
Read the full story
A new survey released Thursday by the Commonwealth Foundation (CF), a Harrisburg-based think tank, suggests Pennsylvanians broadly support free-market reforms the institute urges policymakers to embrace.
CF publicized its Better Pennsylvania 2023 Plan, a list of 23 such recommendations, in conjunction with the poll. Executive vice president Jennifer Stefano said the foundation plans to distribute the agenda to state lawmakers and candidates for public office. She believes the ideas’ implementation will “restore hope to our citizens across the commonwealth and set us on a better path that allows all Pennsylvanians to flourish.”
Read the full story
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer in-studio to comment upon the Biden administration’s lack of handling the important issues of American’s day to day lives.
Read the full story
United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted she was wrong in the past about her inflation predictions during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take,” Yellen told Blitzer Thursday on “The Situation Room” in response to 2021 comments where she claimed inflation would be “a small risk.”
Read the full story
Millions of Americans say the likely will have to push back their retirement because of rising inflation, newly released financial survey data found.
The BMO Real Financial Progress Index, a quarterly survey from BMO and Ipsos, showed that a quarter of Americans will likely need to delay their retirement because of higher prices.
Read the full story
Most Americans believe President Joe Biden’s policies are the leading contributor to inflation in the U.S., a recent poll found.
The poll, conducted by the Trafalgar Group and the Convention of States Action from May 25 – 29, asked respondents to choose whether they believed Biden’s policies and spending or the war between Russia and Ukraine contributed more to inflation. The survey found that 59.9% of respondents blamed Biden’s policies and spending for inflation, compared to 31.6% who blamed the war between Russia and Ukraine and 8.5% who were unsure.
Read the full story
As Democrats head into the November midterms with historically low approval ratings, another major factor could arise that will further contribute to the shrinking of their already-slim majorities.
As reported by The Hill, the Affordable Care Act – known colloquially as “Obamacare” – could face a significant increase in premiums due to a lapse in special funding provided by the coronavirus aid bill passed last year. That bill, known as the American Rescue Plan, temporarily increased financial assistance for Americans seeking healthcare through Obamacare; the increase was set to expire just one year after the bill’s passage.
Read the full story
On Friday, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn promoted her “Stop The Inflationary Spending Spree” resolution on Twitter.
Blackburn tweeted, “I’ve introduced the Stop The Inflationary Spending Spree Resolution to make it more difficult to pass spending packages during periods of high inflation.”
Read the full story
A majority of surveyed American families are worried about inflation and are changing their summer vacation plans because of it, according to newly released polling data.
The poll, from Echelon Insights, found that “75% of parents say they are concerned about the rising cost of everyday purchases like food or gas.”
Read the full story
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has not said whether he would seek to extend the state’s motor fuel tax suspension when it expires at the end of May. However, during a Wednesday morning interview with an Atlanta radio station, the governor indicated an announcement might be looming.
“I know Georgians need it; they’re getting killed at the pump right now, and they’re getting killed at the grocery store because of [President Joe] Biden’s 40-year high inflation, and quite honestly, … just bad policies in Washington, DC, like our domestic energy supply policy,” Kemp, a Republican, told WSB Radio.
Read the full story
Gas prices have soared to new heights this month with the price of unleaded regular gas hitting a record high every day for the past two weeks. With Memorial Day weekend approaching, motorists face steep costs if they plan to travel.
According to AAA, the national average regular unleaded gas price Tuesday came in at $4.60, a record high. Diesel gasoline is at $5.55 per gallon, just below the record set last week.
Read the full story
Inflation is an invisible tax that Tennesseans have to pay each and every day. Everywhere you look, inflation is wreaking havoc. At the gas station: gas is up 48 percent. At the grocery store: beef is up 20 percent, chicken is up 15 percent, butter is up 14 percent, fruits and vegetables are up 7 percent, and coffee is up 12 percent. At home: electricity is up 11 percent, furniture is up 15 percent, and rent is up 5 percent. What about a vacation? You still won’t be able to escape inflation as hotels are up 29 percent and flights are up 23 percent.
Read the full story
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called Ohio State University’s decision to raise tuition unwise as inflation continues to rise around the country.
OSU’s board voted earlier this week to impose a 4.6% increase for incoming in-state freshmen and to guarantee that rate for the next four years. It amounts to a $549 annual jump from the current tuition rate.
Read the full story
Ohio’s record run of business startups ended in April, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose blamed rising inflation for discouraging entrepreneurs from creating new business.
LaRose on Thursday also called on leaders in Washington to put politics aside and work to bring rising costs under control.
Read the full story
Last week, President Biden gave a speech listing everyone and everything allegedly responsible for record high inflation. His list included corporate greed and price gouging, Vladimir Putin, and “ultra-MAGA” Republicans. The president said that his policies, and the nearly $7 trillion in spending he authorized, have nothing to do with inflation.
None of this holds up under scrutiny. While President Biden claims that corporations are ripping off Americans, the costs of their supplies have been increasing at a record rate. In reality, many companies that Biden claims are stiffing consumers have actually lost money because they don’t want to alienate their customers by raising prices too quickly.
Read the full story
The GOP-dominated Michigan Legislature approved $2.5 billion in far-ranging tax relief amid record 40-year-high inflation.
Meanwhile, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democrats pitched sending immediately $500 checks to working families. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, characterized the plan as trying to “pay off” Michiganders for her COVID policies.
Read the full story
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose called on the federal government to address record inflation that is impacting small businesses across the state.
According to LaRose, his office received only 15,488 new business filings in April 2022—a dramatic decline from previous months. In March, he got 20 percent more applications.
Read the full story
If an administration deliberately wished to cause havoc on the border, to ensure fuel was nearly unaffordable, to create a crime wave, to spark 1970s hyperinflation, and to rekindle racial tensions, what would it have done differently than what Joe Biden has done?
So is Biden malicious, incompetent, or a wannabe left-wing ideologue?
Read the full story
Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and other Connecticut public officials announced on Thursday that families will soon get access to the state’s new child tax credit.
About 300,000 postcards went into the mail yesterday advising families of how to apply for the relief which comes at $250 per child and up to $750 per family. Qualifying recipients include single tax filers with children and with income under $100,000 annually as well as couples with children filing jointly who make under $200,000 yearly in total. Those with incomes above those levels may, however, succeed in securing some relief.
Read the full story
The majority of Americans feel they cannot keep up with the cost of living as inflation and the price of goods continue to rise, according to new polling data.
A poll from NBC News asked Americans, “Do you think that your family’s income is … going up faster than the cost of living, staying about even with the cost of living, or falling behind the cost of living?”
Read the full story
The Senate voted 80-19 on Thursday to confirm Jerome Powell to a second term as Federal Reserve chair, even as inflation has hit record highs under his watch.
The 19 “Nay” votes came from 13 Republicans and 5 Democrats and included a range of Senators from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Read the full story
The Biden Administration last June unveiled its “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.” Despite its anodyne-sounding name, the “national strategy” was anything but anodyne. The pamphlet represented the logical culmination of the Left’s cynical use of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot as a means of ginning up large-scale, nationwide anti-Republican/anti-Trump voter sentiment.
The result, evinced again by Attorney General Merrick Garland’s disgraceful October 2021 memo directing the FBI to intrude on local school board meetings and crack down on anti-critical race theory parental revolts, has been a roiling cold war waged by the ruling class against us “deplorables” and our political “wrong-think.”
Read the full story
Michigan moms and babies relying on a steady supply of baby formula are joining families nationwide stymied by supply chain issues, product recalls, and record 40-year high inflation that’s left many baby formula shelves bare.
Lynn Sutfin, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman, said the problem affected about 85% of the more than 200,000 people in the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program that gives recipients about $30 to $112 or more per month.
Read the full story
Democratic California Rep. Katie Porter said inflation and rising prices reinforced the importance of abortion on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” Wednesday.
Porter said inflation and abortion were closely tied together and that, as grocery and gas prices rose, people would realize the importance of controlling their family size through abortion.
Read the full story
As consumer prices and inflation soar, a public university in Virginia has decided to raise the cost of tuition before the next academic year.
“The Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors voted Friday to set tuition and fees for the 2022-23 academic year. Tuition will increase by 3%, the first tuition increase for undergraduate students since the 2018-19 academic year,” Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) said in a Friday statement. “The increase is necessary to cover VCU’s share of anticipated salary increases for faculty, staff and adjuncts; to increase student support; and to address the higher costs of maintenance and utilities.”
Read the full story
After a week of sparring with President Joe Biden and the Biden administration, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) launched a new ad that highlights his plan for the future of America.
“How do you destroy the economy?” Scott asks rhetorically in the ad. “Look around. Joe Biden and the ‘woke Democrats are doing it.”
Read the full story
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed (R-TN-06) Congressman John Rose to the newsmaker line to explain why he voted against the $40 billion to Ukraine aid and explained the consequences of President Biden’s weak leadership.
Read the full story
Americans are now entering uncharted, revolutionary territory. They may witness things over the next five months that once would have seemed unimaginable.
Until the Ukrainian conflict, we had never witnessed a major land war inside Europe directly involving a nuclear power.
Read the full story
Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee Thursday raised against a bill that will send $40 billion to Ukraine, citing problems that the United States has domestically.
“I don’t think we should be spending any more money, unless it’s on America’s problems here at home,” J.D. Vance said Thursday. “I would make any additional aid for the Ukrainians conditional on sending money to the American southern border, on actually trying to fix this terrible shortage of baby formula and hospital supplies.”
Read the full story
Amid surging gas prices and 40-year high inflation, a congressman Thursday reacted to the news that the Biden Administration has canceled domestic oil and gas lease sales.
“Biden just canceled massive oil and gas lease sales in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico amid historic gas prices. Just wait for him to blame Putin for all of this!” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) said on Twitter.
Read the full story
Inflation continued its steady rise in April, when the Consumer Price Index increased 8.3% over last year, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For the month, the CPI rose 0.3%. That’s down from the 1.2% spike in March, but higher than analysts expected. The 8.3% increase over last year remains near 40-year highs, the bureau reported.
Read the full story
Gas prices in Tennessee have once again hit all-time highs, as the Biden administration struggles to control rising prices at the pump and elsewhere.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price per gallon of gas in Tennessee reached $4.12, the highest ever recorded Tuesday. A year ago, a gallon of gas in the state averaged $2.71.
Read the full story
A U.S. Senator from Ohio Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden for record gas prices and sky-high inflation after Biden blamed Republicans, despite the fact that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
“The Biden admin & its policies are responsible for the soaring inflation we see today. Inflation has risen every single month since [Biden] took office. The admin’s reckless spending policies combined with increased regulation have caused the worst inflation in 40 years,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said.
Read the full story
Gas prices in Ohio are inching toward record highs, dramatically impacting residents of the state.
According to the latest numbers from the American Automobile Association, the average price of gas in the state is $4.092 per gallon. The current record in the state is $4.159, which was achieved in 2011.
Read the full story
An increasingly disturbing feature of American politics is the routine suppression of major news stories that reflect poorly on candidates favored by the Fourth Estate. The most egregious example in recent years occurred in October of 2020 when corporate news outlets and social media platforms colluded to bury a New York Post article on Hunter Biden. Fortunately, some stories just aren’t susceptible to such censorship. Inflation is a case in point. It can’t be hidden from the voters because soaring prices shout the bad news from every grocery store shelf and gas pump in the nation.
Read the full story