The federal government has failed spectacularly to manage the risk of inflation. For many, that’s no surprise given the unprecedented government-enforced lockdowns, the trillions of dollars spent on bailouts and a haphazard implementation of the green energy agenda.
But it’s not just national officials who are to blame. Here in Illinois, state leadership has supported and even copied the same inflation-boosting policies occurring at the federal level. Pritzker, who has managed Illinois’ Covid response via executive order for more than two years, enforced and defended some of the nation’s strictest lockdowns. He and other Democratic leaders were some of the biggest cheerleaders of the federal bailouts and in fact, got the ball rolling by making the first ask of Congress. And those same leaders have enacted one of the nation’s most extreme green-energy bills with little to no plan for how to execute them.
For sure, Russia and China deserve their share of the blame, too. The war in Ukraine is impacting food and fuel prices and China’s lockdowns have disrupted global supply chains.
But it’s also the policies enacted here in America that are making the life of ordinary Illinoisans more difficult by the day.
Consider the simple act of eating breakfast. It’s 45 percent more expensive than it was two years ago.
A pound of bacon? Back in May of 2020 it cost $5.35. Now it’s $7.36 a pound. That’s a 38 percent jump, based on the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics price data.
And eggs? A dozen now cost $2.86, up 75 percent from May 2020. A cup of coffee is 31 percent more expensive, and the same goes for a glass of milk.
The heightened costs for Americans don’t stop when they leave the breakfast table. When people drive to work, they can expect to pay 145 percent more for gas. What cost just $1.88 per gallon two years ago has exploded to more than $4.60 in May (and to over $5.56 in Illinois today).
Heaven forbid anyone needs to buy a car. Used car prices are up 51 percent compared to two years ago.
And the pain doesn’t stop when people finally get to work. Hourly earnings for workers are up just a meager 8 percent over the same two year period. Adjusted for inflation, wages are actually down 6 percent. It’s a massive hit for the working class and the overall economy.
Illinoisans can and should blame politicians at the national level for out-of-control inflation. But they should also realize how much their local officials have done to exacerbate the burden they face. Gov. Pritzker and his party’s policies, in particular their support of economic lockdowns, the federal bailouts and the green agenda, are directly and indirectly responsible for a large portion of the inflation crisis in this state.
Strictest lockdowns
The economic lockdowns imposed in the U.S. and globally during the early stages of the pandemic are largely responsible for the continued supply-chain issues the country is suffering from today.
From the WSJ: “The immediate cause of the backup began in 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions led to a sharp increase in consumer spending on goods… People all of a sudden couldn’t spend on services, you can’t go to bars, you can’t go to restaurants, you can’t go traveling, you can’t do anything.”
Gov. Pritzker imposed what Wallethub considered the nation’s strictest lockdown policies during the pandemic. All for nothing, it turns out. More and more research shows shutting down large portions of the economy did lasting damage to people’s livelihoods but had little impact on overall Covid mortality. In contrast, states like Florida largely kept their economies open.
Unfortunately, the damage done to supply-chains has had a nationwide impact. Floridians are paying a record amount for breakfast because of the strict lockdowns in states like Illinois and California.
Supporting bailouts
Illinois’ current leadership was also a big proponent of the federal government’s Covid bailouts.
Senate President Don Harmon was the first state leader in the nation to beg for money when requested $42 billion in cash back in April, 2020. And Gov. Pritzker ended up asking for billions in federal help several times during the pandemic.
From the Chicago Tribune: “Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned that the state faces ‘extraordinarily painful’ budget cuts if the federal government fails to provide states with relief funding to make up for tax revenue shortfalls caused by efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.”
The near-$200 billion stimulus cash Illinois eventually received – part of the overall $10 trillion the feds spent – directly fueled the nation’s current sky-high inflation. The former head of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, admitted that in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. “So, look, inflation is a matter of demand and supply, and the spending that was undertaken in the American Rescue Plan did feed demand,” she told the WSJ.
Pursuing green energy
On top of all that, Illinois leaders’ pursuit of their green energy agenda have made Illinois and the nation less energy independent, leading to higher prices for consumers.
Their signature “achievement” is the green energy omnibus package passed last year. The law is “the most aggressive, most progressive climate bill in the nation” according to Senate President Don Harmon. It forces Illinois to have 50% of its electricity production from renewable sources by 2040 and 100% from clean energy sources by 2050.
The problem is, lawmakers have no plan on how to achieve those goals. Wirepoints’ FOIA request to the governor’s office for his plan to achieve “100% from clean energy sources by 2050” never received a real answer.
The problem is that solar and wind power have not kept pace with energy needs as investment in fossil fuel sources wanes and plants have been shut down. The situation is so bad that parts of the state are in danger of losing power. Melville Nickerson of NRG Energy recently warned lawmakers during a recent Illinois House committee of “the potential for rolling blackouts in central and southern Illinois.” And the problem extends beyond Illinois. Other energy experts have warned about brownouts and blackouts across “the entire West and most of the Midwest.”
Illinoisans must hold their leaders accountable for the current inflation mess. For everyone keeping score, that means politicians who’ve supported lockdowns, bailouts and the failed implementation of the green energy agenda.
