'Enough of their price gouging': New Democratic ad slams 'greedflation'
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, facing a tough reelection against Republican and former hedge fund manager David McCormick, is signaling to voters that he's on their side in the fight against inflation.
Casey's first ad of the cycle centers on "greedlfation," the concept that the rise in prices squeezing consumers is mainly driven by corporate greed for excessive profits.
"I’m taking on big corporations because I’ve had enough of their price gouging. I call it greedflation, and I’m fighting back," Casey wrote Thursday in a tweet featuring the ad.
"My plan gives the Federal Trade Commission the power to punish corporate price-gouging. And let’s roll back their huge corporate tax breaks, putting money in your pocket instead," Casey explains after the spot ticks through a list of reasons the price of common goods have spiraled.
Recent Navigator Research polling found that 85% of voters believe corporate greed has contributed to inflation, with 59% calling it a "major" cause factor.
Democrats seem keen to make it a part of the 2024 pitch.
President Joe Biden even gave Casey's initiative a shout out during his recent State of the Union address.
“Pass Bobby Casey’s bill and stop this,” he said . “I really mean it.”
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New poll shows it's the greedflation, stupid
In a newly released survey, the progressive consortium Navigator Research found that 85% of voters now view corporate greed as a cause of inflation, with 59% calling it a "major" factor—a 15-percentage-point increase since January 2022.
"The fact that so many Americans now say that corporate greed is a root cause of inflation is an important turning point," Maryann Cousens, polling and analytics associate for Navigator Research, told Daily Kos.
The feeling among Americans has become so pervasive that Dictionary.com just added the term "greedflation" to its entries, describing it as a rise in prices "caused by corporate executives or boards of directors, property owners, etc., solely to increase profits that are already healthy or excessive."
It's not that voter concerns about inflation are new; it's that voters’ sense that corporations are profiting at the expense of average Americans by spiking prices is at an all-time high in Navigator's polling.
In fact, voters’ belief that corporate greed is a "major" driver of inflation has jumped 17 points in the past two years among both independents (from 45% to 62%) and Democrats (55% to 72%).
Cousens told Daily Kos that voters are also clamoring for Congress to take action on the issue. Navigator's 2022 midterm survey showed that Congress addressing inflation was "the top priority for midterm voters by a large margin," according to Cousens.
And while Republicans sought to tag government spending as the biggest cause of inflation in the midterm, some Democrats successfully pointed to corporate greed as the main culprit for soaring prices.
One of them was Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, who narrowly won her hard-fought 2022 reelection bid in the swing state, where gas prices had spiked to $5.67 per gallon amid the campaign.
According to reporting from The Nevada Independent , Cortez Masto staffers said she frequently mentioned pocketbook issues, like the prices of prescription drugs, housing, and gasoline.
“[She would] say, ‘yeah, I don't like the gas prices either,’ instead of just trying to sweep it under the rug,” Frank Hawk, president of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, told the Independent's Gabby Birenbaum. “And then [she] really pointed out what's a little more true, [which] is that you have oil companies and pharmaceutical companies and Big Corporate America making record profits on a daily basis, and we as the middle class are struggling to fill our gas tanks. And that should make us angry. And I think her passion came through, along with her sincerity.”
In other words, there's precedent for Democratic lawmakers to successfully empathize with voters and highlight their work to ease the cost of living. For example, President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which cleared Congress on a party-line vote , has forced a $35 monthly cap on insulin for Medicare beneficiaries. And that price is quickly becoming available to a much wider swath of Americans as drug companies cap their own price or offer savings programs.
Democrats have plenty to use to contrast themselves with Republicans. The Inflation Reduction Act also empowers Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices , and Biden has put forward practical steps to raise taxes on billionaires . In the meantime, Donald Trump is vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act , which, if successful, could strip health insurance from tens of millions of Americans . Trump is also floating the implementation of 10% tariffs on nearly all imports to the U.S, which would functionally raise taxes for U.S. consumers by more than $300 billion a year , according to the conservative Tax Foundation think tank.
Last month, Navigator released polling of likely general election voters in 61 battleground districts , showing that congressional Republicans still hold a 10-point trust advantage on the issue of "fighting inflation." However, once Navigator actually named the lawmakers , Democratic legislators in those districts edged out Republican lawmakers. Forty-five percent of voters said they trust their Democratic representative "a lot" or "some" to fight inflation, while 42% said the same of their GOP representative.
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Americans have been trained to accept whatever corporations tell them.
[Do not falsely attribute words to John that he never said.][✘]
I simply modified his statement by changing a few words.
What is a fair profit margin?
what is an unfair profit margin ?
But he fails to tell us what a fair profit margin is. He should suggest that the fastest way to fight back is to stop consuming things that are overpriced.
He very likely doesn't have an answer to either question. But he's up for re-election so the sound-bite is good for him as it lets him paint himself as being for the common man. Just don't look up the skirt of his voting record.
Well, one MAJOR reason why this article is crap and, so far as I can tell, no one here has actually bothered to check, is that the definition of greenflation the article gives is total nonsense. From the article.
So, there's no entry under greenflation at dictionary.com. If you type in greenflation in a general search, you won't find a dictionary definition anywhere but, rather, mostly economic sites describing it. Every single one I looked at defined greenflation as, or similar to...
This is simply more of the same "Tax the corporations more" by adding a label with the words "New and Improved" on it. Dems are counting on the portion of the demographics too stupid to understand that taxing corporations more is actually how Dems increase taxes on all of us. They hope to convince enough people that corporations need to "pay their fair share" and hoping that no one will realize that all that will result in is corporations simply raising the prices of their goods in order to pass the cost of those taxes onto the consumers. Like every single business, big and small, already does with the taxes they already pay. This will actually make inflation worse. You know, like how paying a burger flipper $15 an hour has raised the prices at McDonalds to ridiculous levels. That pay increase isn't coming out of McDonald's profits. It's coming out of your wallet every time you eat there.
But for some, ideology is more important than reality. It's the thought that counts.
I just noticed that I read the article wrong. It doesn't say "greenflation". It says "greedflation" and there is an entry for it at dictionary.com. My bad.
The rest of what I said stands.
Americans have been trained to accept whatever Democrats and their media shills tell them.
Ignore the prices you are being forced to pay due to Brandon's and Democrats bloated spending, regulations, and EO/EA's. Ignore the fact that if they get their way and increase taxes on corporations and worker pay- that workers will have their hours cut, lose their jobs, and companies will increase their costs to consumers. It has been proven in California, Seattle, and every other Democrat run bastion of stupidity that has tried it.
Reelect Brandon and Democrats so they can finish destroying this country; and bring about their 1 party rule.
Casey's first ad of the cycle centers on "greedlfation," the concept that the rise in prices squeezing consumers is mainly driven by corporate greed for excessive profits.
FALSE . Inflation is driven by government action such as excessive spending, printing of money etc.
The idea of business conspiring to simply raise prices violates Adam Smith's principle of sell interest. Eventually one company undersells the others to gain market share. It is all part of the beauty of the free enterprise system (which made America great).
Nope - spread by corporate greed.
lol. Who’s dumb enough to fall for this? It’s like the group of mayors blaming businesses for shoplifting
Prices at the grocery store have come down on some products but are still much higher since Biden has been in office, and the price of gas has gradually risen again.
Prices have risen every year since forever. This is independent of whoever is POTUS. Welcome to capitalism.
Yes, only the rate of the increase changes.
Would you like to try the barter system?
Prices for commodities should go both up and down depending on supply and demand, but in general inflation is targeted by the fed to be about 2.5 - 3.0%, which is normal. Periods of rapid or steep deflation, price declines, are rare and are generally catastrophic because when this happens the collateral used to secure loans is inadequate resulting insolvency and business / banking failures.
Welcome to capitalism
Inflation is not unique to capitalism. Socialist economies have it as well. Also, deflation is perfectly consistent with capitalism, though not really possible with a government spending a trillion more than it takes in, which causes inflation.
The target is 2.0% and has been for decades. Don't be manipulated by something so transparent as moving the goalposts by 50% to reflect the current situation.
That's true, but the left would be blaming Trump if he was in office now. The sad truth for Biden is that he and the Democrats will be blamed by the voters anyway. He's done nothing to make the lives of ordinary Americans any better.
I would love to see you prove that statement.
Bush Jr would kindly thank you to remember history and how he was blamed for inflation and the subsequent economic collapse.
It is cute you think Trump wouldn't be blamed when Democrats are trying to blame him for the current inflation (been 3 years since he was in office- yet somehow this inflation is his); Brandon's border and illegal immigration folly; and crime.
No reason Brandon and the Democrats should be let off the hook for their bloated never ending spending.
Off topic, we're not talking about Bush.
I'm just asking for proof. You're the one butting into someone's conversation with an off topic claim about Bush.
Here is your proof- not that you will believe it. Straight from Brandon the liar in Chief's mouth.
Typical Democrats blaming everyone else for what they caused.
Again, nothing to do with the question, and according to your own quoted blurb, Trump was never mentioned or blamed.
You are also apparently ignoring the fact that inflation is worldwide, it did not start in any one country.
If that isn't "mentioning" Trump, who else would it have been? Nit picking is not a good look..........unless one wants to argue for the sake of arguing.
.........exactly!
Where is he even implying that it is the fault of any previous American administration? He simply stated that inflation had already began when he took office. Take off your partisan glasses and try reading what he actually said.
I suggest you do the same............Try and use some critical thinking this time, and I see I was right. Thanks for proving my point.
Try reading it for yourself. The reporter's opinion is the only thing linking Biden's statement to Trump. Not only that but everything Biden stated about the condition of the economy when he was elected is absolutely true.
US economy and world-wide inflation are 2 separate things. The US economy will effect how the US handles the world-wide inflation, but it is not the cause of the inflation. In this case dealing with the pandemic was the primary cause for the inflation. Under Trump's economy the US would have faired much more poorly during the inflation than Biden's economy did.
The notion that government is solely to blame for the inflation that is lining private sector pockets is so absurd. I was recently at a conference center in a major city, where guests are typically a captive audience because they flew in for an event. A bottle of water is $4, or $3.75 if you go outside to a food truck. A bottle of ice tea is $6. A pizza was advertised as $11, with no price listed for extra ingredients. Turns out those ingredients for this tiny little pizza were $5 each. I bought a burrito because the tiny writing on the menu board 10’ away looked like it said $10. It actually said $19. This level of absolute opportunistic greed is in no way the result of supply chains, regulation, or policy - and every vendor expects a 20% tip no matter how little they do for you.
It’s the same at the Washington DC Conference Center which is managed by a semi-public/government agency.
I refuse to pay their high concession prices. I carry my own water in a refillable container. I was local restaurant for lunch.
I think most of us are stupid to buy bottled water and throw away the plastic container while saying that we are concerned about the environment.
Thing is, Hal, every single dollar spent on those concession stands is a vote for those prices. People do not realize that the most powerful vote they have is their money. While I totally agree with the idea that government, especially Biden's and other democrats, is largely responsible for inflation it i is also true that consumers are to blame as well by spending their money on crap they don't actually need. Not living within their means, in other words. While the truly poor among us have an excuse, there's no justifiable explanation why so many who are not poor having so little savings and live paycheck to paycheck. This comes from the drive to constantly have more and better rather than simply what they need.
we have experienced inflation for various reasons over the past few years. Corporations and other businesses saw that as an opportunity to piggy back on the legitimate inflation by rising prices even further, under the theory that the consumer wont know any better.
Corporations have actually essentially admitted this when they talk about "record profits" during a time of inflation.
Some businesses will always have "record profits." That's how an economy works. Some will thrive in a given set of conditions, other's won't. That will never stop.
But, of course, in a time of high inflation more businesses will have "record" gross profits. In a vacuum it's a meaningless term. It's like claiming Joe Biden is the most popular President ever because he received the most amount of votes ever. But the numbers of votes, like inflation, keeps increasing making the gross number irrelevant when actually analysing his performance.
I often read here that inflation in the rest of the world is much higher than here. We are lucky that our corporations and other businesses are kinder and more gentle than theirs.