Economists are warning American families that this Thanksgiving Holiday will be the “most expensive meal in the history of the holiday.”
Supply chain shortages, lack of workers, and inflation are causing prices for every-day items like pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, turkey, and corn to skyrocket.
“Thanksgiving 2021 could be the most expensive meal in the history of the holiday. Caroline Hoffman is already stashing canned pumpkin in the kitchen of her Chicago apartment when she finds some for under a dollar. She recently spent almost $2 more for the vanilla she’ll need to bake pumpkin bread and other desserts for the various Friendsgiving celebrations she’s been invited to,” reports the New York Times.
“Matthew McClure paid 20 percent more this month than he did last year for the 25 pasture-raised turkeys he plans to roast at the Hive,the Bentonville, Ark., restaurant where he is the executive chef. And Norman Brown, director of sweet-potato sales for Wada Farms in Raleigh, N.C., is paying truckers nearly twice as much as usual to haul the crop to other parts of the country,” adds the newspaper.
Thanksgiving 2021 is shaping up to be the most expensive meal in the history of the holiday. Nearly every ingredient, from the turkey to the after-dinner coffee, is expected to cost more than ever. https://t.co/JIVaUiucuC
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 25, 2021
“I never seen anything like it, and I’ve been running sweet potatoes for 38 or 39 years,” Mr. Brown said. “I don’t know what the answer is, but in the end it’s all going to get passed on to the consumer.”
Read the full report at the New York Times.
CARTER 2.0? Gas Runs Dry After Pipeline Cyberattack, Long Lines in NC, SC, FL, VA
A cyberattack against a major energy pipeline along the East Coast caused fuel shortages in states like Florida, Virginia, and South Carolina Tuesday as security experts scrambled to get the key piece of infrastructure back online.
“Drivers along parts of the East Coast are feeling the immediate effects of the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline following a ransomware attack, reports CBS News’ Laura Podesta. Some waited an hour or more on lines at gas stations before filling up or learning the pumps had run dry,” reports CBS News.
https://twitter.com/toddstarnes/status/1391931129440112640
Gas ⛽️ lines this morning at Costco in West Ashley. #chsnews pic.twitter.com/9jInHXdd3T
— Chaunte' Turner (@ChaunteLive5) May 11, 2021
“It was unbelievable. When I was driving today, I thought it was a catastrophe coming! I’ve seen all these cars waiting and I was like, ‘OMG. I have to fill my tank up!’” said one local in South Carolina.
Gas prices jumped six cents within 24 hours, raising the national average to nearly $3 per gallon.
“If this outrage goes past the end of the week … prices could spike pretty dramatically,” said Kevin Book of Clearview Energy Partners.
Read the full report here.
CARTER 2: Biden Refuses to Comment on Whether Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Millions in Ransom
President Joe Biden refused to comment Thursday on whether Colonial Pipeline paid an eastern European hacker group upwards of $5 million in ransom money to re-open the pivotal piece of infrastructure here in the United States.
“Were you briefed on the fact that the company did pay the ransom?” asked one reporter.
“I have no comment on that,” said Biden quietly into the camera.
President Biden has "no comment" on reports that Colonial Pipeline paid a ransom of almost $5 million to the hackers responsible for the cyberattack.
Read more: https://t.co/CdZDCYDHXT pic.twitter.com/p9400Y9OrF
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 13, 2021
A series of critical problems plagued the Biden campaign in recent days, reminding many Americans of the hardships during the late 1970s under President Jimmy Carter.
Significant issues include the threat of inflation, lower-than-expected job growth, tensions in the Middle East, and gas shortages following a cyberattack against a pivotal energy pipeline in the southeast.
Despite the pipeline re-opening late Wednesday night, thousands of stations throughout the southern United States remain without gasoline.
“His team no doubt was prepared to unleash Biden to perform a little victory dance at the White House celebrating the stupendous number. But the show had to be hastily revamped when the actual tally came in nearly three-quarters-of-a-million jobs lower than expected; just 266,000 jobs created and unemployment unexpectedly rising to 6.1%,” reports Fox News.
“Today, there is more evidence our economy is moving in the right direction,” Biden said. “This is progress. This is a testament to our new strategy,” he said. “We’ve got work to do, to state the obvious, we have work to do.”
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed Tuesday that migrant encounters jumped yet again this past April: over 178,000 in all, nearly a tenfold increase from 2020 and still above levels seen in the 2019 surge at the Mexico border,” adds Fox.
Read the full report here.
Watch Biden’s comments above.