Trump brands Kamala Harris’s lower grocery prices policy ‘communist’
2 years ago by return2ozma to c/politics
He will simply tell the companies they have to lower the prices, and they will say "no way" and he will say "way".
Problem solved.
I mean, we're looking
Down on Wayne's basement. Only
That's not Wayne's basement.
Weren’t you paying attention? He’s not going to use price controls, he’s going to use container size controls.
It can’t be communist if it’s big!
Like that picture of Shaquille O'Neal with the water bottle?
We need to De-Woke the agricultural sector. There are too many regulations. Not enough people can keep a cow in their back yard and sell milk to the neighbors.
Retvrn to Tradition!
Sure. But then people will accuse us of being insufferably annoying for knowing the ingredients to a good curry.
Just... not anywhere close to Trump-owned real estate.
More tax reliefs for rich people.
Did he actually say that? I just saw the dumbass holding up two sizes of tic tacs and idiotically proclaiming "tHiS iS iNfLaTioN".
Well, we're still waiting for the details on that "amazing" healthcare plan him and his team lied about having when they tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, so I'm sure it's just around the corner!
I genuinely wish we lived in the world they fear so much
Same
Yes, if cheaper groceries are communist, then I’m ready for my hammer and sickle.
Wait, we get cheaper groceries AND free tools?
Free tools that’ll probably last 1,000 years too. Like, say what you want about the quality of some more complex Soviet products — the cars famously sucked — but there was no planned obsolescence on basic tools.
The reason publicly traded companies continually raise prices is the pressure from Wall Street to continually make more money than you did last month, last quarter, last year.
Say you sell 1,000,000 hamburgers and make a 20% profit on it.
Unless you make more money next year, selling that same 1,000,000 hamburgers, Wall Street is going to punish you. They don't care that you're profitable.
You either sell more burgers or raise prices.
Yeah. They treat profit like a necessary business expense or a cost, and balance their budgets around it. Which perverts a fundamental of economics.
I'm starting to think the stock market is just a really awful bank that is sometimes also a ponzi scheme.
The stock market IS a ponzi scheme, and the embodiment or everything that's wrong with capitalism. It encourages greed and drives enshittification. It's a system by the wealthy, for the wealthy (like 90% of stock is owned by the richest 10%, and most of that is owned by the top 0.1%). Expectations of infinite growth on a planet with finite resources is insane.
Most of the human population would prefer (and benefit from) less greed, less enshitification, cheaper housing, cheaper groceries, cheaper products — than the possibility to own a share of evilcorp.
Thank Jack Welch and Milton Friedman
A while back, Exxon set a record for any company in a quarter and everyone was going "Wooo!" and I was like "Well, gas prices are going up then... Think about next quarter and this quarter next year..."
It is because enough people don’t bother to price shop.
They have to turn inventory or they will quickly go broke.
If you switch to the cheaper option they have to react. If you shrug and pay, they win.
Anyone that listens to him is a fucking moron.
Kamala’s plan is some sort of vague “stop price gouging,” but Trumps plan is even vaguer. His plan was to hold a press conference next to some sausages and say that his administration would lower prices. He gave even fewer specifics.
His actual plans are project 2025.
He has no actual plans beyond "stay out of prison by going to the White House."
Project 2025 is the plan of all the people he's going to appoint if he gets in.
I AGREE, instead Kamala should do what Trump did and give us all multiple stimulus checks. Like how about every month. We can call it "Universal Basic Income."
Veteran approved Freedom Bucks!
The Birbs of War!
Trump called it "the Maduro plan" and I'm laughing. What an idiot!
Don't post until you have your sources in order or you're just posting bullshit. 3 hours now.
IDGAF what they call it. Lower the damn prices! Sacrifice a billionaire to the capitalist god or something.
That just puts more money in the hands of Big Food.
Now, if the food support was limited to only be spent on fresh or frozen vegetables and fruit, that would help the kinds of farmers that aren't already getting subsidized.
I mean... Price control is kinda anti-capitalist,
Good. Fuck capitalism.
The Nature of Capitalism
Price control is kinda anti-capitalist, he’s not wrong.
It's authoritarian, but still very capitalist in function. The state is regulating the rate at which you can raise prices, not who profits from the sales.
And no I will not vote for Donald Trump.
I wouldn't lose too much sleep over the decision. In the end, I predict this election will be decided 6-3.
I wouldn't lose too much sleep over the decision. In the end, I predict this election will be decided 6-3.
Only if they agree to hear the case. I'm not sure ACB or Gorsuch like him as much as people think. The elections are run by the states. Unless a super close Florida Bush/Gore situation happens I doubt it will even reach the SC.
The elections are run by the states.
Nevada, North Carolina, and Georgia all have Republican governors.
NC governor is a Democrat (and was on Harris's short list for VP)
While the legislature is Republican run our AG & Secretary of State are both Democrats and it will be quite difficult for Republicans to gum up the election I'm sure they will try though
That's what they tell us anyway. What actually breeds innovation is giving people the opportunity to explore their own talents and pursue their interests from a place of stability. Things that interfere with that include tying healthcare to employment, allowing receiving healthcare to bury someone in debt, tying public education to local income levels, allowing pursuing higher education to bury someone in debt, inadequate public mental health services, allowing the minimum income for a full time employee to be below the amount required to meet basic needs for the average family, allowing work time for a full time employee to exceed a reasonable limit that would allow the employee to spend time with children, take care of their own health, and pursue hobbies and other interests.
That's what they tell us anyway. What actually breeds innovation is giving people the opportunity to explore their own talents and pursue their interests from a place of stability. Things that interfere with that include tying healthcare to employment, allowing receiving healthcare to bury someone in debt, tying public education to local income levels, allowing pursuing higher education to bury someone in debt, inadequate public mental health services, allowing the minimum income for a full time employee to be below the amount required to meet basic needs for the average family, allowing work time for a full time employee to exceed a reasonable limit that would allow the employee to spend time with children, take care of their own health, and pursue hobbies and other interests.
If that was the case then there would be European companies who innovate. I can think of very few in comparison to American companies, especially in tech and medicine. (BioNTech and Spotify come to mind, struggling to think of others)
Otherwise, what you've listed as things that interfere with innovation, I see more as evidence of things like modern indentured servitude and income driven inequality. All of those things are huge problems for our society and many of those things are lesser problems in a lot of European countries, but the rich people are still innovating here regardless.
Price controls could lead to shortages, which is reportedly common in Communist countries—which I'll concede to Trump;
however, Trump is hardly better with his flogging crap, the encouragement of stupidity, the anti-science, and the tariffs—why do Trump supporters—presumably a vast majority being consumers—support tariffs, quotas, and seem indifferent to IP ("intellectual property") trolls and their lobbies? Why do they oppose abortion (and perhaps contraceptives) when fewer children means less need to purchase stuff?
Perhaps price controls for basics are needed, but this is not the ideal; and if you support price controls because you favour socialism, then again, Trump is kinda right here.
note: if I was American, I would not vote for Trump or pretty well any Republican.
Price controls could lead to shortages
Nope. That's just the line the profiteers feed the most gullible of their victims so they'll defend their corrupt practices.
which is reportedly common in Communist countries
You know what's also common in nominally communist countries?
Government corruption, wealth and power being concentrated in the hands of a few privileged people, and that privileged class tricking their victims into being their advocates.
Exactly like capitalism in general, and especially US capitalism.
which I'll concede to Trump
Well that's just stupid and unnecessary. It's not like he has a point or anything. he's just throwing buzzwords at the board and seeing if any sticks
why do Trump supporters—presumably a vast majority being consumers—support tariffs, quotas, and seem indifferent to IP ("intellectual property") trolls and their lobbies? Why do they oppose abortion (and perhaps contraceptives) when fewer children means less need to purchase stuff?
For the same reason that you think price controls lead to shortages and that any country calling itself communist is an accurate representative of what communism is: lots of internalized propaganda.
Disclaimer that shouldn't be necessary: I'm not a communist or in favor of communism. It's far too authoritarian, inflexible, and unprepared for when the real world doesn't correspond with theory.
Perhaps price controls for basics are needed
No "perhaps" about it. The profiteers have demonstrated that they will always raise prices when not forced not to, far beyond their customers' ability to survive in the long run. It's long past time to make social murder illegal.
but this is not the ideal
No, the ideal is that all companies are worker owned co-ops so that the socially good and the fiscally good are inseparable so that there's no systemic incentive to profiteering.
We're not getting there within any of our lifetimes, if ever, though, so let's focus on what is already possible and necessary: price controls.
if you support price controls because you favour socialism
Nah, I support price controls because they're necessary to reduce a pandemic of standardized plundering of the poor. Call it socialism or don't, just get that boot off my neck.
then again, Trump is kinda right here.
Nope. Not even kinda. He doesn't know what communism is any more than he knows what asylum is, how to prevent forest fires, or how to deal with hurricanes.
The man is a colossal idiot who happens to be tragically effective at self-promoting. He's also a fascist and the poster boy for malignant narcissism.
You do not, under any circumstances ever, have to concede ANYTHING to him as, even on the incredibly rare occasion that he's right about literally anything, he got there by accident.
The problem is that it's anti free market.
You can make regulation for standards of quality and transparency, and regulation against unfair business practices and monopolies.
These things stimulate fair competition, and help consumers make good choices. Which generally result in fair value for consumers.
But you can't dictate prices, it never works and it has been tried many times in many countries, and every time the result is shortage of the price regulated items.
If the price is set so low there are no profits, the goods simply disappear from the market. Nobody wants to work for free.
If the price is set high enough for companies to still profit, it has little or no effect in a competitive market anyway, and is unnecessary.
It might even keep prices higher, because the industry sees it as a floor they don't need to go under, and it works like a cartel price setting.
We don't have a true free market anyhow. Corn subsidies (among other policies) anyone?
A market can never be truly free, it needs to be regulated to work. Sometimes subsidies are needed to prevent possible shortages from year to year.
Subsidies are not to promote a free market, but to secure production.
Subsidies are not to promote a free market, but to secure production.
And price controls are not to promote a free market but to reign in corporate greed. I could absolutely not spare a moment of concern for whether they are "anti free market."
They have plenty of margin to work with, and the gig has been up about their "supply chain costs" excuse they started pulling during the pandemic for quite some time now.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan is pushing for an inquiry into the ongoing surge in grocery prices that started during the Covid-19 pandemic and that remains a hot topic in this year’s presidential election.
On Thursday, during a virtual public meeting hosted by the FTC and the Department of Justice, Khan said the probe would “shed light” on why prices and profits at grocery chains “remain so high even as costs appear to have come down.”
“We want to make sure that major businesses are not exploiting their power to inflate prices for American families at the grocery store,” she said.
Puh. They absolutely ARE and HAVE BEEN exploiting their power to inflate prices.
Between grocery prices, fast food shenanigans, and shrinkflation, anyone with little enough disposable income to be at all conscious of prices has known for a long while that these companies have picked the pandemic as their excuse to pull in as much money hand over fist as they possibly can, all while fighting tooth and nail against wage increases to even approach the overall rate of inflation across the same period of time.
From the first link in that para:
TheStreet reported that Medium French Fries went from $1.79 in 2019 to $4.19 in 2024, a 134.1 percent increase. A McChicken went from $1.29 to $3.89, a 201.6 percent hike.
The price of the beloved Big Mac increased 87.7 percent, from $3.99 to $7.49. An order of 10 McNuggets rose by 68.8 percent, from $4.49 to $7.58. Of the five popular products examined, cheeseburgers saw the largest price increase—going from $1 to $3.15, a 215 percent spike.
These increases exceed the general average for inflation calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows that prices went up by about 21.5 percent between the end of 2019 and March 2024.
From the second link in that para:
Few details were released about the change, but Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said the new menus will let the fast food chain test “more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and day-part offerings along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling.”
“We expect our digital menu boards will drive immediate benefits to order accuracy, improve crew experience and sales growth from upselling and consistent merchandising execution,” Tanner said on the call.
Surge pricing could be a “turning point” in the industry, according to Jonathan Maze, editor-in-chief of trade publication Restaurant Business. “If Wendy’s idea works, it could get others to do something similar, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see another chain or two test the idea themselves, given what Wendy’s is doing.”
Fuck you Wendy's. You've been a favorite since I was 12, and I tried to ignore your decreasing quality in recent years. You are dead to me now. (Yes, I know they rolled the idea back after they heard what the announcement did to the pitchfork futures market.)
From the third link in that para:
Frito-Lay shrank bags of some of its Dorito's from 9.75 ounces to 9.25 ounces. Bags in both of these sizes, as well as some 9.5-ounce bags, are currently for sale at Target for the same price. "We took just a little bit out of the bag so we can give you the same price and you can keep enjoying your chips," a Frito-Lay spokesperson told Quartz.
Fuck you Frito-Lay, what kind of Orwellian doublethink is this?
Anti-Free market indeed. Free market in this country no longer means anything other than unrestrained corporate greed.
I think there is a difference between price-fixing and putting a stop to price-gouging.
Oh come on. The rhetoric is insane . I live in Florida and price gouging during a hurricane or other emergency is absolutely illegal here, there's a hotline to call if you see it. There is a difference between raising prices because your costs have gone up, and price gouging. If the invisible hand of the market isn't working (big surprise, ha) that's what laws are for.
You all heard it hear first, he wants to be the bread man for the Florida region.
These prices went up under Biden, and Kommunist Camala wants to lower them!
-him, probably
Isn't he the same guy who's been promising to cut energy costs "in half or less than half," eh?
All this looks like a conflict on a stereotypical Middle-Eastern market.
Two sides with the emotion of "munnat" in long words and exaggerated comparisons talking stuff about each other that doesn't make sense, but nobody remembers it should even make sense.
Republicans do more of that, but funny for both.
Yes, but specific emotions and vibes that work or are used today are strange.
Politicians used to imitate that proverbial craftsman that is starving first half of the day, or that proverbial worker class man with one pair of jeans with holes in them and dust grown into his skin, or that proverbial farmer that looks 40 in his 20, but all these somehow gotten to the top to be politicians, or at least a gentleman with good intentions.
While now they play what I described.
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Ride is late, had time to watch the video. Salient points. https://youtu.be/iWf7PPhGGCM
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Wait... wasn't he just giving a "press conference" about how grocery prices have gone up? If not price controls, what will hinder price gouging?
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