Do You Think Price Gouging is Real? No. But Neither Do Democrats, Really

It has been one of the key issues touted by the Kamala Harris campaign that she wants to propose a ban on price gouging, especially when it comes to food prices, laying down the claim that grocers have been taking advantage of customers by keeping prices artificially high.

There are two issues here with this. For one, price gouging is not happening and is not the cause of higher grocery bills. For two, it's a theory that, whether true or not, resonates with a good number of people. Especially Democrat voters who tend to view big business as greedy and corrupt.

What it should tell voters is that the administration Harris is a part of does not want to accept blame for inflation, which their policies are clearly responsible for, and thus, without acknowledging the real problem, going forward they cannot adequately address fixing the problem.

Granted, it may not matter. Inflation is coming down. The whole thing, in the end, may simply be no more than a moot point and a campaign talking point.

But the reality is that even most Democrats either don't think the claim is true or have no confidence that even if an attempt was made to institute a ban that it would ever get anywhere in Congress. It is doubtful that even Harris is all that serious about the claim.

She has to know it's not true.

The one thing that remains to be true, and is a key consideration here, about the grocery industry, and this has not changed at all since inflation began to rear its ugly head, is that grocers run on razor-thin margins of anywhere between 1%-3%. If price gouging were happening, those margins would be higher than normal. But they're not.

The bottom line is that prices have gone up because the cost of bringing them to market has gone up. From raw materials to the cost of manufacturing and higher labor costs, to higher transport costs—that's what behind the higher prices.

First of all, in order to make a ban on gouging even worth doing is you have to prove it is occurring. Once you scour a balance sheet it will be clear it isn't happening, and again, the whole idea becomes moot.

You can't impose a ban on something that doesn't exist, and therefore, even if a ban was in place, it would do nothing to lower prices.

And where are these record profits? Maybe grocer's bottom lines have been boosted a bit. But in lock step with inflation? Not hardly. According to the USDA, food prices between 2019-2023 have risen by 25%, yet at the same time grocer's profits have only risen by 6%. That's hardly a rout against the consumer.

What is the whole idea, really? It is a deflection. Harris knows inflation has angered voters across all aisles, and she doesn't want the blame for it. If she can convince voters it's the evil, nasty corporations causing the problem she can maybe get a pass on the whole thing.

Ultimately, not only is the idea dead on arrival, but any plans also to make a ban possible are as well. It's a lie. It's smoke and mirrors. It's a passing of the buck. She knows it, and so do the Democrats as a whole. 

Passing a price gouging ban stands no chance of ever seeing the light of day.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page to keep up with the latest writings wherever I may write them.

© 2024 Jim Bauer

Do You Want to Make Money Talking About Nothing?

Back in the day the Internet used to be quite ubiquitous with opportunities to "write" things and get paid. I put the word, "write," in quotations because it's not writing like writing poetry, short stories, or even articles or blogs.

It's social media kind of writing. Similar to what one might do when they post something on X or Facebook. The difference between those sites and the other ones was that you got paid for it.

But the premise was the same. You could talk about your day, an experience you had, share what you had for dinner or pretty much anything you wanted to talk about. And like I said, sites like this were ubiquitous. 

Sites like Bubblews, DailyTwoCents, PersonaPaper, Niume, and even a site like WebAnswers, which was a question-and-answer site, were quite popular, and people did actually make a decent amount of money doing it even if it was not life changing money, nor enough to replace a regular income.

Oh, but it got close. 

Bubblews, for example, allowed people to make sometimes a hundred dollars or more a month, and the same could be true of WebAnswers which was tied directly to Google AdSense and generated a lot of cash for users.

If you were on multiple sites combined, as I was, income could be really good. Close to $1,000 a month, and I am not joking about this.

On top of that, if you could actually write, there were other places like HubPages that were open to writers, and some of the top writers in a place like that could actually make an income akin to a job. Or pretty darn close to it.

But of course, this was back in the day and all of the sites I mentioned, with the exception of HubPages, no longer exists. Part of the issue was always the pay structures. The site owners essentially paid too much, and I think the idea was that eventually one of these sites would be able to go public, find new sources of income, and be able to become platforms open to the public that could offer alternative sustainable incomes for people.

The idea is mostly dead, unfortunately, save for one site that I am aware of that remains. That would be myLot.

Surprisingly, it's become a rather small community despite having been around for nearly 20 years. But it still pays, although it's a tiny amount. Payouts occur each month so long as a member has earned at least $5, and on average, depending on user activity, people generally earn between 10 cents and 25 cents a day.

So, it's hardly a job. But it is a fun place that is fun to write about anything, and have interactions with different viewpoints and cultures from around the world.

Call it an electronic pen pal site if you will. 

Each post is called a discussion, and what they are essentially, are conversations among "friends." And it does happen to be a very tightknit community. People really get to know each other.

If you are looking for a place to share your thoughts and ideas and life with others and get paid for it, myLot might be just the place to give a try. Whether it sticks around for a long time to come is up in the air. But considering it has survived longer than any other of the sites like it says something about its successful model to at least keep the doors open as long as it has.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page to keep up with the latest writings wherever I may write them. Want to check out myLot? You can visit their site by clicking here.

© 2024 Jim Bauer

Could RFKJr. Help Donald Trump?

The short answer is yes. He can. The thing is that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s campaign has started suggesting that he may drop out of the presidential race and endorse Trump. Granted, that's quite a bit up in the air as we speak.

But it would also make sense, if you think about it, if he actually did that, and Donald Trump has already publicly said he would strongly consider RFKJr. for a cabinet position. That would be quite a bit more likely if RFKJr. actually did decide to go to Trump's side.

We already know that Kennedy has been very much opposed to the policies and direction of the Biden administration. It's part of the reason he ran in the first place. And he's no fan of Kamala Harris, either. And he has also said that if he does decide to drop out, he has no plans to endorse Harris.

So, what else is left to do? If he believes Biden was wrong for America and that Harris is no better, what's the other option but to endorse Trump?

One thing Kennedy was able to accomplish was to be a more serious alternative candidate in the race. Perhaps he does not have as much pull as, say, Ross Perot did in 1992—remember, he actually made the debate stage between Bush and Clinton—but believing that Kennedy could get as much as 5% of the vote if he stayed in the race is not far removed from possibility.

Perot won roughly 18% of the popular vote, although he won no electoral college votes.

If what we are talking about here truly is a neck-to-neck race between Trump and Harris, if RFKJr. does step aside and endorse Trump, while certainly not all of Kennedy's supporters would rush to Trump, his strongest supporters likely would. And he has many.

It would be enough to greatly turn the tables against Harris who he helps if he stays in.

The bottom line is that it is definitely too early to call anything. But it certainly adds yet another element to the entire race that makes it rather more interesting, in what has already been a very interesting election.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page to keep up with the latest writings wherever I may write them. Also, be sure to check out my main Springboard blog.

© 2024 Jim Bauer