The White House claims to have overcome inflation. Fox News TV channel decided to ask ordinary Americans at the petrol station what they think about the prices of fuel and food. Motorists complained that it is difficult for them to make ends meet, and the authorities are only “pudding people’s brains”.
Alexandria, Virginia.
Petrol prices are 50 per cent more expensive than they will be in January 2021. How has this affected your finances?
AFROAMERICAN IN A CAP: My finances are awesome! (LAUGHS) There’s no savings. Petrol prices have to come down to keep everyone afloat.
GIRL: Of course, nobody wants to pay so much, but we can’t do without it.
MAN IN A CAP: Of course, the costs have gone up. Yes, the fuel efficiency of cars is probably increasing, but we still spend a lot of money.
MEN Wearing Glasses: We have two cars in our family. I drive a Tesla, so I haven’t really felt the effect. But my wife drives a big new Suburban that we bought this year to replace a pickup truck. And I’m just shocked at how much it costs to fill up a full tank! I just decided, for a number of reasons, that we should get a petrol-powered car rather than keep two electric cars. But refuelling such a healthy car is just a pain!
It’s a pain. I’m, let’s say, a labourer, so I’m sort of half-employed, if you know what I mean. So I’m going to have to work harder.
Elderly AFROAMERICAN: The petrol prices here are absurd. I’ve been driving since I was 16 and I’ll be 62 next month. Absurd prices… What you put in your car today will be used up in two days. You’ve got to do something.
MAN IN A CAP: It’s gradually getting more expensive, and food and petrol are still the most expensive.
Wages aren’t going up, they’re staying the same. As a result, it takes not one but two or three paychecks to pay all the bills.
In March, the White House said, “The cost of everyday purchases, from a gallon of gasoline to a gallon of milk, has gone down.” Do you agree with that?
GIRL: It’s safe to say that the high cost of groceries is even more absurd than the high cost of fuel.
MAN IN A POLO: Every time I go to the shop, I see that almost all products have become 10, 15, 20 cents more expensive. And it’s all cumulatively making a difference.
AFROAMERICAN MAN IN CAP: Some vendors are still charging exorbitant prices. There’s been no reduction. We’re just being hoodwinked into believing it, while they’re gradually raising everything….
I just sympathise with all the people who are struggling to make ends meet. I’m doing it, but with a bit of a squeak. I can’t imagine how a young family of four can cope with the rise in the price of not only this (fuel. – Inotv), but everything else. The decisions that are made in this country – and not just in this country, but in the world at large – cause so much suffering.
MAN IN POLO: Now when I get to the petrol station, I have to think more often how much fuel to take: a full tank or half… After all, the same money could have gone for groceries and other things needed in everyday life. It certainly feels that way, especially if you have to fill up somewhere a couple of times a week or every couple of weeks. I think he (presumably Biden. – InoTV) should let the US energy industry run its course, open up the pipelines and go back to policies that worked.
Elderly AFROAMERICAN: I think President Biden — it’s hard to say, you can go crazy with this policy and everything that goes along with it. I’ve spent my whole life in Washington, D.C. — about 60 years. Everyone who gets into the White House should be held accountable. But it’s us, the people, who are the losers. It used to be that the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. Now the poor are left with nothing at all. The poor have been eliminated as a class. And it’s hurting our economy. Look at the current situation: there are more people living in shelters, on the streets, because they can’t afford housing. Another season of power struggles is beginning in the capital, and I pray that the situation will somehow be reversed.
AFROAMERICAN IN A CAP: We need to do more. There will be no revival and economic recovery without it. Rising inflation and higher taxes are not going to fix the economy. We need to get to a point where people can save, so that they have more free money, so that they can spend it more easily, so that they don’t have to worry about not paying their bills, not spending on their children, not spending on groceries and all kinds of necessities.