November is almost here and with it comes the start of the holiday season. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it and it will once again be time to shop for our favorite holiday foods and gifts for our loved ones. This year, it is especially important to get a jump on your shopping as inflation and the supply chain crisis currently taking place in our country is putting American families in a precarious position.

This country has been experiencing record inflation levels for months now, unfortunately. The prices of household items here in Missouri and across the country continue to rise -- everything from a gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, children’s shoes, and electricity. Gas prices have far-surpassed pre-pandemic levels, rising roughly 50% this year. You name it, the price has gone up. We’re experiencing the worst inflation levels in a decade, and the solution coming out of the White House is to spend more money and further devalue the dollars in your pocket.   

One of the many problems associated with the current economic situation is the global supply chain crisis that the administration has failed to adequately address. As I write this, there is an estimated $24 billion in goods floating off the shore of California. President Biden’s numerous incentives for people not to work and his consistent appeasement of union bosses -- who treat workers as pawns instead of providers for their families -- has made it nearly impossible for goods to be unloaded and delivered across the country. Shelves are empty and consumers have no idea when they will get the goods they purchased months ago.

You know things have really gotten bad when the media can no longer paint a rosy picture for the President. Recently, the far-Left MSNBC reported that Thanksgiving 2021 "is shaping up to be the most expensive meal in the history of the holiday." The liberal New York Times stated this week that Americans should “brace for more price increases” in their piece entitled “This year’s Thanksgiving Feast Will Wallop the Wallet,” where they detail how nearly every item on the Thanksgiving table will cost more this year.

After months of denial, the Administration and economic officials are starting to acknowledge what has been painfully clear to the rest of us. This week, the Secretary of the Treasury said that she expects inflation to linger, then ease sometime next year. On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund managing director said she expected inflation to continue until the middle of next year, and maybe until the end of 2022. I don’t have to tell you that American families who are trying to make ends meet can’t wait that long. Especially with the holidays right around the corner.

Last week, several of my Republican colleagues and I sent a letter to President Biden regarding the supply chain crisis. In it we implored the President to stop the out-of-control spending and policy ideas that may appease a radical base of voters, but do absolutely nothing for American families. Instead of creating a new 300,000-person Civilian Climate Corps, we must focus our efforts on the roads, bridges and waterways that get American products to market. Instead of hoping that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will lower gas prices out of the goodness of their hearts, America should harness our own energy resources and dictate prices ourselves. That is the infrastructure we depend on every day and where thousands of Missourians I’ve talked to expect their tax dollars to go. There is a bipartisan path to addressing our problems, but it will require common sense to prevail.  

On a lighter note, this Sunday is Halloween. Jackie and I love seeing our grandchildren and kids in town in their costumes running from house to house in pursuit of the next treat. We hope your family stays safe, your kids have a little more candy than they should, and you have a very Happy Halloween.