Cereal, Dollar Store Prices up as Biden Plays Whack-a-Mole With Inflation
President Joe Biden continues to make efforts to combat rising inflation and supply chain issues as the holiday season inches closer.
As the pandemic continues to affect the global supply chain, many products and services continue to increase what they charge in order to stay competitive. This includes the price of many foods, dry goods, and other staples.
General Mills announced that it will begin to raise prices in January across many of its breakfast-related brands. This includes numerous breakfast cereals, as well as yogurt and dry pasta.
Dollar Store, one of the United States' largest bargain chains, also announced that it is raising its baseline price from one dollar to $1.25 for items across its stores. The CEO of the company stated that the issues with the supply chain were the largest factor in this decision.
Economic inflation seems to have become a major issue for the public, and GOP leaders continue to press Biden on the issue. An October Gallup poll found that 24 percent of Americans felt the economy was the most pressing problem facing the country.
Despite the inflation bug continuing to hit the U.S., Biden has begun working with a variety of retailers to try and help them ramp up production for the busiest season of the year.
The head of Walmart, America's largest retailer, commended the Biden administration's efforts to assist stores across the country, including round-the-clock port operations and increasing trucking routes.
"The combination of private enterprise and government working together has been really successful," said Walmart CEO Doug McMillion in an interview on MSNBC. "We've had a lot of participation, been able to participate in solving some of these congestion issues, so I would like to give the administration credit for helping do things like get the ports open 24 hours a day, to open up some of the trucking lines ... and then all the way through the supply chain, there's been a lot of innovation."
Beyond inflation in supermarket aisles, one of the biggest issues among the public continues to be the rising price of gas. As a global supply-and-demand issue, experts have often stated that the U.S. president actually has very little to do with the price at the pump.
Despite this, Biden announced actions Tuesday to try and make gas prices more affordable nationwide. This involves the rare step of releasing 50 million oil barrels from the U.S. reserve in order to drive down prices.
"Today I'm announcing that the largest-ever release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve as we recover from this pandemic," Biden said during a speech on the issue, adding that a number of other allied nations had agreed to do the same.
"Our combined actions will not solve the problem of high gas prices overnight, but it will make a difference," Biden continued. "It will take time, but before long you should see the price of gas drop where you fill up your tank."
While the Biden administration continues to make efforts towards ending the supply chain crisis, inflation still remains at its highest in decades. This is something that has reportedly caused concern among politicians in Washington, D.C.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of the key votes in getting the president's Build Back Better legislation passed in the Senate, specifically mentioned dollar store prices as one of the issues that he has with the bill.
"We have to take all this into consideration. We have a lot of good things we can do," Manchin previously told reporters while remarking on dollar stores. Getting Manchin to flip to a 'yes' vote could end up being the difference between the measure passing in his chamber.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment.
