Yahoo Finance Why the White House cares what you paid for Super Bowl snacks
Inflation at the supermarket is growing as a political issue, with Democrats and Republicans offering polar opposite reactions.
One thing that is certain ahead of another closely watched inflation reading Tuesday is that political actors will gravitate to any changes in food prices.
The focus on the grocery store has been especially keen from the White House, with President Joe Biden and his aides discussing everything from the price of chicken wings to the size of a bag of chips in recent days.
Biden marked Super Bowl Sunday not by engaging in the traditional wide-ranging interview but instead by releasing a video focused on food prices as he pilloried companies for the well-established trend of sneakily offering smaller items for the same price.
"I’ve had enough of what they call shrinkflation," Biden said in the video as he sat next to a table of snacks from chips to ice cream. "I’m calling on companies to put a stop to this."
And the keen Democratic focus on the issue is matched by Republicans. The GOP has been focused for months on making the case that food prices show how Biden’s economic policies are failing. It was almost exactly one year ago when that a monthly inflation report led to a flurry of Republican statements focused on egg prices.
A recent Yahoo Finance-Ipsos poll showed just how politically resonant the issue is, with food costs being Americans’ biggest concern by far and pessimism weighing directly on President Biden.
The Democratic case: It’s corporate America's fault
The case from Biden and his allies is that companies are to blame here.
During a recent campaign swing, Biden attacked companies for a range of practices, from shrinkflation to price-gouging to what he termed "greedflation."
"We’re tired of being played for suckers," he told an audience in South Carolina.
But it’s a nuanced argument as the president and his fellow Democrats are also taking any opportunity to tout sections of the supermarket where prices have indeed fallen over the last year — such as eggs, milk, and meat.
"So many other essential items have come down," Biden also told the audience on Jan. 27.
It’s a two-sided argument that was echoed in a new report from Bharat Ramamurti, a top Biden economic aide until 2023, co-authored with Elizabeth Pancotti and Clara Wilson.
That look at "What’s Driving the Rise in Grocery Prices" said factors from corporate profiteering to supply chain shocks to climate change all play a role at supermarket checkout lines.
But the report also pointed out how eggs and lettuce have seen recent price declines.
In all, the report pushes for more policy actions from the White House in the election year ahead, with ideas ranging from from additional antitrust actions against sectors like meat-packers to increased food stamps for the lower-income Americans who are disproportionately hit.
The Republican case: It's Biden
The Republican case, by contrast, is simpler. Republicans are poised to hammer Biden over the lasting effects of inflation, especially food prices, from now until Election Day.
"What do you say to the American people that are unhappy with paying more for the basics of life?" asked Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during a hearing last week.
"This man is destroying our country," former President Trump added at a rally over the weekend in South Carolina in a common refrain from Biden's likely opponent this fall.
Trump’s economic points were overshadowed by other remarks at that rally. He said he would encourage Russia to attack NATO members who are behind on their payments and mocked the husband of rival Nikki Haley, who is deployed overseas.
Across the party, the GOP message on food prices has been more consistent; Republicans pounded Democrats on egg prices throughout 2023 as those prices rose.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, but eggs are so expensive, they're romantic now too," wrote the House’s third-ranking Republican, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), almost exactly one year ago today.
He was responding — just like this week — to an inflation report released the same week as Valentine's Day.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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