Consumer prices rose 8.5 percent in data released Tuesday, marking the highest spike the United States has seen since 1981.

It’s horrifying, if not overly surprising, that it was also revealed that energy prices are up 32 percent for the last 12 months. Food prices continue to balloon as well.

Some lowlights:

The cost of shelter also is up 5 percent from twelve months ago, which is the quickest clip in over 30 years.

Yes, Americans are rapidly getting poorer, especially poorer Americans. And it’s becoming clear that the unrest is palpable for Democrat politicians. After all, Biden did suggest last December that inflation was nearing its peak. Instead, it seems like there is little sign of abatement coming.

“The Federal Reserve and the Administration failed to act fast enough, and today’s data is a snapshot in time of the consequences being felt across the country,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stated in a press release today.

Perhaps Manchin is correct that the Fed didn’t do all it could to get ahead of the oncoming crisis, but our view is that Joe Biden didn’t merely fail to slow inflation, he knowingly accelerated it. By pumping trillions of dollars into our economy and stifling our energy sector, inflation got worse specifically because of his decisions. Not to mention, he still has no apparent plan to address supply chain issues that are affecting Americans and our consumer markets every day. The latest examples of this are bare shelves in the baby formula aisle of your local grocery store and rationing coming to your pharmacy.

In an effort to do something about gas prices, President Big Joey announced today that he will waive the ban on the sale of higher-ethanol gasoline blends that typically goes into effect during the summer months. In other words, this will have no immediate impact on the current pain at the pump.