Thanksgiving dinner will cost less than it did last year, but it will still be harder on your wallet than before President Joe Biden took office.
Per the Farm Bureau’s annual analysis of Thanksgiving dinner staple costs, the price reduction of nearly five percent from last year is “moderate” and not near enough to undo the “dramatic increase” that occurred two years ago.
A Thanksgiving meal still costs 20 percent more than it did in 2019: about $58 for a feast for 10 this year. Last year, the same meal size cost about $61, and in 2022, it cost about $64.
This annual Thanksgiving dinner survey relies on shoppers across 50 states and Puerto Rico to survey their local grocery store’s prices for classic feast items: turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, peas, cranberries, celery, carrots, pumpkin pie ingredients, whipping cream, and milk.
The “moderate” price reduction only occurred with some of these classic holiday foods — others rose in price. Costs were lower for turkey, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots and celery, pumpkin pie mix, pie crusts, and milk, but costs were higher for dinner rolls, cranberries, whipping cream, and stuffing.
The reason for prices of certain items going up while others have gone down has to do with the type of item. Increases occurred mainly in processed products due to nonfood inflation and labor shortages driving up costs for partners across the food supply chain. An exception occurred for fresh cranberries, but the 12 percent price increase is considered a stabilization of pricing after an 18 percent decline from 2022 to 2023. The Farm Bureau noted that, even with the price increase and adjusting for inflation, fresh cranberries have their lowest cost since 1987.
The average costs are as follows: $25.67 for a 16-pound turkey, $2.35 for 12 ounces of fresh cranberries, $2.93 for three pounds of sweet potatoes, 84 cents for half-pound of carrots and celery, $1.73 for 16 ounces of green peas, $3.40 for two nine-inch pie shells, $4.08 for 14 ounces of cube stuffing, $4.16 for one pack of dinner rolls, $4.15 for 30 ounces of pumpkin pie mix, $3.21 for one gallon of whole milk, and $1.81 for one-half pint of whipping cream.
The Farm Bureau also reported significant cost disparities based on region. Those in the Western states face at least 14 percent higher costs for a Thanksgiving dinner for 10, or $67. Comparatively, those in the Southern states have the lowest cost: $56 for a party of 10. The Northeastern states will have an average cost of $57, and the Midwestern states will have an average cost of nearly $59.
Those price disparities grow much more when adding less-traditional Thanksgiving favorites: ham, Russet potatoes, and green beans. Southerners, Northeasterners, and Midwesterners would only pay anywhere from $81 to $83 to add those favorites to their dinners. However, Westerners would have to pay over $93 for the same spread.
Farmers take the biggest brunt of inflation, experiencing lower and more volatile prices. The USDA projects that national net farm income will fall by $6.5 billion this year.
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The massive microchip manufacturing firm, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), finds itself facing a class-action lawsuit brought by over a dozen of its current and former employees. TSMC was brought into Arizona through the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act.
The charge presented is a potentially devastating one: that TSMC is engaging in “anti-American” hiring and workplace bias and is discriminating against American workers while favoring Taiwanese nationals imported on work visas. For a firm that is now deeply tied to the political fortunes of the outgoing Democratic administration, and the now-minority party in Congress, the allegations are stunning.
The lawsuit makes the claim that TSMC employs over 2,668 workers in its North American operations and that the vast majority of them are Asian, stating, “This grossly disproportionate workforce is the result of TSMC’s intentional pattern and practice of employment discrimination against individuals who are not Asian and not Taiwanese citizens, including discrimination in hiring, staffing, and termination decisions.”
NOW in Arizona: @POTUS said he "owes an awful lot" to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company because founder Morris Chang's wife, Sophie, worked Biden's first Senate campaign. Perhaps that's why Biden told @pdoocy today that the border isn't important. Scratching backs! pic.twitter.com/wFFYncZIMV
In the text of the suit, attorneys representing the workers note, “TSMC’s bias in favor of Asians and Taiwanese citizens was even apparent when it was hiring construction workers to build its first Arizona fab (via TSMC affiliates United Integrated Services (UIS) and Marketech International Corp.). TSMC chairman Mark Liu complained of “an insufficient amount of skilled workers” to build the facility and planned to fly workers in from Taiwan. TSMC agreed to focus on local hiring for those positions only after massive and public outcry from Arizona labor unions.”
The incident referenced was covered by AZ Free News in July 2023 when Liu made the complaint coinciding with President Joe Biden’s first visit to Arizona to tour the facility. Biden told reporters at the time that he “owes an awful lot” to TSMC with Corrinne Murdock observing that founder Morris Chang’s wife worked on his first Senate campaign.
NOW in Arizona: @POTUS said he "owes an awful lot" to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company because founder Morris Chang's wife, Sophie, worked Biden's first Senate campaign. Perhaps that's why Biden told @pdoocy today that the border isn't important. Scratching backs! pic.twitter.com/wFFYncZIMV
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego also reportedly holds ties to TSMC with a former senior policy advisor and campaign donor, Laura Franco French, serving as TSMC’s director of state government relation. French took the role directly following her tenure with Gallego’s office.
At the time, Liu told reporters, “We are encountering certain challenges, as there is an insufficient amount of skilled workers with the specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility.”
“While we are working to improve the situation, including sending experienced technicians from Taiwan to train the local skilled workers for a short period of time, we expect the production schedule of N4 process technology to be pushed out to 2025.”
The suit notes that TSMC applied for and received a $6.6 billion grant from the Federal Government via the CHIPS Act predicated on a diverse hiring policy and claims the firm “willfully disregarded diversity commitments TSMC made in the CHIPS Act,” adding that approximately half of TSMC’s Arizona work force of 2,200 people are Taiwan nationals on work visas.
Daniel Kotchen, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, told AZFamily, “If you are receiving federal funding to create jobs in the U.S., it is your responsibility to live up to the rules and laws under the U.S.”
Deborah Howington, a current talent acquisition executive at TSMC, was the first plaintiff claimed to have witnessed the culture of illegal, discriminatory practices that favored Taiwanese candidates and employees first-hand. As reported by Forbes, Howington alleges in the suit that TSMC specifically sought candidates from Taiwan for jobs in the U.S. and confidentially employed an “Asian headhunter,” to attract these recruits.
A company spokesperson responding to questions on the lawsuit told Forbes, “TSMC believes strongly in the value of a diverse workforce and we hire and promote without regard to gender, religion, race, nationality, or political affiliation because we respect differences, and believe that equal employment opportunities strengthen our competitiveness.”
The City of Glendale’s Proposition 499, the “Hotel and Event Center Minimum Wage and Wage Protection Act,” was soundly defeated on Election Day. The defeat was a rebuke to Worker Power, a California special interest group seeking “economic justice and the preservation of democracy.” Prop 499 was met with staunch opposition in Glendale from the coalition “Save Glendale Jobs,” funded by hospitality industry leaders and supported by three Glendale Councilmembers Lauren Tolmachoff, Joyce Clark, and Vice Mayor Ian Hugh.
The ballot measure would have mandated “hotel and event center workers receive a $20.00 per hour minimum wage (increases annually), service charge payments and premium pay to be enforced by a newly created city department of labor responsible for investigating employer violations involving payment of wages, reporting, recordkeeping, and overtime requirements.”
Hotel developer Chris DeRose, president of CivicGroup LLC, a firm seeking to bring a LivSmart by Hilton Hotel to downtown Glendale, was joined on a conference call prior to the vote by Clark, Hughe, Tolmachoff and Councilmember-elect Dianna Guzman. DeRose explained the serious problems that the proposition would cause for the burgeoning West Valley City, deep in an extended project of downtown revitalization as well as business owners.
“We’re in the process of taking that out to capital. Then we get a proposition that gets ballot access that threatens to upend all of our economic modeling and throw uncertainty into the whole project,” DeRose explained.
“Unfortunately, that’s frozen us in our tracks because whether you’re talking to a bank or you’re talking to investors, they want to know, ‘Hey, what’s the labor cost here?’ For a hotel, your number 1 expense, especially in a limited-service model where you don’t have F&B, it’s salary for staff. And so, this proposition has created uncertainty, and we’re not able to answer those very basic questions right now. And as a result, we’re not able to move the project forward.”
He added that the proposition appeared to be a “Trojan horse.”
“What’s really unusual about this, it’s a minimum wage that’s really – it’s a proposition that is disguised as a minimum wage. The minimum wage part is the Trojan horse.”
“The problem is that there’s actually a cap on productivity and that is unprecedented. I don’t know of another jurisdiction in America where you have a cap on productivity and in this case it’s 3,500 square feet, which is about 10 hotel rooms.”
Councilmember Clark noted the serious impact the proposal could have had on Glendale’s competitiveness in attracting businesses saying, “I think it’s important to note that Glendale will be the only city in the state to mandate $20 an hour. And overtime, it’s more than that. It’s $40 an hour, which people are not paying attention to. It puts Glendale at a competitive disadvantage with every city in the state and the Common Sense Institute says that it may cost Glendale anywhere from a million dollars on up annually just to regulate this and in lost revenue from other projects that may have considered locating in Glendale.”
Councilmember Tolmachoff expressed concerns about navigating the regulatory mandate the city would be required to assume saying, “To put the city in a position to be a regulatory authority and to have to intervene and interact between a civil disagreement between an employee and an employer is absolutely no place for a city to be.”
Save Glendale Jobs Chair Kim Grace Sabow said in a statement after the proposition’s defeat:
“I extend my sincere appreciation to Glendale voters, who chose to preserve and protect the jobs our industry creates. I want to thank the many supporters of our effort, without whom this result would not have been possible, including key business leaders, elected officials, and law enforcement. I also want to thank our dedicated campaign team, which expertly managed every aspect of this campaign, and our volunteers, who spread the word across the city about how damaging this measure would be. Together, we formed a mighty coalition.
“I am thrilled for Glendale, which I am certain will not only continue to grow and create more outstanding destinations, attractions, and experiences for visitors but will also continue to deliver more great jobs and career opportunities for Glendale residents.”
According to Maricopa County Elections, the proposition was defeated by 15.32 pts., or approximately 10,338 votes as of this report.
A longtime Arizona state legislator is highlighting the financial distress of many of his constituents.
Last week, State Senator J.D. Mesnard commented on the misery inflicted on Arizonans by inflation over the past four years of the Biden-Harris Administration. In the Senate Republicans’ weekly newsletter, Mesnard said, “I’ve heard from citizens across Arizona just how difficult it’s become to make ends meet over the past four years, and a new report reveals the financial pain families are enduring under the Harris-Biden Administration. According to the Common Sense Institute’s Arizona Inflation Misery Index, the average Arizonan must spend $9,996 more per year, while the average household must spend $24,972 more per year just to maintain the same quality of life enjoyed in 2019.”
Mesnard added, “I, along with my Republican colleagues at the Legislature, fundamentally believe government should not tax our citizens more than necessary to support core services. This notion is even more important during massive inflation, which is why I’m pleased Arizona Republicans banded together to implement the largest tax cut in state history for our citizens. Every income taxpayer is currently benefiting from a 2.5% flat tax, and I’m looking forward to doing more for our taxpayers next session.”
The Republican lawmaker is running for re-election to Arizona Legislative District 13, which covers Chandler, Gilbert, and Sun Lakes in the East Valley of the Phoenix-metro area. Mesnard first entered the state legislature in January 2011 in the Arizona House of Representatives, and he served eight years in that chamber, including two years as the Speaker of the House. In November 2018, after being termed out of the House, Mesnard won his election to the state Senate.
According to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, Legislative District 13 is one of the most competitive in the state, with a 1.6% vote spread between Republicans and Democrats in the past nine statewide elections. In those contests, Republicans have won five times, compared to four for Democrats.
Mesnard is facing a tough challenge from Democrat nominee, Sharon Winters, in the upcoming election. On his website, Mesnard asks voters to give him another term in the state senate, writing, “Now we face historic economic challenges that require someone with the right experience and a track record of success to navigate. That’s why I need your vote. Let me continue using my diverse background, which includes husband (to a registered nurse), father, professor and small business owner, with master’s degrees in business and public administration, to keep delivering results for you.”
The winner of the state legislative contest could be vital to determining party control of the chamber in the next session. Arizona Republicans enjoy very narrow margins in both the state House and Senate.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Democratic Candidate for Congressional District 1 Amish Shah was revealed to have attacked former President Ronald Reagan and the entire system of capitalism in a recently uncovered video from 2018.
In the video footage, Shah is heard to say, “What we’ve got is an economic system here that isn’t fair. People have started to realize this finally after years. What happened with Ronald Reagan starting to cut taxes on the very, very wealthy has now given us the society we have, and this is what the real travesty is.”
In full, Shah offered a distinctly socialist rebuke of Reagan-era conservative reforms, tax cuts that objectively revived the U.S. economy after the disastrous Carter Administration.
“We’re institutionalizing inequality this… this is what we’re doing. Um, what… what we’ve got is an economic system here that isn’t fair,” Shah said.
He then began to outline a socialist solution:
“And, and, and this is what the real travesty is: lack of good healthcare for example. Um… an expensive healthcare strips people of assets. Not having affordable education then takes those people and puts them at, those kids, and puts them at a massive disadvantage. And there you go.
What you’re going to get is people without opportunity and then finding themselves in a place where they can’t make ends meet. And we’re funding a school to prison pipeline and …and that’s, that’s not right. That’s, that’s just morally, uh, objectionable way for a society to run.
And so I’m… I’m happy that what we’re seeing within the democratic party is a… a huge progressive movement that’s coming up and saying this is wrong and we’re going to do something about it.”
Shah’s views do not appear to have changed. In a recent debate featuring Shah, he explained his class warfare argument and even vowed to raise taxes on Arizonans. “I’m not in favor of extending the Trump tax cuts because a lot of the folks that were helped by those were wealthy,” said Shah.
NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen criticized Shah heavily in a statement, “Amish Shah’s extreme vow to axe the Trump tax cuts represents a declaration of war on Arizonans’ livelihoods. Shah’s class warfare campaign and support for socialism are disqualifying in the first district.”
As previously reported by the New York Post, Shah’s heavily radicalized socialist background has caused significant controversy in recent weeks as ties to Senator Bernie Sanders found him endorsing single-payer socialized medicine.
He recently ran afoul of the City of Tempe for use of mailers depicting a retired Tempe Police officer in full uniform in violation of A.R.S. 9-500.14, which forbids the use of city resources to influence an election.
And further reporting from the Washington Free Beacon also uncovered his rental of a modest condominium in his district and listing of that address for voter registration purposes, instead of his primary residence located in the neighboring third district, in possible violation of Arizona law.
Arizona home prices continue to be a major issue for people in the closing weeks of the 2024 General Election.
Last week, the Common Sense Institute Arizona unveiled its report for “Arizona Housing Affordability” for quarter 3 of 2024, sharing a “comprehensive analysis that details current challenges in Arizona’s housing market, including the ongoing housing shortage, escalating costs, and affordability issues that persist across the state.”
The report highlights that the state “is currently experiencing a housing shortfall of 65,721 units,” that “the average home price is nearly 23% higher than it would have been if prices had maintained the pre-pandemic trend,” and that “the number of building permits issued in Arizona has continued to drop, affecting the state’s ability to meet housing demand.”
“The high costs of housing in Arizona are creating significant barriers to homeownership, especially for lower-income families and first-time buyers,” said Zachary Milne, Senior Economist and Research Analyst. “While minor improvements in mortgage rates have provided some relief, the state’s overall housing deficit continues to widen, reflecting the need for housing policies that boost supply and affordability.”
CSI found that “it would take at least ten years for Arizona to resolve this [housing] deficit, that “it would still take 41 months for housing prices to fall back in line with the 2012-2019 trend if prices continued to decline at this pace [of July and August], that “new homebuyers today face nearly $500 more in monthly mortgage costs,” and that “it would take Maricopa County over 85 years to close their housing deficit.”
In a comment to AZ Free News about the report, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen said, “It’s truly unfortunate the Governor vetoed the bipartisan Arizona Starter Homes Act and halted new home construction in two of the most booming areas in the Valley. Her actions have negatively impacted Arizona’s housing supply by contributing to the shortage, and as a result, hardworking Arizonans are having a difficult time achieving their American dream of homeownership because of skyrocketing prices. Republicans will continue to put bills on her desk to help alleviate the supply shortage next session, and we hope she will do the right thing by signing them.”
Recent polls have indicated that the issue of housing affordability is a top-three concern for many voters around the country, including in Arizona, affecting the upcoming election in November.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.