I'm sorry, but WHAT??? Where did this come from??
John, the only politically loaded post in this entire thread so far is yours, as you explicitly mentioned politics, then economics. All of the other posts are purely talking about price increases, not one person outside of you even accidentally meandered into political territory. The underlying topic of inflation may have undercurrents that lead to politics, but this particular thread here, no one followed any of those undercurrents...except you...
Sorry, but your post really dismayed me. I see absolutely no reason in this thread for your anger about it. People are frustrated, and I will tell you, this is THE MOST benign thread on the topic of cost increases that I've come across in....a long time. And by far, the LEAST politically charged of them all, across a multitude of forums, articles, etc.