“And that’s the reason why you don’t have anything on the shelf. Why? because people are dying of covid in the western part of the pacific.” Said the president during remarks on his infrastructure bill in Woodstock, NH.
Biden is correct in that nearly half of US imports come into California harbors, though he’s incorrect when assuming the reason for the current supply chain crisis is because of COVID deaths.
COVID deaths in the “western part of the pacific” aren’t the cause of the supply chain crisis and rising consumer price index–it’s from a boom in demand, COVID regulation and labor shortage. These problems act in tandem with one another, producing an interaction effect now observable on the shelfs in grocery stores. Not to mention, in the harbor of Los Angeles, too.
The administration admits there’s been a boom in demand for goods since America has been grinding through its COVID recovery.
This is true–Americans, sick of lockdowns, are eager to participate in the activities they once did before the pandemic. Businesses are ready to open shop, and inventory is needed. Eager shoppers looking for merchandise and businesses seeking new profits (after being forcibly shutdown by government) skyrockets the demand.
However, there’s a problem.
Blue states and the Biden administration are holding onto COVID regulation, evident by the recent vaccine mandate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports people are leaving their jobs at rates not seen since December 2000, and though The Unites States is approaching the tail-end of the pandemic, job separations are higher this year than last. Interestingly, the administration could be aware of this considering truckers may be exempt from the vaccine mandate.
4.3 million workers quit their jobs last August.
Those clinging the COVID regulation have made their bed, and now they must lay in it. Blue states and the Biden administration can either lift all COVID regulation (notably, the vaccine) and incentivize the workforce–or suffer the consequences of the supply chain crisis while holding onto their regulations.
It seems such powers wish to choose the later given Biden will use OSHA to enforce vaccines this coming January. Those unwilling to comply, many of which may be blue-collar logistics workers, will have to mask up at work and submit a weekly COVID test. Businesses will be fined thousands for violations.
The third and most used option is to blame a pandemic that is waining away. Eventually, the COVID excuse will be spent. By that time Americans will have already suffered a less-than-exciting holiday season, and the administration will have effectually omitted themselves from a PR hit.
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