MSNBC’s post-election coverage continued Wednesday night and during the 11 PM Eastern hour, the assortment of panelists tried to explain why the economy didn’t dominate in the way it was expected to. For Stephanie Ruhle, this was because while “we’re bitching and moaning” about inflation, “we’re contributing to it,” which makes it less of an electoral issue.
After MSNBC Republican David Jolly theorized that inflation was just one of several issues voters cared about, Chris Hayes turned the conversation to Ruhle, “But, Stephanie, I want to ask you about the student debt question.”
However, Ruhle did not want to talk about that, “Okay, hold on, wait, wait, wait. Can we just say before we get to that, there's a dirty little secret that people don't like to talk about?”
Not waiting for permission, Ruhle continued, “When you talk about the economy being so bad, or inflation being so bad, just stay with me. We have two economies in this country. For people who are economically vulnerable before COVID, things are even worse now. But for people who have white collar jobs, yes purchasing power is harder, it has become more difficult.”
Despite this, “However, one of the things that keeps prices so high is our willingness to pay those high prices. Consumer demand is still really strong and I'm not just talking about buying bacon and eggs and gas. I'm talking about travel, leisure, going out to restaurants. We're bitching and moaning that we don't like that hamburgers cost $25 but we're still lining up to go to those restaurants.”
Ruhle declined to show her work as restaurant traffic is down. Still, inflation is not President Biden’s fault but rather your fault, “So consumers who are yelling about inflation, and I get it, it's bad, we have to take a hard look at ourselves. We’re contributing to it.”
After a surprising electoral result there will naturally be those who question why, but some explanations are better than others, but saying inflation is overstated because “we” are to blame is not one of them.
This segment was sponsored by Subaru.
Here is a transcript for the November 9 show:
MSNBC Decision 2022
11/9/2022
11:13 PM ET
DAVID JOLLY: But I also think that we consider this. Look, the economy is not good now. It is very different than ‘09, the bottom fell out coming into ’09 and ‘10. The bottom has not fallen out now, but purchasing power is down--
CHRIS HAYES: Yup.
JOLLY: -- real income is down, and people feel that. I actually think what happened last night is that voters demonstrated that they can balance multiple priorities—
HAYES: Yes.
JOLLY: --and they said “you know what? The economy might be going sideways or down, but there are bigger issues.” For some people, it was the Dobbs decision, some people it was protecting democracy, for others it was simply the coalition that showed up in ‘18, was there again in ‘20, showed up again last night that said, “this place where Republicans want to go, we don't want to follow.”
HAYES: But, Stephanie, I want to ask you about the student debt question.
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Okay, hold on, wait, wait, wait. Can we just say before we get to that, there's a dirty little secret that people don't like to talk about?
HAYES: Please.
RUHLE: When you talk about the economy being so bad, or inflation being so bad, just stay with me. We have two economies in this country. For people who are economically vulnerable before COVID, things are even worse now. But for people who have white collar jobs, yes purchasing power is harder, it has become more difficult.
However, one of the things that keeps prices so high is our willingness to pay those high prices. Consumer demand is still really strong and I'm not just talking about buying bacon and eggs and gas. I'm talking about travel, leisure—
HAYES: Yeah.
RUHLE: -- Going out to restaurants. We're bitching and moaning that we don't like that hamburgers cost $25 but we're still lining up to go to those restaurants.
HAYES: Yeah.
RUHLE: So consumers who are yelling about inflation, and I get it, it's bad, we have to take a hard look at ourselves. We’re contributing to it.
