Pun Salad

The Nov. 4 election results are a reality check for the Trump administration. Democrats didn't just run up the score in deep-blue enclaves. With power prices soaring, they flipped two Georgia utility-regulator seats in rare statewide victories. In New York City, more than half of voters told exit pollsters that their top worry is the cost of living. Seven in 10 Americans say their grocery bills have gone up this past year. Six in 10 say their utility costs have increased.

So, yes, the affordability issues that dominated the 2024 election remain central. But President Donald Trump insists there's no problem. "Thanksgiving dinner under Trump is 25 percent lower than 2024 Thanksgiving dinner under Biden, according to Walmart," he declared on Truth Social. "My cost(s) are lower than the Democrats on everything, especially oil and gas! So the Democrats' 'affordability' issue is DEAD!"

Trump's referring to Walmart's "inflation-free Thanksgiving meal," said to feed 10 people for $40, plus fees. This year's standard basket is less expensive than last year's eight-person bundle, but it no longer contains pecan pie, whipped topping, muffin mix, poultry seasoning, chicken broth, sweet potatoes, onions and celery, all of which have been quietly dropped.

President Trump insists his border taxes aren’t raising prices, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent more or less conceded otherwise on Wednesday when he floated exemptions for coffee and bananas. Is this the beginning of political wisdom?

Perhaps it’s sinking in at the White House that Americans aren’t happy about the economy and high prices. The Administration in recent days has been stressing moves to improve “affordability.” Many of the Administration’s actions such as investigating meat packers are counterproductive. But tariff relief would be welcome.

Mr. Bessent teased tariff exemptions in a Fox News interview this week: “You’re going to see some substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don’t grow here in the United States, coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits, things like that.” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett echoed Mr. Bessent.

Your favorite Italian-origin fusilli and macaroni are poised to disappear from U.S. supermarket shelves.

Italy’s biggest pasta exporters say import and antidumping duties totaling 107% on their pasta brands will make doing business in America too costly and are preparing to pull out of U.S. stores as soon as January. The combined tariffs are among the steepest faced by any product targeted by the Trump administration.

“It’s an incredibly important market for us,” said Giuseppe Ferro, La Molisana’s chief executive, whose family-run pasta factory sits on the edge of the southern Italian town of Campobasso. “But no one has those kinds of margins,” he said, shaking his head as the sweet, nutty smell of freshly ground wheat berries permeated his factory.

In The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich Hayek vividly depicts government overreach as a frog slowly boiling in a pot, lulled by promises of security. The ACA’s subsidies, like a siren call, have enticed 24.2 million enrollees with affordable premiums, obscuring the escalating true cost of healthcare. Once established, these subsidies become indispensable, with millions now dependent on them, as evidenced by projected premium spikes.

Should the enhanced subsidies, originally temporary, expire as planned in 2025, the resulting premium surge reveals the trap: dependence on state generosity. As Hayek cautioned, this reliance, cloaked in equity and justice, erodes freedom, empowering a bureaucracy to dictate government-directed winners and losers.

Once entrenched, dismantling programs initially deemed temporary becomes politically toxic. Individuals adapt to a subsidized reality, viewing affordable premiums as essential, mirroring Hayek’s portrayal of populations bound to state largesse. The ACA’s framework, with 24.2 million enrollees dependent on credits, fosters a cycle of deepening reliance. Any rollback, such as the looming 2025 expiration, risks economic disruption, entrenching a system where insurers profit from inflated costs while patients, shielded from true price signals, remain tethered to subsidies. 

This validates Hayek’s thesis: centralized interventions breed dependency, eroding choice and fueling a gradual descent into serfdom.