The White House has taken credit for cutting the cost of July 4th cookouts by a whopping 16 cents compared to last year (don’t ask about 2019). Ungrateful netizens were unfazed by the immense savings, however.
The Joe Biden administration ran a victory lap on Thursday as it announced – through an onslaught of puns – the 16-cent cost reduction for an average Independence Day get-together, noting that goods including beef, ice cream, pork and beans had all gone down in price from 2020.
“Planning a cookout this year? Ketchup on the news. According to the Farm Bureau, the cost of a 4th of July BBQ is down from last year,” the White House tweeted, attributing the cuts to unspecified Biden policies.
It’s a fact you must-hear(d). Hot dog, the Biden economic plan is working. And that’s something we can all relish.
Planning a cookout this year? Ketchup on the news. According to the Farm Bureau, the cost of a 4th of July BBQ is down from last year. It’s a fact you must-hear(d). Hot dog, the Biden economic plan is working. And that’s something we can all relish. pic.twitter.com/7h9qLauIbC
The upbeat message was soon met with scorn, as netizens asked how a fraction of one dollar could possibly improve their lives, some sarcastically planning ways to spend the 16-cent windfall.
“I still have tens of thousands in student loans, I can't afford to buy a house as a first-time homebuyer in the skyrocketing housing market... but hot dog! I can save $0.16 on my fu**ing 4th of July groceries,” one user said, calling the announcement “fantastic news.”
This is amazing! Just bought a house with all of the $0.16 cents I saved from hot dogs
— Mohanad Elshieky (@MohanadElshieky) July 1, 2021
Hear that, Millennials? You got a whole extra $0.16 this year. Why don't you own homes yet?
Some critics, including Republican Rep. Elise Stafanik (New York), argued that the meager price drop would be more than offset by rising fuel costs, with one user telling the White House “now do gas prices.”
Apparently, no one at the Biden @WhiteHouse has been to the gas station recently.
The average price for a gallon of gas is $3.15.
This is the HIGHEST price for a gallon of gas since 2014 and a 42% INCREASE from last year.
Another user, meanwhile, tried to speak in language the White House might understand, ‘mustarding up’ a painful series of puns to blast the administration for “inaction” on the student debt crisis, which is unlikely to be solved by the cookout savings.
Can you all mustard up the courage to cancel student debt. We’re trying to ketchup to our payments but a thousand (island) dollars a month is too much. Your inaction is leaving a bad taste in our mouths.
Yet another detractor observed that the 2021 cost drop was relative to prices during the Covid-19 pandemic last year, which disrupted global supply chains and saw major cost jumps, saying the White House was effectively “advertising a big L.”
Comparing prices to last year when there was a massive global pandemic wreaking havoc with supply chains... and then noting just 16 cents in savings this year, seems like advertisting a big L? https://t.co/3r7G29t4fH
Indeed, a recent update from the American Farm Bureau Federation – whose figures were cited in Thursday’s White House announcement – noted that while prices are down 16 cents compared to 2020, they remain 8% higher than 2019’s pre-Covid costs.
Oddly, when the article was originally published on June 29, it reported the opposite news, saying cookout costs had gone up, not down, by 16 cents this year. The article appears to have been altered in the meantime, even replacing one graphic to reflect the changes. The reason for the discrepancy remains unclear, and the Farm Bureau Federation did not immediately respond to RT’s request for clarification.
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