Off the Publisher’s Desk 8-13-25

Are prices coming down?

It has only been six months since Donald Trump took over the leadership of this country. And as an average person, have you seen a price drop at the local stores? I know gasoline is down thirty-cents or more a gallon locally. I cannot say if the price of groceries at the store is less than it was six months ago and maybe I am asking too much in such a short time frame.

I just purchased a skid of cut paper, some 80,000 double size sheets and the price was a little less than two years ago and that made me happy. But, I am looking forward to how the new tariffs will affect our costs.

I received a news release from both political parties about the current state of costs. Here is what I got from the Wisconsin Democratic party. “Wisconsin Republican Congressional delegation and gubernatorial candidates have demonstrated a blind loyalty to Donald Trump since he took office, including supporting his tariff policies that are raising prices on working families, and now Americans are going to foot the bill for everyday goods from tools to toilet paper. What’s more is that the manufacturing resurgence that was promised through these tariffs led to 14,000 manufacturing job losses.”

From the Republican National Committee came this release. “One year ago today (August 5th), the market tanked in response to Kamala Harris being forced on voters as the Democrat nominee, signaling fears that Kamala would lead the country directly into a recession.

“After four years of failed Bidenomics with high inflation and skyrocketing prices, it seemed things couldn’t get worse, until Kamala Harris got involved. Americans saw red across their screens as the markets plunged into chaos, with the NASDAQ down over 1,000 points.

“American voters rejected another four years of failed economic policies in 2024, and President Trump has delivered. Under President Trump, the economy is booming, inflation is down, prices are down, and we have the hottest country in the world.”

Those two statements give all of us something to chew on.

I do have to relate a cost increase, for us, that happens every couple of months and that is at the post office has increased the price of mailing our weekly newspaper to you, our great subscribers, who have supported this newspaper for years, if you live out of state, we could mail a first class letter to you, for less than the post office charges to deliver your newspaper.

I look forward to seeing what happens in the next six months and what will happen to the cost of living. But, how much better can it get for us lucky folks that are living in Wisconsin? Over the fourth of July, my granddaughter, Emma, who lives in Texas, visited with her boy friend, who had never visited northern Wisconsin and he was amazed about how green northern Wisconsin is. 

It’s the best place in the world to live.

Thanks for reading!     ~Carlton