Peanut butter and jam sandwiches

To: Christina Romer

I have chosen to write to you because my emails to the President, have
been ineffective.

In your public appearances, you say that inflation requires increases
in wages and you see no sign of wages increasing. I am no match to you
in competency on this issue.

My concern is that your denial of the existence of inflation is
failing to address the high cost of living. Here is an example that
means a lot to me.

One of the President's daughters eats peanut butter and jam sandwiches
with a glass of milk.

The price of bread has doubled in the past two years. The worldwide
shortage of sugar affects the price of peanut butter and jam. Grain
and sugar beat farmers are making a fortune. The taxpayers are
providing huge amounts of subsidy money to them as well as the farmers
of corn for fructose. Throughout the whole chain of sowing, harvest,
processing, packaging and selling, high energy costs affect the price
of bread, milk, peanut butter and jam.

Where I live, the price of milk has doubled in the past three years,
though news reports say prices have dropped in California. Dairy
farmers don't have a collective to absorb the shocks of free market
pricing of milk. The price of feed and energy hurts them.
Capitalists believe the market sets the best price. Forcing dairy
farmers out of business is not good for President Obama's daughter's
glass of milk, nor milk for Americans.

Your data doesn't see inflation. I hope you see the cost of living. I
guess technically it is not inflation.

Health care is the hot topic. I don't see fiscal reform as a priority
because the recent SEC report stated that the SEC had failed. Energy
policy does need to be thought through.

Here are things that are important to me, that I think you should
advise the President.

-Reforming the farm subsidies would reduce the government deficit.
-Competency in the Treasury Department, still hasn't addressed the
banking problems of a year ago. Their reckless attempts to save the
banks has resulted in rich bankers and wasted taxpayer spending (AIG
payment to Goldman Sachs using taxpayer money, bonuses to Goldman
Sachs using taxpayer money and this fall to AIG executives). A
government job (Wage czar) to tell private companies how much to pay
their employees is a waste of taxpayer money. There is no fiscal
policy going forward.
The government is noticeably absent in dealing with economic issues
(only recycling tired cliches, "meltdown wasn't of our doing" and "our
stimulus package"). Politically this is unwise; the Republican
campaign will be the winning line "The economy, stupid!"

I hope you can advise the President to direct fiscal policy to address
the peanut butter and jam sandwich issues.