Inflation: Can We Trust Politicians to Tell the Truth?

Do not be so quickly persuaded by Fox News, nor by the Republicans. Read the following meme circulating on Facebook, but do a little research to determine if it is true, or if you are just being fed misinformation.

Says the meme: "Interesting fact.. it costs a family of 4, $11,000 more to buy the same amount of groceries and basics now than it did 18 months ago."

I, like many of you, listen to Fox News, and its continual stream of anti-Biden chatter, which of course includes much hammering on inflation. Doe Fox slant its news? I think so. If you read on, perhaps you will come to agree, though I doubt persuading you will be that easy. Anyway, I did just do some due diligence to try to determine if things are being exaggerated. Inflation is and definitely should be a concern. Business Insider says we are experiencing "stagflation," which, it says, is an outcome worse than recession. Stagflation is when inflation continues, but unemployment does not come down. I am a little lost as to how we qualify for stagflation, then, as unemployment has been low throughout the Biden years.
I traced the information in the meme to a report from the Senate Joint Economic Committee, which says it takes $11,434 more than it did in 2021 to pay your bills. Frankly, I am not experiencing that. That would be almost $1,000 more every month. No, I am not experiencing that. Countering the Senate claim, I found one study saying $1,100 in 2000 is equivalent to $1,995 today (2024). That is a far cry from the inflation claimed by the Senate committee. Are politicians always fair? Are they always honest? As you can see from the research I have done, there is great reason to believe they and Fox News are not being fair and honest.