SOME CALL IT “MICRO-ECONOMICS”
I CALL IT “RIP-OFF”
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER
If only we were all rich and didn’t have to shop or like some folks, never had to look at food that wasn’t already on a plate. For those of us who shop, the grocery experience tells alot of stories. My first problem is “politics.” I grew up in “union” Michigan but live in “non-union” Ohio. Unions push for legislation controlling “rip-offs” of consumers. Republicans really do support cheats. I am not making this up.
GROCERY SCANNERS: ELECTRONIC “PICK POCKETS”
No matter what price is on the shelf or in the paper, the scanners in many states simply seem to charge anything, always higher. With “self serve” registers, the problem has gotten worse. My local grocery has 30% of items priced higher than the tags say.
Now listen carefully, the same tag that has a dollar price has a bar code that puts up a different price. This is “hacking” not a mistake. Same piece of paper, printed price is one thing, code is another….pure computer fraud. It is criminal, not some employee error and is costing Americans untold millions.
OHIO vs MICHIGAN
Michigan fines stores that overcharge thru scanner mistakes. They have to pay you off right there at the store. Non-union Ohio has no such law. The same chain, with stores on either side of the border will have EVERY SINGLE ITEM in Michigan priced perfectly and huge errors, always higher, in Ohio.
This is a Grand Rapids, Michigan based chain, much like Walmart, that is doing this. They and other similar stores are almost empty of employees with prices going thru the roof, although fuel is down, commodity prices are down and an economic depression in full swing.
Does everyone think they are a bank, defense contractor or oil company?
ETHANOL SCAM AND FOOD
Most agricultural production in the US is corn. That was increased to make ethanol. However, ethanol is only used when oil is over 100 bucks a barrel. With cheap oil, the ethanol companies all closed. End of story.
Yet, cheese, milk, eggs and other things tied to corn prices, now cheap, are up massively. This is simple theft, “reverse shoplifting.”
Look around the store, try to find a worker.
These stores, most of them, have either no health insurance or make workers pay for third rate coverage. Many chains, like Walmart, pay workers so little that thousands are on welfare, food stamps and medicaid while working hard, generating tons of profit for Walmart and deserve a full wage.
This is not ‘free market economics” but rather subsidy by misuse of “entitlements” by corporations getting a free ride.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Shop with your feet. Buy local and from stores that pay decent wages. Find out which stores they are and if you are going to be robbed, be robbed by a better class of people.
Watch like a hawk when at the register.
Complain to your local elected representatives constantly when you are stolen from by grocery chains. File claims with your state attorney general, usually easy to do online.
We have gotten used to government that screws us over for so long that we think nothing of being ripped off while trying to feed our families in hard times.
These criminals are just as bad as the bonus hogs at AIG. Some of them actually make more money.
Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran and regular contributor on political and social issues.
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