Press Release

FOOD PRICES HIT MIDDLE CLASS WHERE IT HURTS MOST
With bread products up 20 percent, aggressive leadership is badly needed

KNOXVILLE – Bloated food prices may be the cruelest assault of all on the working class, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Padgett said Thursday.

“When working parents go to the store for a loaf of bread, they’re paying nearly 20 percent more for it than they did just three months ago,” Padgett said. “And which is going to hit $4 a gallon first: gas or milk? Milk’s ahead by a nose, at $3.80.

“That hurts – hurts bad – when you’ve got kids to feed.”

April saw the highest monthly increase in food prices in 20 years with a 0.9 percent jump, the government reported Wednesday. The costs of cereal and bakery products alone rose 1.4 percent from March to April and nearly 20 percent in the past three months, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

“Our nation must do more to stop this attack on the family budget,” Padgett said. “The farm bill passed Thursday by the Senate – despite a veto threat from President Bush – is a start. It increases food aid for the neediest and gives a hand to struggling rural communities where our food is grown and raised.

“And – as I have called for in my Energy 2.0 plan – it starts to tackle the high cost of corn, which has gone up due to the demand for ethanol. The bill, instead, puts money into cellulosic ethanol – made from non-food crops like switchgrass and corn stalks instead of food-grade corn.

“Farmers need to be able to profit from corn without putting a strain on the consumer at the grocery store. That is just one more reason why we should push ahead other crops that can produce fuel without competing with food.”

Easing the struggle for American families is a fight that must be waged on so many fronts.

“After seven years of reckless Republican spending, America’s middle class faces an economic threat on so many fronts, it is going to take an across-the-board offensive to turn things around.

“It’ll take more middle-class tax relief – something Senator Alexander consistently has voted against. It’ll take tax incentives for businesses to create good jobs here and penalties for outsourcing.

“It will take leaders who realize that a prosperous middle class that can afford to spend money is what will make our economy vibrant again. If Tennesseans will stand with me, I will be the kind of U.S. senator who fights for their chance at prosperity.”

William "Mike" Padgett is former Knox County Clerk and small business owner. He and Patty, his wife of 37 years, have three grown children, Matt, Mark and Sara Beth

# # #

I Want to Hear from You!