Just Facts Daily

Purchasing Power

How much purchasing power has the U.S. dollar lost since 1970?

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According to the U.S. Consumer Price Index, one dollar in 2026 has the same purchasing power as 12 cents in 1970. This means the U.S. dollar has lost about 88% of its purchasing power. The primary driver of this is inflation caused by government creating and circulating more money than needed by the economy. This causes the purchasing power of money to shrink and prices to increase. Governments engage in inflationary policies to effectively tax citizens at higher rates and to default on their national debts. Also, government regulations can have inflationary effects because they often ban people from using the most economical products and processes. Market forces can also have inflationary effects when there is a sudden increased demand for products and services or a shortage of them.

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Democrats & Communism

The New York Times claims that President Trump and Republicans “have been trying to cast Democrats as communists, deploying a charge that has little overlap with Democrats’ actual platforms.”

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IN FACT, the following positions of prominent Democrats and the Democratic Party Platform mirror key elements of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, the Soviet Constitution, and the Law of the Soviet State:

The Soviet Constitution states that the “economic foundation of the USSR” is the “socialist system of economy” in which “private ownership of the means and instruments of production” is abolished except for the “small private economy of individual peasants and handicraftsmen.”
Likewise, leading Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Zohran Mamdani, and Rashida Tlaib are members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose platform calls for government to seize ownership of the “largest corporations and essential industries” and thereby turn “food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation” into “common goods and utilities.”
Likewise, Mamdani stated during a 2021 DSA conference that “the end goal” is “seizing the means of production,” which “we firmly believe in” and is “correct” and “right.”
The Law of the Soviet State declares that the USSR “annihilated the capitalist system of economy” that “exploited” the “formerly poverty-stricken” masses, even though the average living standard of the “Soviet people was roughly one third that of the United States,” and the masses in capitalist countries have far better living standards and far lower poverty rates than in socialist nations.
Likewise, Democrat James Talarico stated in 2020 that we need to “begin the process of dismantling” “oppressive systems” like “capitalism.”
Likewise, AOC stated in 2019, “To me, capitalism is irredeemable.”
Likewise, the DSA Platform calls for the “end of capitalism” and promises a “world” without “poverty.”
A 1973 Library of Congress report documents that the “acquisition and possession of firearms in the Soviet Union are subject to severe restrictions and limitations imposed by the State.”
Likewise, Mamdani stated in 2022, “We need to ban all guns.”
Likewise, no U.S. Supreme Court justice appointed by a Democrat has ever ruled that American citizens have an individual right to keep and bear arms.
The Soviet Constitution guarantees “a wide network” of “nurseries and kindergartens.”
Likewise, U.S. Senate Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Patty Murray are campaigning for “universal child care,” and Mamdani said he “will implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years.”
The Soviet Constitution praises the “overthrow of the landlords and capitalists” and declares that “the bulk of the dwelling houses in the cities and industrial localities, are state property.”
Likewise, Mamdani has called for “moving away from the status quo in which most people access housing by purchasing it on the market and toward a future where we guarantee high quality housing to all as a human right.”
Likewise, the DSA Platform says that no one will pay a “mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right.”
The Soviet Constitution guarantees the “right to employment.”
Likewise, AOC and the DSA Platform call for a “Federal Jobs Guarantee.”
The Soviet Constitution declares a “right” to “annual vacations with full pay.”
Likewise, U.S. Senate Democrats Chris Murphy, Ed Markey, Ruben Gallego, and Alex Padilla cosponsored a bill to “guarantee at least two weeks of paid vacation to every full-time worker in America.”
The Soviet Constitution declares a “right” to “medical” care, and the Law of the Soviet State affirms that the “socialist state affords all toilers the right” to “free medical aid.”
Likewise, the 2024 Democratic Party Platform states that “health care should be a right.”
Likewise, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed demands “Medicare for All” with “no premium, no co-pay, no deductible.”
Likewise, Talarico says that he is engaged in a “fight for universal healthcare.”
Likewise, Mamdani has written that “we need to abolish private insurance, institute single-payer & nationalize the medical supply chain immediately.”
The Soviet Constitution declares a “right” to “pre-maternity and maternity leave with full pay.”
Likewise, Tlaib supports “paid family and sick leave for all, and the 2024 Democratic Party Platform supports “guaranteeing every American worker up to 12 weeks of paid time off to care for a new child or loved one to recover from an illness.”
The Soviet Constitution declares a “right” to “education,” including “higher education” that is “free of charge.”
Likewise, Warren stated in 2019 that “college is a basic need that should be available for free to everyone who wants to go” without “paying a dime in tuition or fees.”
Likewise, the 2024 Democratic Party Platform calls for making “trade school and community college free for every American.”
American leftists like Mamdani and Bernie Sanders reject the label “communist” and differentiate themselves as “democratic socialists,” but the founders of the Soviet Union called themselves “Social Democrats,” and the Law of the Soviet State refers to the Soviet Union as a “socialist democracy” more than 40 times.
Media outlets like USA Today and so-called fact checkers like PolitiFact assert that democratic socialists aren’t communists because they embrace democracy and reject totalitarianism, but the Law of the Soviet State explains that its authoritarian policies — like outlawing “freedom of speech” for “the foes of socialism,” “depriving the bourgeoisie” of the ability to vote, and having “the exploiter classes in the country” “liquidated” — are not “according to the plan” of communism but things that “developed spontaneously during the course of the struggle.”

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