The cover story of this week’s Washington Examiner magazine deals with one of the few examples in America today in which President Joe Biden’s handling of the supply chain has not produced shortages. David Harsanyi writes about the
record-breaking oversupply
of illegal immigrants — about 2 million in the first year of this presidency.
Biden’s actions — ending the Remain in Mexico policy, scrapping construction of a border wall, and sending a message to Latin America along the lines of “come one, come all” — vastly increased the supply of newcomers willing to break the law and undertake the risks of seeking a new life in these United States.
If only Biden could be similarly effective in increasing supplies rather than stanching them with his ineptitude in other areas, such as job creation, controlling inflation, and dealing effectively (not to mention logically) with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has kept many workers at home rather than in gainful and productive employment.
The magazine is dotted with stories about supply chain problems. In his cover story for the Business section, reporter Zach Halaschak
lays out the reasons
why shelves are bare in grocery stores from coast to coast. My own research reveals that not every shelf is empty; supermarket sections given over to vegan foods, to all those unappetizing kale dips and not-meat burgers, are as plentifully stacked as they are at normal times. Shoppers, like illegal immigrants, are voting with their feet.
Jay Cost writes about Bidenflation and how
the president’s foolhardy disregard
of price rises is sinking his administration. Inflation is always a monetary phenomenon, and the name on our money is that of the federal government. Citizens know whom to blame.
In addition to writing about supply problems inside the magazine, I must unfortunately write here of supply problems that affect production of the Washington Examiner magazine itself. Readers will no doubt have read about, or personally experienced, the high cost of wood. Softwood lumber prices tripled last year. And one of the products made with lumber is printing paper.
Our access to paper, and that of other magazines around the country, is being hit severely by breaks in the supply chain, and by paper mills switching from production for print to production of cardboard (for all those extra delivery boxes required by people shopping online during the pandemic).
This is likely to mean the Washington Examiner magazine will soon need to be printed on different paper than readers are used to on inside pages. But we are preparing for this and making every effort to deliver the same high-quality product as subscribers have come to expect. The written content will be as good as ever, and when paper supplies get back to normal, we will restore our accustomed stock.
A magazine with a slightly different physical feel is, therefore, likely to start arriving on doorsteps sometime next month. We will restart using our normal stock as soon as a supply of it is available. We thank you for your patience, and we hope supply chains reconnect soon. Thanks, Joe Biden.
