(The opinions expressed in guest op-eds are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.)

As expected, cable media and social media are getting all rowdy over the latest inflation numbers released from the Federal Department of Labor’s “Bureau of Labor Statistics” (BLS), which measures a market basket of consumer prices in the economy and releases the figures each quarter as part of their “Consumer Price Index” (CPI) report before the financial markets open.

Yes, that’s right, what would normally make Republicans gag that early in the morning, and make Democrats smile as they order their avocado toast, is lost in the noise. We have a federal agency costing American taxpayers $14 billion annually, most of which is on their just shy of 17,000 government employees, adding up the price of eggs, bread, milk, beef…

Apparently, it requires a lot of people to use a calculator.

But back to the inflation rate according to the BLS. Here are some of Wednesday morning’s headlines:

CNBC: “Inflation rose 9.1% in June, even more than expected, as consumer pressures intensify.”

AP: “US inflation reached a new 40-year high in June of 9.1%.”

BLOOMBERG: “Bonds Slump as Inflation Surge Fuels Bets on 100-Basis-Point Fed Rate Hike.”

WASHINGTON POST: “Bonds Slump as Inflation Surge Fuels Bets on 100-Basis-Point Fed Rate Hike.”

The first question, since when have conservatives, including those on cable media, trusted as if it were New Testament Gospel, any information coming from one of the alphabet soup agencies of the federal government? Obviously, Dr. Fauci must not run the Labor Department. Which begs the question: Who does run the Labor Department?

Which “merit” appointment did Biden pick for the gig of running this federal agency? Well, I’m glad you asked. Meet Martin J. Walsh. He was sworn in as the 29th Secretary of Labor on March 23, 2021. He is a “lifelong champion of equity and fairness and a proud product of the City of Boston.”

Secretary Walsh, according to Secretary Walsh, “leads the U.S. Department of Labor with a strong connection to working people, and a commitment to creating an economy that works for all.”

In 1997, Walsh was a State Representative who, according to Walsh, “focused on creating good jobs, protecting workers’ rights, expanded mental health treatment, and invested in public transit.”

Walsh seems like the right man for the job — after his time in the Massachusetts legislature, he was elected Mayor of Boston where he, according to Walsh, “led the creation of close to 140,000 jobs and helped secure a statewide $15/hour minimum wage, paid sick leave and paid parental leave.”

He even says he established universal, high-quality Pre-Kindergarten for all children and free community college for low-income students. This guy seems to really understand the political value of everything but the financial cost of nothing. As secretary of Labor, Walsh is proud to say he “halted evictions and provided rental relief; and set up multiple funds to help small businesses survive.” I guess unless your small business was owning rental properties.

And of course, speaking of helping small businesses, Walsh is especially proud of his work early in the pandemic to “pause” construction and establish safety requirements which he says was “lauded as a model by both unions and employers alike.” Yes, of course, I know most employers are simply overjoyed whenever the federal government walks in their front door to say: “You’re paused.”

Well, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Folks, the 9.1 percent YOY “inflation” rate is about as accurate as any other statistic released by the federal government…take it with a grain of salt. The truth is it’s higher than 9.1 percent. Much higher. Just don’t call it inflation. That lets them off the hook.

That is what they want you to call it because that allows them to hide behind their dastardly, immoral, and irresponsible actions to shut down the American economy which destroyed hundreds of thousands of small businesses, and millions of private sector jobs (no public sector jobs were lost), turned the lives of our kids, especially here in California, upside down resulting in nearly every negative social pathology you can think of to spike.

Listen, the simplest, and easiest metric to analyze whether we are in a dollar devaluation environment, which is the definition of inflation, is the price of gold. Since March of this year, gold prices have fallen by nearly $350 per ounce. You cannot — indeed we will not  — have a dollar devaluation and a falling gold price simultaneously.

I’m not trying to split hairs here. What we are going through is the bipartisan price spike economy. This was caused by shutting down the economy in March of 2020, coupled with Biden, and the multi-national energy company’s price spikes resulting from diminished refining capacity, and diminishing capital flows into the American energy sector driven primarily by, in the case of Biden, an immoral fanaticism with environmental, sustainable governance (ESG) nitwittery; and sadly, in the case of the energy company CEOs, sheer cowardice and a cynical attitude toward maximizing the bottom line on the ledger sheet for the approval of their America last shareholders.

If you don’t understand the underlying cause of the economic crisis, how do you expect to become an informed voter in 2024 and support the candidate or candidates accurately addressing it? They say ignorance is bliss. Whoever they are, they’re wrong. They are dead wrong. And as things are today, allow me to say it as simply as I can: Ignorance is dangerous.

You might even say, to borrow and modify an old Reagan line: Ignorance is Latin for “the mess we’re in.”

Joe Armendariz is the Director of Government Affairs for Armendariz Partners. He is a former two-term member of the Carpinteria City Council and the former Executive Director of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association, and Santa Barbara Technology and Industry Association. He is Chairman of the California Center for Public Policy. He can be reached at 805.990-2494