Frustrated shoppers complaining about shortages of everyday products in their local stores are attacking President Joe Biden online with the hashtag 'Empty Shelves Joe' as the US faces severe supply chain problems that could stretch into the new year.
Dozens of cargo ships carrying hundreds of thousands of containers of goods from China and Asia are waiting to dock in California as concern grows about likely Christmas shortages. Some retailers such as Costco and Walmart are limiting sales of toilet paper in some areas and toy company CEOs are telling parents to buy their kids' Christmas gifts now to avoid disappointment.
There are similar problems with homegrown goods that can't be transported quickly enough by truckers or on freight trains.
The problems - which have tormented business owners around the world for months - are being laid bare by American shoppers who, when confronted with poorly stocked stores and rising prices on the items that they can find, are sharing photos on social media.
Consumers are also complaining that they have to go to the grocery store every day to find basic items that they previously could have purchased in one shop.
Biden on Wednesday acknowledged the concerns and intervened by announcing that the Port of Los Angeles - North America's busiest container terminal - would start 24-hour operations to help ease bottlenecks that are choking commerce and pushing up prices. Those round-the-clock operations began on Thursday.
Until the bottlenecks in the supply chain are removed, the complaints about shortages will mount.
The move was too little, too late, for Republicans who accused the government of waiting months to try to fix the problem.
On Thursday it was revealed by Politico that as the crisis mounted, Biden's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg went on paternity leave in August and September after he and husband Chasten adopted twins. He is now back at work in a reduced capacity and will 'continue to take some time over the coming weeks to support his husband and take care of his new children', a Department for Transportation spokesman said.
Frustrated shoppers complaining about shortages of everyday products in their local stores are attacking President Joe Biden online with the hashtag 'Empty Shelves Joe' as the US faces severe supply chain problems that could stretch into the new year
Some retailers like Costco and Walmart are limiting the amount of toilet paper in some stores. This photograph was posted on Twitter by a man in Illinois
In his Wednesday announcement, Biden said: 'With the holidays coming up, you might be wondering if gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time? I know you’re hearing a lot about something called supply chains and how hard it is to get a range of things from a toaster to sneakers to bicycles to bedroom furniture.'
He called new agreements with ports, unions, and shippers 'a sign of major progress in moving goods from manufacturers to a store and to your front door.'
But earlier on Wednesday, Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, had sparked alarm by saying: 'We are not the postal service or UPS or FedEx. We cannot guarantee. What we can do is use every lever at the federal government's disposal to reduce delays, to ensure that we are addressing bottlenecks in the system, including ports and the need for them to be open longer hours.'
The shortages are due to issues in the global supply chain, but Biden's critics have accused him of mismanagement.
Senator Rick Scott called on Biden's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to testify before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Senate Transportation Committee member Cynthia Lummis told the Washington Examiner: 'We're well over a year into this, and I'm concerned that the Biden administration seems more focused on pushing Congress to massively expand the federal bureaucracy rather than using their existing authorities to help American businesses and consumers get back to normal.'
Representative Kevin Brady, ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, added that the administration's actions finally addressing these issues is 'months late and more than a dollar short'. He claimed the White House has been in 'denial' related to supply chain problems.
'We've heard a lot of talk and a lot of formation of task forces but nothing concrete to address this,' the Texas Republican said. 'My first advice to Secretary Buttigieg is stop making it worse and tackle the real issues,' Brady said, accusing Biden's team of making labor shortage issues worse by implementing a vaccine mandate for companies with more than 100 employees.
Jack Posobiec, an alt-right activist and commentator, noted that 'EmptyShelvesJoe' was the number one trending topic on Twitter.
Donald Trump Jr commented: 'Yikes!'
Some consumers are seeing shortages of pet food as evidenced by this photograph posted on Twitter from Syracuse, New York under the hashtag EmptyShelvesJoe
Sharyl Attkisson, a journalist with Washington DC-based Full Measure News, tweeted a picture of empty shelves, noting: 'My grocery. There's plenty of food it's not as if we will starve. But I've never seen empty shelves like this in my lifetime.'
Attkisson posted photos of rows of empty shelves
When the chips are down: An empty snack aisle at a grocery store
A shop owner in Arizona shared photos of his family's store without the usual supplies. '#EmptyShelvesJoe #FJBiden #LetsGoBrandon Here’s our family owned hardware store. My father’s been here for 35 years and he said it’s NEVER been like this. Smh.'
Empty shelves: An Arizona grocery store run by the same family for 35 years now has empty shelves
Country music singer John Rich tweeted: 'Hard to mess up a country any faster than #EmptyShelvesJoe but I have to say, he's brought unity to much of the country by way of getting the majority of Americans to give the big thumbs down and chant #LetsGoBrandon from coast to coast...In that respect, Joe is a unifier.' The 'Lets Go Brandon' chant has in the past two weeks become a rallying call for opponents of the president, starting after a TV presenter misheard a Nascar crowd on October 2 yelling: 'F*** Joe Biden' - and told her viewers they were chanting: 'Let's go Brandon.'
Country music singer John Rich tweeted: 'Hard to mess up a country any faster than #EmptyShelvesJoe but I have to say, he's brought unity to much of the country by way of getting the majority of Americans to give the big thumbs down and chant #LetsGoBrandon from coast to coast...In that respect, Joe is a unifier.'
The 'Lets Go Brandon' chant has in the past two weeks become a rallying call for opponents of the president, starting after a TV presenter misheard a Nascar crowd on October 2 yelling: 'F*** Joe Biden' - and told her viewers they were chanting: 'Let's go Brandon.'
Sharyl Attkisson, a journalist with Washington DC-based Full Measure News, tweeted a picture of empty shelves, noting: 'My grocery. There's plenty of food it's not as if we will starve. But I've never seen empty shelves like this in my lifetime.'
Pearson Sharp, with One America News, tweeted a parody logo for Biden, with the E resembling empty shelves.
A shop owner in Arizona shared photos of his family's store without the usual supplies.
'#EmptyShelvesJoe #FJBiden #LetsGoBrandon Here’s our family owned hardware store.
'My father’s been here for 35 years and he said it’s NEVER been like this. Smh.'
A man in Illinois tweeted a photo of a sparsely-stacked warehouse in Illinois, and said: 'No toilet paper again. Thanks #EmptyShelvesJoe!'
A woman by the name of Laurie said: 'Just went food shopping...again...thanks #EmptyShelvesJoe.
'I really love having to go every day now in order to find what used to take one trip.'
Republican politicians were quick to join in.
The House Republicans' account on Twitter tweeted: 'Top tending topic on Twitter right now is #EmptyShelvesJoe.'
Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republicans Conference, and a congresswoman for New York, referenced struggles to get supplies for her newborn son Sam, born on August 31.
'Ask new Moms how Joe Biden’s economy is going… Diaper prices are surging & Size 1 or 2 diapers are incredibly limited on grocery store shelves!
'Joe Biden has caused an economic crisis in America.'
Jody Hice, a congressman for Georgia, tweeted a meme of Biden in a Game of Thrones chair, with the slogan: 'Winter is coming.'
He tweeted: '72 days till Christmas and it's going to be a budget buster...
'Gas prices are skyrocketing. Airlines are in chaos. Heating costs are up. Toy shortages are looming.
'And it's all thanks to Joe Biden!'
Biden reached a deal on Wednesday with unions and business leaders from Walmart, FedEx, UPS and others to expand operations at the port.
Once implemented the proposed changes could increase output by more than 3,500 shipping containers per week, White House officials said.
'Traditionally, our ports have only been open during the week, Monday through Friday,' said Biden on Wednesday.
'And they're generally closed down at nights and on weekends.
'By staying open seven days a week through the night and on the weekends, the port of Los Angeles will open over 60 extra hours a week.
'That will almost double the number of hours that the port is open for business than earlier this year.'
Still, dozens of ships carrying hundreds of thousands of containers remained at anchor outside the harbor, waiting for a berth on docks packed to capacity.
Many will wait more than 10 days.
Furthermore, the consumer-price index rose by 0.4 per cent from August to September, according to data released by the Labor Department on Wednesday - a 5.4 per cent year-over increase, the highest in 13 years.
While slower than June's record-setting 0.9 per cent increase, it likely won't be enough to turn the tide of inflation in time for Christmas.
Biden's chief of staff, Ronald Klain, angered some by claiming on Wednesday evening that the current U.S. economic issues, including inflation and supply chain delays, are just 'high class problems'.
Jason Furman, a Harvard Economics professor and former chairman of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, tweeted: 'Most of the economic problems we're facing (inflation, supply chains, etc.) are high class problems.'
'We wouldn't have had them if the unemployment rate was still 10 percent,' he added of earlier rates.
'We would instead have had a much worse problem.'
Klain retweeted the post along with, 'This' and two emoji fingers pointing down to the tweet – indicating his agreement.
Asked on Thursday about the tweet, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said that Klain's Twitter 'is not a top priority at this point in time.'
She added: 'The chief of staff is out there speaking on his own accord ... as any chief of staff does.
'I think it's also important for anyone here to be able to tout points that they find interesting that's the purpose of public speech.'
She then explained Klain's reasoning.
'The point here is some of these critics ... we don't know if they're saying that what they thought was great was when the unemployment rate was double what it is today, or when people were locked in their homes and therefore gas prices were lower.
'We're at this point because the unemployment rate has come down and has been cut in half because people are buying more goods, because people are traveling, because demand is up, and because the economy is turning back on.'
Economies largely shuttered for chunks of the last year by governments trying to tamp down the coronavirus are reopening, and demand is booming - but supply is struggling to keep up.
Globalization has created havoc, with supply chains that stretch from resource extraction in places such Australia, to production in Asian manufacturing hubs, to shoppers in the West.
Between every stage, goods are loaded into box containers and transported on ships, trains and trucks through ports and stations.
If any one of these steps breaks down, the whole chain can grind to a halt.
During the pandemic, almost every one of them did.
And even as things start to get back to normal in the United States, the effects are still being felt.
'Everything is back ordered, all the vessels are in the ocean,' truck driver Tony Nguyen told AFP.
'I've been driving for the port for like almost 10 years, but this year it's terrible. I've never seen that before.'
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