Let me break this down: if you're out of work and collecting unemployment benefits, you're probably not too excited about returning to a minimum wage gig, especially when that gig doesn't even cover your rent. But here's the rub – those extended benefits are doing more harm than good.

Nobody is going to tell you this on CNN, but extended unemployment benefits can make it seem like there's no hurry for people to get back into the job market. And guess what? When fewer people are working and businesses have a hard time finding staff, prices go up – way up. That means your grocery bill just got a whole lot heavier.

The Biden-era extension of unemployment benefits is supposed to be temporary, but it's been extended again and again. Meanwhile, inflation rates keep climbing, and the real question nobody wants to ask is whether these extensions are making things worse for everyone except those in Washington.

Now, here’s a buried number: according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, if more workers were back on the job, overall prices could stabilize or even drop slightly. But instead, we see policy makers looking the other way while inflation continues its upward spiral. They keep saying “transitory” – but I’ve been watching this for years, and it’s never transitory when they say it.

So who benefits from all of this? Not you or me – we’re just seeing our wallets take a hit. But if you’re part of the policy-making elite in Washington, then maybe you like things just the way they are.

The real question is: how long until everyone figures out that extended unemployment isn’t helping anyone but the politicians who can hide behind it? When will we start protecting ourselves and our families from policies that only serve to line their pockets?