From City Hall Scandal To Home Alone Math

Coffee in hand, we start with a quick Friday pulse check and a question many government workers and contractors are asking: will Christmas Eve and the day after be official days off, and what does that mean if you’re not a direct federal employee? That everyday uncertainty sets a grounded tone as we move into tougher terrain: a newly appointed city official stepping down after antisemitic posts resurface, and what real accountability looks like when social media receipts don’t disappear.

From there, we pivot to a bit of cultural nostalgia with real-world bite: re-pricing Kevin McCallister’s famous $19.83 grocery run from Home Alone using current Chicago-area numbers. The updated total—hovering in the mid-$50s with a coupon—offers a tangible snapshot of inflation, shrinkflation, and the trade-offs families make at the register. It’s a moment that turns a movie gag into a practical conversation about everyday costs, brand swaps, and the budget math we all do in our heads before checkout.

We close by bringing the focus back to community and choice. After headlines and price tags, what can we control? We ask about seasonal volunteering—small acts, local drives, and ways to show up that don’t require perfect schedules or deep pockets. That simple prompt threads the episode together: public trust, household budgets, and the meaning we create when we put our time where our values are.

If this resonated, tap follow, share it with a friend who loves Home Alone trivia and real talk about costs, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Tell us: do you volunteer during the holidays, and what’s your go-to way to give back?

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Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast. 

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Chapters

• 0:29 Friday Check-In And Holiday Rumors
• 1:25 Ads, Setup, And Storyline Framing
• 1:29 Appointee Resigns Over Antisemitic Posts
• 4:22 Reaction And Accountability Questions
• 4:45 Home Alone Grocery Prices Repriced
• 7:02 Question Of The Day: Volunteering
• 7:43 Sign-Off And Programming Note

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

Hello, good morning. It's Friday. We made it through the week. Okay. Um y'all, federal employees, me, I'm not really a direct federal employee, but I am a government contractor. We may get Christmas Eve off and the day after Christmas off. I'm uh I read in the New York Post that that's what he's supposed to do. We shall he said he, you know, the New York Post reported that he possibly signed this thing. So to make it a national, we'll see when I get into work. We'll see. They'll probably say, since we're a government contractor, they're probably, well, the government gets off, but you know, you can take your PTO. Yeah, we'll see about that. Um, all right. Sorry, I need to move over here to my um X-File. And what do I have for you today? Oh, well, yeah, that's one of the stories. Okay, well, let's talk about Zoram Mamdani first. His one of his appointees has already resigned after vile anti-Semitic social media posts resurface. Are you surprised? I'm not surprised. Surprise. Expect more of this. I hope, anyway, that these people will be fired. But you know, everybody elected Zoron. Can he be fired? Okay, oh my gosh, we're gonna start with this already. Sorry. Let's see. Sorry, I had to put it on pause for a minute because I had to back out of the one thing because it kept popping up with ads, and now I have okay, now I've got the I've got it pulled up here. A high profile Zoron Mom Donny appointee resigned Thursday, so she resigned Thursday after newly unearthed posts revealed a series of anti-Semitic comments online, including rants about money hungry Jews and defunding NYPD piggies. I am not surprised by any of this, quite frankly. A short-lived appointment fell apart once the Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey demanded answers Thursday from Mayor elect Momdani's team about whether its member members knew about Catherine Almate DaCosta's past anti-Semitic posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. Yes, they're still doing that, formerly known as Twitter. Y'all need to stop it. I'm with Jeffy. Stop. DaCosta, whom Mamdani tapped on Wednesday as the city's next director of appointments, had several vile, stereotype laden posts from 2011 and 2012. The ADL revealed in a post on X. Surprise, surprise. And it talks about what they were. So in June 2012, DaCosta posted, far rockaway train is the Jew train. Wow. The post remained up until Thursday afternoon when DaCosta apparently deleted the account. Well too late now. Before the account went dark, the ADL asked if Momdani's team knew about them, if they were ex excused, and how'd they respond to similar messages? Her social media footprint includes posts from more than a decade ago that echo classic anti Semitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people. The ADL's post on X-rays. Okay, but why I want to know the response, okay? We know about all this. What is the response? Well she resigned. I want to know what Zoron has to say about it. Can we ask him? But no, they're not going there yet as far as I can see. This is quite a long article. Wow. Uh wow. Quite the long article. Meanwhile, Mamdanny's camp condemned the statements, calling them unacceptable, and absolutely do not represent him or the values of his administration. Uh-huh. Sure. No, she just got caught. That's all. And you made her resign because it makes you look bad. But I know that you still believe these things, Zoron. So there you go. Alright, moving on to the next story that I have up here on the X post. And well, alright, here we go. The next story up on the X file is. Well, let me pre predo this for you. Recently we watched Home Alone, where in that scene where Kevin McAllister goes to the grocery store by himself and purchases groceries, and it was under$20 for all the things he got. And I'm like, what in the world? I can't imagine that now. But New York Post is gonna tell us. Now I think somebody does this kind of article every year, and the New York Post has done it for this year, 2025. Kevin McAllister's grocery run in Home Alone was a cinematic bargain when compared to the prices of Americans pay today. The fictional eight-year-old play by actor Macaulay Calkin famously walked out of a Chicago area grocery store with milk, orange juice, white bread, frozen dinners, detergent paper goods, and even toy soldiers for just$19.83. A total that has gone viral in recent years as Americans grapple with soaring food costs. So repricing the same cart in 2025 tells a very different story. Using current prices from grocery stores near the McAllister's family suburban home, in which he bought a half a gallon of milk, a half a gallon of orange juice, a loaf of large white bread, okay, a TV di a TV dinner, frozen mac and cheese, frozen mac and cheese, uh tied liquid detergent, and we don't know what size, saran wrap, dryer sheets, toilet paper, and a bag of toy soldiers. We don't know, probably a four-pack of toilet paper, would be my guess. Um, if they even sell those anymore. They're saying now they checked uh halls around the McAllister's family home and it would around Chicago. And today's prices it would be$53.95 before tax or$52.95 with his dollar off coupon. That's a hundred and sixty-seven percent increase, not dollars percent increase over 35 years. I think it would be more than that today in today's world. All right, we need to move on to the question of the day. Yes, I know this is a very short episode, but I'm running late. So, question of the day is the question is, do you do any volunteer work around Christmas time? Or have you in the past done any volunteer work in the um Christmas season in the past? Um, I have a few times, but you know, uh I haven't done it in a very, very, very long time. And I got my kids involved one year too. That may have been around Thanksgiving, though, not Christmas, but I can't remember. Which if it was Thanksgiving or Christmas, but it was around that time. Alright, I gotta go. Thanks for listening. And the gent and I will hopefully be back on Sunday with the morning brew awakening, whatever it's called. I don't even know what it's called. I don't even know what our podcast is. Brewed awakening. That's it. Alright, gotta go. Thanks for listening. Bye.