>Sucking Americans dry through inflation. Of the four restaurants Rick McQuaide owns across several counties in Western Pennsylvania, one is barely making a profit, two are losing money and the fourth has been “temporarily” closed for far longer than he ever anticipated. The 58-year-old small businessman from nearby Cambria County has one word for why he finds himself in this position—and it isn’t the pandemic. “It is inflation,” he said flatly. McQuaide—whose family has also been in the trucking and logistics industry for 70 years—said what frustrates him is the reaction coming from the White House and much of the national media on the severity of the problem. “They seemingly shrug it off—maybe that happens because they’ve never owned a small business or maybe because they have jobs where they can absorb the costs with less pain,” he said. “They are wildly out of touch with the struggles of the average American and small businessperson,” McQuaide adds. “That isn’t political, that is reality.” He pointed to Biden downplaying the Labor Department report released Wednesday that showed inflation rose at the fastest pace in four decades in December (7 percentage points) as an example of how disconnected he is from the people he serves. Biden said “we are making progress” and claimed there was a reduction in inflation in the past month. McQuaide isn’t seeing it. He said there isn’t an aspect of his business that has not been upended by inflation. Fewer people are applying for jobs, driving up wages. Then there are the prices of food and fuel. “Everything has gone up and everything has gone up extraordinarily,” he said. That is, of course, if you can get the things you need.