You can't always get what you want. Sometimes, even when you try, you can't even get what you need. Even worse, those now in need are among our most vulnerable: babies and older people.

I'm not talking about the homeless crisis plaguing America. Homelessness is a huge problem that has failed to be addressed. Now there's another big problem. It doesn't stem from mental illness. It isn't directly related to poverty. It can strike regardless of socioeconomic status. It's Joe Biden's economy.

Parents of newborns are in panic mode as the baby formula shortage rises to the level of crisis, according to Fox Business. Desperate parents have resorted to posting pics of empty store shelves on social media in an effort to get the problem addressed.

One post cried out, "GET THESE BABIES SOME FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The baby formula shortage is unreal!!! GET THESE BABIES SOME FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😢 pic.twitter.com/GSlh3E3tVD

— britt🦋 (@billi0nairebrit) May 1, 2022

A mother in Georgia targeted Gov. Brian Kemp with, "At what point are we going to start talking about the baby formula shortage? I shouldn't have to cry & wonder how I'm going to feed my 4 month old!"

At what point are we going to start talking about the baby formula shortage? I shouldn’t have to cry & wonder how I’m going to feed my 4 month old! @BrianKempGA pic.twitter.com/N1dSo0g2qi

— ✰ 𝙰 𝙻 𝚈 ✰ (@alytilda) April 27, 2022

The shortage doesn't impact only those parents trying to find formulas that their babies can tolerate. Some parents say they can't locate any baby formula at all. To further complicate the issue, delivery is no longer reliable in some cases.

The shortage started with supply chain issues that are still with us. It was impacted recently by recalls from manufacturer Abbott Laboratories after reports of the deaths of two infants who allegedly drank the formula produced at the company's plant in Sturgis, Michigan.

On the other end of the spectrum, retirees, most of them presumably in their golden years, are returning to work -- not because they want to. Because they have to. According to Indeed, a leading job platform, people are choosing "unretirement" due to "inflation and a tight job market," as reported by The Daily Wire.

As of March 2022, about 3.2 percent of workers who were retired a year earlier are now working again, according to Indeed. That may sound like a relatively small percentage, but at the rate things are going, it's bound to get bigger.

The "unretirement" trend has happened before. During the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 retirees opted to unretire as the labor market became more lucrative. That's not what's happening now.

Consumer price inflation rates after the 2007-2009 crisis remained in the ballpark of the Federal Reserve’s long-term 2 percent target. It did jump to nearly 4 percent in 2011 before stabilizing. The COVID-19 lockdown-induced economic trouble has been marked by "once-in-a-generation inflation surges," according to The Daily Wire. Consumer price levels began increasing at a rate of 8.5 percent in March 2022.

To make matters worse, there's been an almost 3 percent decline in real wages due to inflation. A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll revealed that 94 percent of Americans were either “upset” or “concerned” about the impact of rising inflation. Inflation is real, and it hurts. Only 28 percent approved of Biden’s attempts to manage the crisis.

This isn't anywhere near inside the ballpark of a sustainable economy. It look like Elvis has left the building on this one. He appears to have taken the U.S. economy with him.

And it's not coming back anytime soon. Billionaire David Rubenstein told Fox News, "Inflation, as we all know, when it gets in the system, it's very hard to get it out." Rubenstein predicted that the current 8 percent annualized inflation rate will go down. How's 5 percent or 6 percent sound? That's where Rubenstein thinks the ball will land. Are your wages going to keep up? Probably not.

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It's a perfect storm. Biden's bizzarro economic philosophy seems to be spending as means to the oblivion of the administration's utopian delusions.  American Airlines has opted to put some “flights” on the ground due to pilot shortages and skyrocketing fuel costs. Some would-be fliers are being transported by bus. How's that for bizarre?

What most Americans really want, what they really need, is some inkling of sanity from their government. They're not going to get it from the Biden administration. They're not going to get it from leftists and progressives who now lead the Democratic Party.

Progressive insanity has infected our schools, our government and now our pocketbooks. Americans, by and large, don't like trouble. But they've got it. They're going to have to act if they don't want babies going hungry and grandparents being forced into "unretirement."

There's an election coming up. Vote. Just do it. Do the right thing.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.