To add to this, due to the scale that the major grocery chains operate at, even if you do have a local grocer, baker, etc their prices will be higher than the big box stores

Same here. I like the idea of Lemmy but the decentralization makes it really difficult to find the content I want. Reddits centralization, while causing some problems, definitely made it easy to find communities. That lack of ease is what makes Lemmy not as easy to use for new people.

My thoughts on the congressional salary is that it should be a multiplier of the minimum wage and congress can’t change that multiplier. They want a raise? Then they have to raise the minimum wage for everyone

My thoughts on it should be that a politician can serve until the full retirement age as defined by the federal government, which is currently 67. Mental decline in later life is definitely a thing and I don’t feel like people who are in the age range for mental decline should be running the country.