Because those are our only two options?
We ar perfectly capable of intelligently changing how we calculate inflation. And the current administration's idea that if an American stops buying something because they cannot afford it anymore, means inflation went down is delusional.
>We ar perfectly capable of intelligently changing how we calculate inflation.
What do you propose then? All the places where the BLS is "intelligently changing how we calculate inflation" creates controversy: hedonic/quality adjustments, substitution/weight changes, owners equivalent rent, the list goes on and on. What it practically boils down to is that people have an agenda (ie. inflation is high or low), and if the official numbers doesn't seem right to them, they accuse the current administration of fudging it, even if there's no evidence of methodology change.
There isn't really one single measure of inflation, despite what is often implied. There are many. The reason for that is that every measurement methodology distorts some aspect of the economy, so you (should) choose the measure that distorts the least for the aspect you care about.