The Economy Is Booming But Most Aren't Feeling It

By almost any measure used to gauge the economy, it is booming. Gross Domestic Product in the last two quarters was 4.9% and 3.3% (very healthy numbers). The stock market is setting new records. Inflation is coming down. Unemployment remains low.

So, why do Americans keep saying the economy is bad? Part of it is the MAGA cult, who wouldn't admit the economy under a Democratic president was good no matter how good the numbers were. But that is not the biggest reason. The biggest reason is that the good economy is not reaching most workers. Their lives are not being made better.

They see the numbers. They see the massive corporate profits. And they see the rich getting richer every day. But they don't see their own economic position getting better. 

Note the quote above from the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies. A record 22.4 million households are now paying more than 30% (the recommended amount) for their rent, and a massive 12.1 million are paying more than half of their income for it. When you are forced to spend too much for rent, it makes everything else harder.

And it's not just rent. Groceries, childcare, and nearly everything else has gone up. This might not be so bad if workers had seen significant increases in their pay, but that has not happened. While the rich and corporations get richer, most workers are struggling just to keep up with inflation (and many are falling behind).

It's natural to blame the party in power for this. But that should not be the case right now. While the Democrats hold the White House and split the Senate, the Republicans control the House and are able to block nearly every effort by the president to make the lives of workers better.

Republicans cling to their economic belief that making corporations more profitable and the richer richer (and cutting taxes for both) is the key to a better life for everyone. That has not worked. It just created the current situation that is hurting most Americans.

There is a solution, but not one Republicans want to consider. 

First, the minimum wage must be raised to a livable wage. This will not only help the poor, but also put upward pressure on all wages.

Second, it should be made easier for workers to form and join labor unions. It's the only way workers can have the power to negotiate for decent pay and safe working conditions.

Third, we need to help workers with child care costs. Too often, most of a low-wage workers earning go just to pay this cost. No worker should have to pay more than 7% of their income for child care.

President Biden has tried to address all three of these, but he was blocked by Republicans (and a couple of corporate-owned Democratic senators - Manchin and Sinema). 

It's good to have a booming economy, but it's even better if all can benefit from that boom. That won't happen until the Republicans are voted out of power.