Millions In U.S. Struggling To Afford Basic Necessities

 

The charts above are from a Pew Research Center survey -- done between August 24th and 30th of a nationwide sample of 5,166 adults, with a 1.6 point margin of error.

Affordability Can't Be Fixed Without Attacking Corruption

From the website of Robert Reich:

In these last weeks before the midterms, Democratic candidates have been gaining ground by talking about two things: the affordability crisis and political corruption.

If Democrats regain control of Congress and genuinely want to respond to affordability, they’ll need to do everything possible to root out the corruption.

The two are inseparable. In large part, prices are rising faster than paychecks because so much of the economy has become subject to political bribery, Trump Republican pay-to-play schemes, and kickbacks to Trump and his cronies. 

1. Trump’s war and the corruption underlying it

Trump’s war on Iran is causing Americans to spend almost 50 percent more on gas than before the war, on average. And the diesel fuel needed to transport almost everything else we buy now averages more than $6.00 a gallon, which is also being passed on to consumers.

These price increases due to Trump’s war tell only half the story. The other half is the political corruption at the root of the war — enriching Trump’s friends and family.

The war has been a huge windfall for Big Tech supplying the military — such as Palantir, a core artificial intelligence and data-integration partner for the U.S. Department of Defense, founded by Trump and JD Vance’s buddy Peter Thiel, and Elon Musk. 

Musk’s SpaceX reportedly quintupled its connection fees for the Pentagon, from $5,000 per terminal to $25,000 per terminal for terminals integrated into U.S. “kamikaze” (LUCAS) drones deployed in the conflict. 

Not incidentally, Musk has quietly funneled more than $275 million to Republican candidates in the midterms, making him by far the largest single donor to either party.

 

Meanwhile, investment companies backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have accumulated billions in Pentagon contracts and future contract options, according to the government’s official contract reporting. (Congressional Democrats continue to demand that the Pentagon’s inspector general investigate the approved deals.)

2. Trump’s tariffs and the corruption beneath them

Trump’s tariffs offer another example of higher prices connected to corruption. The tariffs are import taxes that have increased annual household costs by an estimated $1,100, according to The Budget Lab at Yale.

Again, though, the price increases tell only half the story. 

Trump’s tariffs have enabled Trump to give out tariff waivers and carve-outs to industries and companies that do him favors.

After Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration and promised major domestic investments, Apple got tariff exemptions for imported smartphones, computers, semiconductors, and flat panel displays, all of which saved Apple huge amounts of money.

After Elon Musk sank a quarter of a billion dollars into Trump’s 2024 campaign, Tesla got a tariff exemption for electronics.

Reyes Holdings, a bottler that ranks among the largest privately held companies in the U.S. and is owned by brothers who have donated millions to Republicans, got a tariff exemption for polyethylene terephthalate, used to make plastic bottles. And so on.

3. Trump’s promotion of AI and the corruption underlying it

A third example linking higher prices to corruption is artificial intelligence. Together with the costs of Trump’s war in Iran, AI’s borrowing of over $500 billion so far this year has contributed to sky-high interest rates on mortgages, auto loans, and credit-card overdrafts. And AI data centers are raising electricity prices in areas where data centers are sucking up energy.

As with the war and the tariffs, Trump’s support for AI is tied to political payoffs. Tech companies and their executives donated over $300 million to support Trump’s 2024 reelection efforts and MAGA ​Inc, the political action committee aligned with Trump. (This doesn’t include Musk’s more than a quarter billion dollars in donations to Republicans.)

According to a CNBC analysis of FEC records, megadonor contributions from AI, crypto, and online gambling executives have overwhelmingly favored Republicans, with 14 of the 20 largest donor groups nearly exclusively backing GOP candidates or outside groups.

To see how Trump’s war, his tariffs, and his support for AI interact on prices, consider housing affordability, which is among voters’ top concerns.

While Trump’s war and encouragement of AI have contributed to the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rising to over 7 percent, Trump’s tariffs have caused the prices of lumber and building materials to soar. The National Association of Home Buildersestimates that tariffs on lumber and building materials have added $10,900 to the cost of constructing a new U.S. single-family home.

The price of copper, a key material for electrical wiring in residential and commercial construction, has risen 40 percent in the past year due to Trump’s tariffs and the demands of data centers — adding even more cost to building a typical home, which requires hundreds of pounds of copper.

4. Trump’s giant tax cut for the rich and the corruption it rests on

A final illustration of the close connection between rising prices and corruption is Trump’s tax cuts. Trump’s megadonors in the 2024 campaign demanded another big tax cut as a condition for their investments, which came in the form of Trump’s “Big Beautiful” (Big Ugly) bill.

But the tax cuts have come at the expense of healthcare for average Americans.

To pay for the tax cuts demanded by their largest donors, Trump and congressional Republicans have slashed Medicaid and failed to renew healthcare tax credits. As a result, millions of Americans are now forced to spend far more for health insurance coverage or do without it altogether.

5. The Democrats’ agenda if they retake control of Congress

If Democrats regain control of Congress, they will need to focus not only on alleviating high prices but also on eliminating the causes of those high prices. It will be impossible to do the former without attacking the latter.

In addition to ending Trump’s war and his arbitrary tariffs, they must reform campaign financing, and help reduce the influence of big money in politics. One method would be to match public financing with small-dollar donations.

 

They’ll also need to resurrect the systems of accountability Trump has dismantled —the independent civil service, independent inspectors general, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Federal Election Commission.

Under Trump and his Republican enablers, the richest Americans and biggest corporations have made out like bandits. Average working Americans are paying dearly for what the bandits have stolen. The grift and the graft must end.

Fox News Poll Shows Economy/Affordability Is Big Issue In This Election

 

The charts above are from the Fox News Poll -- done between September 11th and 14th of a nationwide sample of 1,211 registered voters, with a 3 point margin of error.

Another Poll Shows Affordability Is The Primary Issue In This Election

 

The charts above are from the Marquette University Law School Poll -- done between July 22nd and 29th of a nationwide sample of 1,076 adults, with a 3.2 point margin of error.

63% of Americans Have Under $500 Left Each Month After Paying Their Bills

This very disturbing report is from the International Business Times. 

Nearly two-thirds of Americans are now living paycheque to paycheque, according to the latest SurveyMonkey Quarterly Money Survey, underscoring the financial strain many households continue to face despite a resilient labour market and slowing inflation.

The survey found that 63% of US adults rely on each paycheque to cover monthly expenses, while most have little or no financial cushion after paying for essentials such as housing, food, utilities and transportation.

The findings suggest that millions of Americans remain financially vulnerable, with many saying they would struggle to absorb even a modest unexpected expense or a temporary interruption to their income.

According to the SurveyMonkey survey, an overwhelming majority of respondents reported having less than $500 remaining each month after covering essential living costs.

Among all respondents, 20% said they generally break even each month, and 17% reported spending more than they earn, leaving them in a monthly deficit. Only a minority said they consistently have significant disposable income remaining after paying bills.

For households already living paycheque to paycheque, the picture is even more challenging. The survey found that 90% of those respondents have almost no money left after meeting basic financial obligations, while 47% either break even or operate at a monthly deficit.

Among respondents who reported ending each month with a financial deficit, the size of those shortfalls differed considerably.

The survey found 25% fall short by less than $100 each month, 26% report deficits between $101 and $250, 37% say they are short between $251 and $1,000, and 12% face monthly deficits exceeding $1,000

Those figures illustrate how even relatively small budget gaps can accumulate over time, often forcing households to rely on savings, credit cards or loans simply to cover routine expenses. The survey also found that ongoing financial stress is reshaping long-term personal and financial decisions.

According to SurveyMonkey, 61% of respondents said money pressures have forced them to postpone important life milestones. Those delayed plans include saving for retirement, purchasing a home, buying a vehicle, getting married, and making other significant financial commitments.

Rather than building wealth or investing for the future, many households report focusing primarily on covering immediate living expenses.

More than half of those surveyed said they feel more financially stressed today than they did one year ago. Among the biggest contributors to that stress were insufficient savings (45%), credit card debt (30%), auto insurance costs (25%), and medical expenses (23%).

The findings suggest that while inflation has eased from its post-pandemic peak, many households continue struggling with elevated everyday costs and limited financial reserves. The survey also highlights how little financial flexibility many Americans have.

Among those living paycheque to paycheque, 71% said even a one-week delay in receiving their wages would create financial problems. 50% described such a delay as a major hardship, and 21% said it would trigger a financial emergency. Only 23% believed a delayed paycheque would be a minor inconvenience.

10 Things Democrats Can Pledge To Create An Affordable Economy

From Robert Reich: 

Democrats can show America that they can be better trusted than Republicans to bring prices down and real wages up by pledging 10 things.

Pledge To Make America Affordable Again

1. We’ll eliminate Trump’s across-the-board tariffs. They’re import taxes that are raising the prices of just about everything American consumers buy. We’ll eliminate them where their costs to consumers are far higher than any potential benefits in the form of new jobs.

2. We’ll get energy prices down by ending Trump’s war in Iran and shifting to renewable sources of energy. 

Trump’s war has increased gas prices by $1 a gallon over most of the country. It’s accomplished nothing but give Iran bargaining leverage to close the strait — which was open before the war. We’ll bring down energy prices by ending the war and then reduce energy prices by shifting to renewable sources that are cheaper than fossil fuels, such as solar, wind, and biomass. 

3. We’ll bust up monopolies. Another major source of high prices is monopolies — especially in high tech, healthcare, food, and finance. We’ll vigorously enforce antitrust (anti-monopoly) laws so that corporations don’t have the power to raise prices. We’ll bust up giant corporations. We’ll bar large firms from merging or acquiring other firms.

4. We’ll fight for stronger unions. Workers need more bargaining power to get higher wages. Part of the answer is stronger unions. Democrats will make it easier for them to start or join them.

5. We’ll raise the national minimum wage to $20 an hour. No one who works full-time should be in poverty. And we’ll raise it even higher for employees of big corporations that pay their top executives more than 200 times the typical worker.

6. We’ll make housing more affordable. We’ll stop private equity firms from buying up large tracts of housing and colluding on prices. We’ll get rid of zoning laws that keep housing prices high. And we’ll raise taxes on big corporations that drive up housing prices where they’re headquartered or have major facilities and use the funds for more affordable housing there.

7. We’ll cut healthcare costs by making Medicare available to everyone. Giving everyone the option of buying into Medicare would bring healthcare costs down because it’s cheaper and more efficient than private for-profit health insurance.

8. We’ll get working families help with childcare and eldercare. Both are essential for working families who must now pay out large portions of their incomes to provide care for family members.

9. We’ll give working families paid family leave. Twelve weeks of unpaid leave has proven useful but not adequate. Every other advanced country provides paid leave; the richest country in the world should too.

10. We’ll raise taxes on the wealthiest to pay for this. Since Reagan, the rich have paid far lower taxes while accumulating a near-record portion of total income and wealth. It’s only fair that they pay more so that the rest of America can afford what Americans need. We’ll raise the top marginal tax rate to 70 percent — what it was before Reagan. We’ll also impose a 0.5 percent tax on wealth in excess of $100 million. We’ll also eliminate the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes, require that the ultra-rich pay annual capital gains taxes on unrealized income, and eliminate the stepped-up basis at death.

These 10 steps are crucial for making America affordable again.

New Poll Shows Economy/Affordability Is Still A Huge Issue

 

The charts above are from the CBS News / YouGov Poll -- done between May 13th and 15th of a nationwide sample of 2,064 adults, with a 2.7 point margin of error.