If one actually shops then they will have noticed that everything is going up from eggs to autos…..and most Americans see their paycheck worth less and less with each passing check…..
The Century Foundation commissioned a survey last month with polling firm Morning Consult and found that roughly 6 in 10 Americans say that Trump’s policies are to blame for their current financial struggles. However, the report also emphasized that Americans’ “financial insecurity is widespread and runs deep,” and that their concerns stretch back well before Trump’s second term.
“More than 4 in 5 Americans (83%) are concerned about the price of groceries, with nearly half (46%) saying they are very concerned,” writes the Century Foundation. “Nearly half (47%) of Americans are worried about their current ability to pay their rent or mortgage. And nearly two-thirds (64%) worry about their ability to pay an unexpected medical expense if one should arise. Nearly half of all Americans (48%) believe they would have difficulty paying an unexpected $500 bill without borrowing.”
These anxieties were particularly strong among younger Generation Z voters, as well as among Black and Latino voters across all age demographics.
Even more troubling, the survey found that Americans are increasingly using financially risky strategies to keep up with paying their bills.
“More than a third of Americans are turning to high-cost debt to cover their bills,” writes the Century Foundation. “Significant shares have also had to turn to credit cards (37%) or take on debt (29%) to afford the bills. This is consistent with the larger trends in use of credit products, like the notable shift in use of ‘buy now, pay later’ products for groceries. The rates of families using credit card debt to cover expenses is all the more concerning as credit card delinquencies continue to rise.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-economy-poll
+++This next report should send those creepy GOPers into a panic attack for after decades of attempting to make actual financial security through politics as something evil the feelings are changing+++
If there is one thing that Republicans and Democratic consultants can agree on, it is that the working class of America loves racism and sexism and hates socialism. Alas, not only does this ignore the rather glaring fact that people of color make up 45 percent of the working class (many of whom even live right here in the Midwest) and that women make up 47 percent, but it turns out that large swaths of this group are quite fond of the kind of left-wing economic policies we have long been told would “scare them off.”
In fact, a recent study from Center for Working‑Class Politics and Jacobin has found that they are even more fond of some of them than non-working class people who consider themselves to be “egalitarians.”
ia Jacobin:
To answer these questions, we analyzed 128 public-opinion questions from three of the most trusted and comprehensive surveys in US political science: the American National Election Studies (ANES), the General Social Survey (GSS), and the Cooperative Election Study (CES). Our data spans from 1960 to 2022, allowing us to track long-term shifts in working-class attitudes across six issue domains: immigration, civil rights, social norms, environmental policy, and two categories of economic policy — predistribution (like wages and job protections) and redistribution (like taxes and social programs).
The results found that there is majority support among the working class for import limits to protect jobs, new limits on imports, increasing the federal minimum wage, belief that the government should do more, labor unions, a jobs guarantee, lower drug prices, increasing state transportation spending, and workers on boards of directors.
As far as redistributive policies go, majorities support increasing spending on Social Security, the poor, health care, social services and public education, as well as expanding Medicare, higher taxes for the rich, a millionaire tax, and paid parental leave.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/shocking-working-class-actually-quite
There is only so much screwing the working class can take before their suppressed attitudes come to the forefront.
We will see if this translates into policy and changes in the next couple of elections.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I don’t know what the problem is…I have 5 figures in an emergency stash …and I never have problems…maybe I will in the future….when bread starts costing a thousand dollars a loaf…but for the time being i am good. Regardless of what unbelievers think, God supplies our every need… but it is a good idea for folks to stay within their budgets and stop trying to keep up with the joneses.
How does one stay within a budget when income is stagnant and prices are allowed to run amok? The Joneses have little to do with it these days. chuq
Using a credit card to pay for everyday food purchases is a one-way ticket to financial disaster. Prices are also increasing here, but we have to make a few easy changes to be able to afford our usual way of life. Buy some things in bulk. (Toilet rolls on Amazon are almost 30% cheaper when you buy 48 at a time) Take advantage of discounted special offers and freeze the excess for another time. Go to a different supermarket occasionally to buy their offers, and use supermarket own brands for basics like tomato puree, canned tomatoes, pasta, olive oil, milk, butter, and cheese. Avoiding branded goods can save a lot of money. Julie and I are living on pensions, and we still manage to eat well every day.
Best wishes, Pete.
Good advice worth heeding chuq
For those who don’t want to admit who is behind these rising prices, I have no sympathy. Tariffs raise prices and do NOTHING to improve your financial situation. This is just more proof
How to get people to understand that these tariffs are actually a tax on the consumer? chuq
We will see when certain prices become so egregious that people look for someone to blame…and how they will be misdirected again – like DC is so dangerous we dont have time to focus on Trump’s Epstein past! And apparently Melania’s past as well, which could be the smoking gun of the story
I agree….I always thought the DC thing was a diversion as he uses so many times. chuq
… worried about their current ability to pay their rent or mortgage. … and as we’ve seen, Trump –and others– don’t want them to set up any kind of living quarters in THEIR areas.
Let me be clear, I’m well aware that many of the “street people” are junkies … but not all. There are many who have simply fallen on hard times (and there will soon be more under Trump’s regime). What are they to do? (Pray???) Where are they to go?
That is a good question when he have lies turning into news? chuq