The Cost of Living: Promises, War and American Households

Elias Grant
Political and Foreign Affairs Analyst

Promises to lower prices are an old feature of American politics. But speeches do not balance a family’s budget. When the cost of fuel, medicine, insurance and housing rises faster than wages, having a job is no longer enough to make ends meet. The question on the minds of many Americans is simple: Why is it still so difficult to get through the month while working?

This crisis did not begin with one administration or one decision. Post-pandemic inflation, costly housing, high health-care expenses and energy-market volatility have accumulated over many years. But a government cannot use old problems to evade responsibility for its own choices. What did it decide, and who is carrying the cost? Those questions demand answers.

In its September poll, KFF found that 60 percent of voters were worried about affording health-care costs. Sixty-two percent said the cost of living should be a leading issue for candidates to address. These figures reflect more than campaign priorities. They point to families delaying treatment, cutting back on medicine or limiting the travel they need to get to work. When people in a wealthy country must choose between health care and household expenses, that is a failure of public policy.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on October 9, 78 percent of Americans said President Donald Trump’s policies bore at least some responsibility for rising prices. Among Republican voters, 57 percent said expenses were increasing faster than their earnings. In an Associated Press-NORC poll, 65 percent of adults linked unusually high prices to Trump’s policies, while 69 percent said his handling of the cost of living had been worse than expected. Polls do not scientifically establish the causes of inflation. But the public’s dissatisfaction cannot simply be dismissed as political propaganda.

Import tariffs offer one example. Although presented as a cost imposed on foreign governments, tariffs can be passed along to American importers, businesses and consumers. When costs rise, companies may raise prices, accept lower profits or cut production and jobs. The effects do not appear everywhere at once, but consumers may ultimately pay part of the price. The political slogan “foreign countries will pay” does not erase that risk.

The war with Iran has added uncertainty to energy markets. Reuters reported that on October 8 the average U.S. price of gasoline was $4.36 a gallon and diesel was $6.28. Higher fuel costs affect more than families who drive. They raise expenses across farming, transportation, food distribution and air travel. In the AP-NORC poll, 69 percent said the war with Iran was not worth fighting. The war’s security rationale can be debated. But when the public is paying its economic price, the government must explain the costs, objectives and results.

The health-care crisis predates the war and will not disappear when it ends. Treatment cannot become affordable without changes to the systems governing insurance, medicines, hospitals and public programs. A one-time tax refund or campaign promise may offer temporary relief, but it is not a solution. The country needs concrete steps to make prices transparent, strengthen competition in the pharmaceutical market and expand access to insurance.

Both major parties should stop turning people’s hardship into a campaign weapon. Those in power conceal their failures; the opposition seeks political advantage from every price increase. Yet rejecting one party does not automatically make the other a credible solution. Voters should demand measurable plans, deadlines and results—not slogans.

Ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, every candidate will promise to make life more affordable. Voters should ask direct questions: Who is paying the cost of tariffs? What are the war’s costs and objectives? Where is the concrete plan to reduce health-care expenses? How will the gap between wages and household costs be narrowed? And who will be held responsible if the plan fails?

The strength of the U.S. economy cannot be measured by output or the rise of the stock market alone. It must also be judged by whether working people can afford a secure home, health care and a dignified life. If people have jobs but monthly expenses keep eroding their hopes for the future, that is an incomplete picture of prosperity. The public is judging the government not by its slogans, but by what it pays at the fuel pump, the store and the hospital.