Your Campaign Slogan is Affordability?

Your Campaign Slogan is Affordability?

September 17, 2026

Certain politicians are campaigning on the “affordability crisis.” The claim is that inflation and the economy are both so bad that most Americans can’t afford to pay even basic living expenses. It’s a wonder how people got through the period from 2021-2023 when inflation was much higher. Go figure.

Recent statistics from the US government indicate poverty is at its lowest level for many decades and average income at its highest level ever. So, let’s be blunt about some of the reasons you might be having an affordability crisis. If you can relate to anything on this list, then it’s time to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make something happen because you live in a country that has enormous opportunities to make money and improve your lifestyle.

• you have not taken advantage of educational opportunities to get a high school diploma, learn a trade or get a college degree
• you are living in an economic desert; move to a location where there are opportunities
• be aggressive; look for work, show up on time and do a good job

I am not judging you. I have worked very hard my entire life with no let up. Today, I am still not rich (maybe someday) but I am able to live a good life and make my own decisions. I have faith that you can make your life better. A government handout keeps you in poverty and makes you beholden to them. It sucks away your dignity, freedom, self-respect and ability to make decisions for yourself and your family.

You say you have a child. So did I in my early 20s. You say you grew up in poverty. So did I with a single Mom in the bad part of town. I know you can do this so make it happen.

The idea that a politician will rescue you from an affordability crisis is ludicrous. Let’s see, what is the root cause of affordability issues. Let’s take Bob and Maria who both work and make $120,000 per year. The average income in the US is $90,000 but in several states the number picked is the average. Here’s an annual budget for this couple.

Income ($120,000) – taxes ($27,420) – expenses ($96,000) = -$3,420 (that’s negative). One can see very quickly why people carry credit card debt given this budget is short $3420 per year. Saving money is tough and having children is tougher. I know, I’ve been there. Still, with this budget they can enjoy some entertainment, travel and hobbies. Notice I generously set gasoline at $4.50 per gallon for 2000 gallons per year, a lot of driving.

The medical insurance deduction shows the impact of premiums on taxable income for federal and state purposes. You still pay social security and medicare/medicaid on all of your income. In fact, to hide the true cost of these programs from you, Congress makes your employer also pay these amounts. You don’t see that in your paycheck. That’s a total of 12.4% for social security and 2.90% for medicare/medicaid (and to think they want more).

What stands out as the big impacts on your affordability? TAXES and HOUSEHOLD. If you take the property tax out of the household category and put into taxes, these two categories are essentially identical with TAXES at $29,420 and HOUSEHOLD AT $30,000. But the tax category is worse than shown in the above table. Consider the other taxes in the table below.

Included is the FICA your employer pays that you don’t see as well as gross receipts and sales. But there’s another category you definitely don’t see and that is the cost of fees, licenses, regulations, codes, permits, reporting, requirements, tolls, tariffs and taxes (all imposed by government) on the products and services you purchase. This is generously set at 12% but may be well over 20%.

Add the income and property taxes ($29,420) to these other taxes ($23,602) and you get $53,022. WOW! You’re paying that. A whopping actual 44.2% tax (government cost) rate and some politicians want more.

Now to be fair I know that government is an important function and it requires resources to operate. But I also know from experience that at least 30% of what the government does is completely unnecessary. Add to that the fact that at least 15% of its activities are legal waste, fraud and abuse AND at least 15% of its activities are illegal waste, fraud and abuse. D.O.G.E. never came close to reducing the size and cost of government that’s possible but it gets a half thumb up for trying. This means that government could be cut by about 50%. The people who love government control and taxes will cry foul. But I am telling the truth and I know it and this topic is worth another article.

But let’s be generous and look at how we can make Bob and Maria’s affordability crisis go away. Let’s cut all the tax (government cost) categories by just a meager 25% and see what happens to their budget. See the new 25% tax reduction budget table below.

Income ($120,000) – Taxes ($20,565) – Expenses ($95,500) = $3,935. Wow, a complete turn-around. They can look at saving money, affording children and/or doing more fun things and improving their lifestyle. But it gets way better because this impacts the other taxes I’ve mentioned. See the new other taxes table below.

The difference between the first “other taxes” table with current tax rates ($23,602) and this one with the reduced tax rates ($18,019) is $5,583. This is cash that can potentially all go back into your budget for a total of $9,518.

Any politician pushing that they are going to fix affordability with more taxes, business regulation and government programs when they caused it, is a liar, a cheat and a thief. They’re also a control freak. Do not vote for them. It is the cost of government that destroys affordability. There’s another government sourced factor as well which may be covered in a follow-on article. Have a nice day!