Dear Editor,
During the past week, I happened to catch a report on TV about a job fair being held for seniors. The event was organized in response to today’s economic situation that’s causing more retirement age individuals to return to the labor force. Apparently needing additional income, one out of three current retirees in the U.S. are considering going back to work due to the effects of inflation and the rising cost of living. Among all Americans aged 65 and older, retired or not, their top concerns are unforeseen expenses, increased cost of living, and outliving their savings. For those reasons, people are now working longer than they once did. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2030 roughly 40% of adults 65 to 69 are expected to still be working - up from 33% in 2020.
As this current presidential election cycle heats up, much debate focuses on the current administration’s policies, both foreign and domestic, that have contributed to life in America being what it is. Many policy issues could be couched within a broad theme of protecting America – the threat of military conflict, illegal drug trafficking and crime, domestic violence, humanitarian needs, healthcare, and many more. And polling in 2024 suggests that a vast number of Americans regard the government’s policies on the economy as most consequential to everyday living and perhaps the leading issue that will determine who wins the upcoming election.
Since early 2020, when the emerging COVID-19 outbreak contributed to a severe recession in the U.S., household budgets have been pummeled. Today, groceries and electricity are up 25%, insurance is up 33%, used car prices have climbed 35% and rents are up roughly 20%. Even as Russia’s war in Ukraine has stoked inflation due to higher commodity prices, the Biden-Harris economic policies have contributed to fueling inflation through massive government spending that required a dramatic increase in the money supply coupled with the burdensome cost of overregulation.
In 2021, the administration introduced us to the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and followed in 2022 with the $800 billion Inflation Reduction Act. The tie-breaking votes for passage of each were proudly cast by the Senate’s presiding officer Vice President Kamala Harris. These massive expenditures precipitated dollar devaluation that caused prices to rise at a pace faster than average growth. As a result, we can afford less today than we could three-and-a-half years ago. Based on the most recent Consumer Price Index data, which measures the cost of consumer goods and services, the typical American family has effectively lost $8,000 in annual income due to higher prices and increased borrowing costs since the Biden-Harris administration first took office.
Remember that VP Harris, only last week, during her first interview since becoming the Democratic nominee, when pressed about recent policy flip flops suggesting an abandonment of her far-left agenda, said, “I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed.”
With two presidential candidates presenting very different visions for the future and early voting beginning statewide on October 15, one may best be served by seeking an answer to a fundamental question: Who do I trust?
Peter Wibell Rutledge