§22 —
On affordability
Democrat
ITEMIZED
Now the other side of the desk does something I appreciate: it itemizes. Congress's Joint Economic Committee priced the grocery line — about $310 more per family in 2025 1. The health trackers itemized who left: paid marketplace enrollment fell by three million, the first decline since 2020, pinned by analysts on the price shock 2.
Itemizing has even started producing legislation — a one-cent excise on data-center power is the first bill to route the buildout's cost back to the builders 3 — and it keeps the comparisons honest: the same summer the household line-items climbed, two oil companies cleared a combined $26.5 billion in a quarter 4. Three hundred ten dollars on one line, twenty-six and a half billion on another, same summer. I circled both. Somebody's going to have to read those to me side by side, and I'd rather it was you.
Sources
- Families paid about $310 more for groceries in 2025 — Joint Economic Committee, 15 January 2026 ↑
- Marketplace enrollment down 3 million after the premium shock — KFF, 3 July 2026 ↑
- A one-cent data-center excise tax is introduced in the House — Newsweek, 13 August 2026 ↑
- Big Oil's quarter: Exxon $14.5B, Chevron $12.1B — CNN, 31 July 2026 ↑
Republican
AFFORDABLE
The season's word is affordable, and I brought the register, because a word like that ought to have a receipt. The tariff regime bills the average household about $1,100 a year, with the bottom tenth paying nearly triple the top's share of income 1. The July 2025 law's own budget office score has the poorest tenth losing $1,600 a year while the richest tenth gains $12,000 2. I put those two on facing pages, so I could look at them together.
Health coverage joined the register in January: with the enhanced credits expired, average marketplace premium payments rose 58 percent — $113 to $178 a month — and the average deductible jumped a record 37 percent 3. And August's gasoline average was the highest August ever recorded 4. That's four pages for one word. I'm not drawing any conclusion. I'm just saying it's a thick file for a thin word.
Sources
- The state of US tariffs: ~$1,100 per household, regressive by decile — Yale Budget Lab, 11 August 2026 ↑
- CBO distribution of the enacted law: bottom decile −$1,600, top +$12,000 — Congressional Budget Office, 11 August 2025 ↑
- Marketplace premium payments up 58%, deductibles up a record 37% — KFF, 19 May 2026 ↑
- The highest August on record at the pump — AAA, 20 August 2026 ↑
“Affordable — that's the word, I have it circled. And I have the register here, one second... about $1,100 a year per household from the tariffs, the bottom tenth paying most; premium payments up 58 percent; the highest August on record at the pump; about $310 more for groceries. That's a lot of pages for one word. Excuse me, I'll be quick. Affordable — compared to what?”— Lou
“Compared to the invoice they didn't itemize. Eleven hundred on the tariffs, fifty-eight percent on the premium, the record at the pump — affordable is what you call a bill when you're the one mailing it.”
“Compared to last year, obviously, adjusted for the things that went up. Affordability is a feeling, the numbers are a mood, and the mood is — the mood is fine. The register is one perspective.”