Commentary

I closed my last edition mentioning that Democrats are going to repeatedly use the word “affordability” in their messaging, but if it’s like their use of the word “democracy” which they overused in 2024, we can imagine that it will not include solutions from their side.

Democrats seem to believe that their mere use of the word affordability alone will help them in their ill-advised attempt to attack President Trump on the economy, but people want lower prices, not more hits on Trump.

I’m reminded of the presidential election campaigns of 1984 when Democrat Walter Mondale used the phrase, “where’s the beef” from a Wendy’s commercial during a debate with Gary Hart on policies he supported.

The left uses of the word affordability like they use “living wage.”  What is it? At least we know that affordable housing refers to housing that doesn’t exceed 30 percent of one’s income.

Keeping it simple, affordability refers to the ability to comfortably pay for essential goods and services without experiencing financial stress.  It is often used to measure necessities like housing, healthcare, food, transportation and education against one’s income.

When Biden launched his fanciful green new deal policies, he was forced to regret calling it the Inflation Reduction Act because the primary goal was environmental spending, not lowering prices.

Wall Street Journal columnist Bill McGurn said it well in his November 17, 2025, piece, ‘Affordability’ Costs a Bundle, in which he notes:

“Democrats who have spent years making life more expensive for Americans – and who propose ‘fixes’ that reflect the same government first thing that made things unaffordable in the first place. 

“Does anyone really believe that the answer to what ails us is more government or yet another government program?

Trump will be in Pennsylvania this week addressing affordability, understanding people want to see lower prices in the supermarket, so it will be important for him to cite examples of his successes, but he must also talk about his achievements in getting vast foreign investments in America, and what it will mean to Americans in the long run with jobs and higher incomes.

I’m sure he will remind Democrats how Biden, in the past four years, spent and regulated in his expansion of government priced the American dream out of reach for millions.

Trump shouldn’t have to defend himself.  Americans are better off now than they were under Biden, but many aren’t feeling it.  If anyone can convince them, it’s Trump.

Healthcare

With healthcare on most people’s minds lately, Trump will surely remind Democrats that extending those subsidies they were told to be “temporary,” makes no sense.  He’ll probably remind them of the other ObamaCare promises, like you can keep your doctor and your healthcare plan.  I’ve been writing pieces in opposition to ObamaCare since 2009, five years before launching this blog.

I vividly recall Senator McCain‘s dramatic “thumbs down” vote in July 2017 to block the Republican effort to repeal these-called Affordable Care Act (ACA) thus becoming the darling of the left.

The ACA was intended to improve health insurance markets for individuals and small businesses, lower health care costs, and an increase the number of people with insurance, but it largely failed.

Health insurance markets only exist today because of the massive federal subsidies and premiums.

“Families without employer-provided coverage and small businesses and their workers have largely fared worse from high health care costs as did the taxpayers responsible for funding the laws’ new spending,” wrote Brian Blase in The Apothecary.

Trump has a plan, with input from Senator Bill Cassidy, who is a gastroenterologist, to route money away from insurers into the hands of consumers.  You’ll be hearing more about it in the days and weeks ahead.

With the fiscal sustainability of ObamaCare in question, exploring an alternative like direct taxpayer funding for healthcare needs to be seriously considered.  Cassidy first started publishing his ideas on making health care affordable in 2018.

Under the proposed plan, the government would allocate a set amount of money to each taxpayer, possibly adjusted for income, age, or health status.

“Americans want action on policies that solve the higher costs of a broken system and lower health care costs.  I’m willing to work with anyone in Congress to enact legislation that addresses the current problems,” said Cassidy

Now, Cassidy and Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, are working to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse by those set on destroying the stability of Medicare Advantage and Medicare.  “Our bipartisan bill cracks down on the fraudsters overcharging taxpayers by billions of dollars every year, closing the loopholes they use to turn sick patients into healthy profits,” said Merkley.

Meanwhile, Senator Schumer, is urging his colleagues, now fewer in number, to support the passage of legislation that renews and extends the ACA tax credits.

May God continue to bless the United States of America