Published in the Blackstone Valley Call & Times on September 8, 2026

By Herb Weiss

As reported by national media, President Donald Trump, standing in front of grocery items during an Aug. 24 campaign press conference at a golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, President Trump declared, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.” He pledged to lower the costs of everyday goods, including groceries and cars, as well as energy prices.

During his campaign, Trump on several occasions linked lower prices to an increase in the country’s domestic energy production by using the phrase “drill, baby, drill”. He maintained that cheaper energy would decrease the cost of producing and transporting food and other goods.

The time is running out; since there are 62 days left until the midterm elections, a national press campaign has been held as part of the ‘Republican Price Tag Campaign’ organized by Unrig Our Economy, Social Security Works and the Economic Security Project to advise voters about the promises made by Trump and congressional Republicans to reduce household costs and to argue that those promises have not been kept.

Household Expenses Skyrocket

Hosted by Unrig Our Economy, Economic Security Project Action, Social Security Works and Navigator Research, the virtual briefing highlighted an estimate that American families are paying $3,800 more each year for health care, food, energy, clothing and other necessities under President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.

Unrig Our Economy Campaign Director Leor Tal, who moderated the call, said Trump and congressional Republicans pledged to rein in rising prices, but argued that Republican economic policies have instead increased costs for working families and small businesses.

While wealthy Americans are getting tax breaks, Tal charged, working families are paying more for health care, groceries, energy and clothing. “Families are feeling every dollar of the Republican Price Tag,” she said.

During the 30-minute press call, two Democratic lawmakers and small business owners from Michigan, Arizona and Nebraska shared firsthand accounts of how rising costs are affecting their livelihoods. They pointed to tariffs and declining consumer spending as making it more difficult to operate their businesses and provide for their families.

In addition, Washington, D.C.-based Navigator Research, a Democratic-leaning public opinion research organization founded in 2018, presented polling data on how Americans view the economy and the rising costs hitting their household budgets.

“The Joint Economic Committee issued new analysis that found the average American family has had to pay almost $4,000 more because of rising prices under the policies and actions of this administration and my Republican friends in Congress,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA).

“What’s driving this figure? The biggest buckets are health care, grocery, energy costs, and housing,” said Beyer, the top-ranking Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Beyer also pointed to tariffs. “Our tariff policy is absolutely the highest it’s been since before Smoot-Hawley,” he said.

Health care and food assistance cuts are also hitting families, Beyer charged, citing changes affecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Tariffs Drive Up Household Costs

Rep. Gabe Amo, representing Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, charged that congressional Republicans are supporting “a tariff regime that is raising costs” while taking the focus away from the economic challenges facing Americans.

During Aug. recess, Amo met with constituents across the first Congressional District and heard that people are feeling the squeeze. They told him how hard it was to afford groceries.  Primary care providers shared how the Trump administration’s cuts to health care are making it harder for people to get care.

“I’m working with Unrig Our Economy and Social Security Works to make sure these voices are heard,” he said.

But Amo brought a little optimism to the call’s otherwise downbeat assessment of the economy.

“I’m an optimist. I believe we can do better and will do better,” he said, adding that voters will have a choice in the upcoming election over the direction the nation takes.

“I look forward to continuing to hear from the people facing the challenges created by this administration and working on behalf of all Americans who deserve a government that wants them to have a better life,” Amo said.

For Michael Howard, a small-business owner in Macomb County, Michigan, rising prices have hit both his family and his business.

“As a parent, the rising cost of our economy feels crushing. And then as a small business owner, having that experience magnified is also pretty devastating for our business,” he said.

Howard says rising costs have made it harder to maintain staffing while customers have less money to spend. “As a dad just trying to put food on the table for my family, these increases to the cost of gas and necessities really set us back,” he said.

Increased lumber costs have also affected Howard’s custom furniture business. “The tariff policy is absolutely devastating for someone who builds with lumber,” he said.

Jenn Mawcinitt, owner of Wildlings Toy Boutique in Phoenix, Arizona, sees the impact when customers walk through her door.

“We have seen that our customers are having a harder time buying necessities like their gas and their food and their school supplies,” she said.

Tariffs, she says, have also dramatically increased toy prices. A mother who once came into her store looking for a $20 birthday gift may now find the same type of toy priced at $ 29.99.

“I think that people were promised lower costs during this administration, and I’ve heard it over and over again,” Mawcinitt said. “All I have seen is how this is affecting families, and how costs are rising at an exorbitant rate.”

Former York, Nebraska, business owner Jeff Du pointed to the rising cost of farm equipment. He said that new irrigation equipment that cost about $68,000 five years ago now costs more than $110,000.

Du says tariffs are helping drive up machinery costs. Add increased labor expenses, he noted, and farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to purchase new equipment, with some leaving the business altogether.

During the final minutes of the virtual call, Melissa Tufanian, managing director of Navigator Research, turned to the polling numbers.

According to Tufanian, 73% of Americans view the economy negatively. More than three in five Americans are uneasy about their personal finances, which she said is the highest level since the start of Trump’s second term.

The polling also found that 25% of Americans are delaying the purchase of a home or car, while 15% have delayed or avoided medical care to save money. Another 25% are taking on more debt or using buy-now, pay-later programs, even to purchase groceries. Twenty percent reported withdrawing money from emergency funds to pay bills.

Navigator’s polling even found that nearly one in 10 Americans have sold blood plasma for extra income.

On the other hand, Republicans offer a much different assessment of the economy. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) argues that Republican tax cuts are allowing workers and families to keep more of their paychecks while encouraging businesses to invest, expand and hire.

Following the release of the August jobs report, Smith pointed to increased private-sector hiring and manufacturing growth as evidence that Republican economic policies are working.

The Trump administration also rejects Democratic criticism that its tariff policies are simply resulting in higher consumer prices. The White House argues that tariffs are prompting foreign companies to produce in the United States, thereby protecting American industries from cheaper foreign competition and leading to greater investment and more job creation within the country.

A Final Note…

Almost two months later, according to Fortune, Trump told a crowd at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, that affordability was “a word made up by the Democrats.”

AARP released the 2026 Financial Security Trends Survey on May 28, finding that 37% of older adults feel financially insecure, while 60% worry about having enough money to last through their retirement years.

Democrats certainly aren’t treating affordability as a made-up issue. They are betting that what voters, especially older voters, pay at the grocery store, gas pump, doctor’s office, and checkout counter will help determine who controls Congress after the midterm elections. 

James Carville, a top strategist for Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign, famously summed up that winning campaign’s political strategy in just five words: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

More than three decades later, Democrats are dusting off Carville’s political playbook.

Whether it works again will be up to the voters.