The economy isn't working for many people. It's paycheck to paycheck for many families, especially young families.

[Raven]

I think Biden is going to have to focus more on what he's going to do in his second term.

[XanaDUer2]

1. I really wanted to see money

Sent to people to take the edge off gas and groceries like $500 or something. I'm sure Republicans would block that. But I was hoping

[Raven]

5. The people I've talked to feel it in everyday things like gas and groceries. They're not into the stock market

and the housing market in my area has frozen them out. I personally think that Biden has got to clamp down on capitalism and I'm afraid he won't want to do that. We need some price controls.

[Ocelot II]

12. Be sure to let him know. He's probably never even thought of it!

How, exactly, does a president whose powers are limited by the legislative and judicial branches "clamp down on capitalism"?

[Raven]

13. Well, I guess he'll have to win the election, for starters.

[betsuni]

33. I'm interested in what clamping down on capitalism means, too!

I wonder what clamping a president can do.

[XanaDUer2]

14. We're really poor and eat eggs a lot

Lidl would have 12 extra large for 0.75, then went to $2.00.

We finally have to order Wal Mart house brands to take the edge off
Some money would really have helped with food and gas.

[Happy Hoosier]

60. Tell them that this the GOP plan.

The steady funneling of wealth to the very top is coming home to roost. People like me are doing great. Many people are not. They need to support Biden’s plan to tax the wealthy and corporations at fair rates to better support programs that will promote job growth and a social safety net.

[Ruby Soho]

7. That would have created more inflation.

A big reason Inflation surged in 2021 and 2022 was due to people having a shit-ton of disposable income from the stimulus, rent freezes, benefits, student loan freezes and all the money people saved throughout 2020 not going out, traveling, driving and what not.

Inflation continues to be higher because people continue to spend money. If people didn't have money to spend, the economy would cool and Inflation would drop even more than what we've seen.

[Ocelot II]

24. But of course the GOP would have blocked it.

Biden isn't about to make promises he knows he won't be able to keep.

[jimfields33]

53. It would actually make inflation worse.

I know that doesn’t make sense. I wish it didn’t, but it does increase prices on everything when an influx of money goes into the economy.

[pwb]

2. It is pretty good for all of my family.

Good pay and overtime if they want it. But I live in the colonies where we pay a living wage. The $7.25 minimum wage states must be hard to live in. They keep electing pukes in their legislatures who won't raise it so there's that..

[Skittles]

3. yes

everything is ridiculously expensive now - rent, groceries, utilities, healthcare, car needs, pet care, dentist.......it's just crazy

good to "see" you Raven, hoping you are doing well

[Raven]

8. Thank you for asking, Skittles, I'm doing ok.

[Think. Again.]

4. Yep, corporate profits are at an all-time high.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Worse Than Merely Profuts

Margins are at an all time high in many, many sectors.
So, prices went up at a faster rate than did cost to produce.
That meets every definition of an inflationary factor.
If prices went up at the same rate as cost, a company could still have a record year, after record year.
But, margins would stay the same.
That's not what happening the last 3 years.
Margins increasing year over year is a cause of, not an outcome of, inflation.

[Silent Type]

6. The "living paycheck to paycheck" doesn't fit well with campaign's message economy is doing well.

9 months ago, there were numerals posts about “living PC to” PC everyday. It’s been rather sparse lately.

[Raven]

9. I'm afraid that Biden is giving the impression that everything is fine and it's just not.

[Demsrule86]

16. This is the best economy of my lifetime...it won't get any better than this...

People need to have realistic expectations. And there is nothing Biden can do. We won't get the margins in Congress needed for special tax cuts and other things that might help. That is reality. The idea that Trump could do better is laughable.

[SarahD]

30. Pretty good for me, but I have modest expectations.

I have a basic cell phone, a small car, a small house, and other cheap stuff. I have a 34 inch TV with an antenna, no satellite or cable. I don't eat out often and I avoid fast food. I save up ahead for travel and luxury items. I can claim to live paycheck to paycheck, but that would be deceptive because I live pretty well. The people I know who complain the most spend more on what I consider wasteful items and make poor choices. There are a few people I know who got hit by inflation, and some of them are trying to adapt, while others just complain and keep on spending. Some government help with rent and utilities would be appropriate, but a fat tax cut for millionaires would have to go with it.
.

[betsuni]

34. Americans are bad at saving money, being frugal, having modest expectations compared to a lot of other countries.

[Tribetime]

36. This has been the worst year for me in thirty years

[Celerity]

45. You are self-admittedly well off. ZERO wrong with that. I am too. But for tens of millions in the lowest deciles, the

corporate greed driven profit taking (enabled by huge margins) is really hurting them.

Pointing that #fact out is not a RW talking point, as I have seen you call it before.

Btw, if Biden ever used this statement of yours politically when talking about prices and the economy:

People need to have realistic expectations.

say hello to POTUS Trump Version 2.0

I see posters here where simply the increase in the price of eggs is damaging them.

We all need food to live, many have to pay rents, and unfortunately, many need petrol to drive, and if you are not making a living wage, this is far from your statement:

This is the best economy of my lifetime...

The rental price increases alone are staggering.

Obviously Biden can do little about it all atm, but to try to choke off discussion of these issues, or to try and univeralise the applicability of your favourable economic situation to all people is not a politically viable path IMHO.

[Demsrule86]

69. My husband has progressive neuropathy and has disability I am on Medicare...it took us over a year to qualify

for the disability. I had four surgeries in the last year and a half...two serious two not. We are not wealthy. But that does not change the fact that this is a very good economy. Even in the best economy is not great for all...the young struggle to get a foothold and the older folks who have had illness and other issues also struggle. However, the economy by all measures is very good.

[Celerity]

71. Maybe I have you confused with another poster from Ohio, but I seem to recall you complaing about paying more

taxes as you were already in the highest bracket. This was a few years ago.

If you are in the highest tax bracket, I would wager you are well off.

Now, of course that all could have changed since that post, and if I indeed am confusing you with someone else, I apologise.

And yes, I do blame globalism (and deregulation) to some degree for the issues. Bill Clinton gets some of the blame there (obviously the Rethugs get more blame, but Clinton was all on board with NAFTA, for instance), plus his disastrous deregulation pushes (Telecom Act of 1996 (that led to the rise of Fox News and RW radio/local telly dominance), the 1999 repeal of the core of Glass–Steagall (allowing thrift banks to co-mingle funds into ultra high risk speculative investments), and the odious Commodities and Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which re-legalised many forms of long banned (since FDR days) derivatives, ie what Buffett called weapons of financial mass destruction).

Those last 2 things were foundational to various degrees in causing and/or intensifying the 2007-2009 global finaancial crisis.

[Demsrule86]

70. And you want to blame something for some of the remaining issues with the economy...I nominate globalism...

It almost destroyed the middle class. When I was a kid, a person could work at a store and afford a decent life...those who were not want to go to college could get factory jobs. Consider, that the auto rescue saved the economy which was almost destroyed by Bush...

[Bob0264]

72. So would you expect him to talk about "how awful things are"? No, you highlight all the GOOD, and there is a LOT of it.

You don't highlight the bad. You highlight the GOOD. You stress the ACCOMPLISHMENTS. And there are TONS of them.

And you also say "THERE IS MORE TO DO." And he IS doing that. He has said over, and over, and over again how we need to get rid
of failed trickle-down economics and build the economy "from the bottom up and middle out" and has talked about how he has worked to do that.
He has also said time and again that we need to break up the food industry and other near-monopolies and increase competition to address
price gouging. He is trying to go after junk fees of all kinds. It goes on and on. He has never said that "everything" is "fine".

He rightly highlights the many accomplishments and talks a LOT about the causes of high prices and what to do about.

[Ruby Soho]

10. People have been living paycheck to paycheck for pretty much ever.

In 2019, when the economy was supposedly great, 78% of workers lived paycheck to paycheck.

That's actually higher than today, where 65% claim as much today.

[Ocelot II]

17. Yup.

As people's paychecks grow, so do their expenses. We've seen (and laughed derisively at) articles about people with high six-figure incomes who complain that they are living paycheck to paycheck - because their paychecks are being used to pay a mortgage on a million-dollar McMansion, their kids' private school, their new BMW, their ski vacations in Aspen, etc., etc. It's true that many people are unable or barely able to cover their basic living expenses, but it's also true that many other people have a much more flexible concept of what "paycheck to paycheck" really means.

[SomedayKindaLove]

27. Six months ago a couple told me the food prices here were so high

They might have to move back to the bungalow they have in Spain. Good gig if you can get it I suppose.

Meanwhile the McMansion folks feel everything is slipping away because the unimaginable is happening, they are shamefully being reduced to buying generic peanut butter.

[betsuni]

32. +1

[Celerity]

47. That 78 per cent figure is not from 2019. It is from May 24 to June 16, 2017, 4 to 5 months

after Obama left office and the fuckstick Trump took his place. Did you even read your own article?

Also, you left out this (about the 65 per cent figure)

More Americans may be struggling to make ends meet. A majority, 65%, say they live paycheck to paycheck, according to CNBC and SurveyMonkey’s recent Your Money International Financial Security Survey, which polled 498 U.S. adults. That’s a slight increase from last year’s results, which found that 58% of Americans considered themselves to be living paycheck to paycheck.

While last year’s survey polled more than 4,000 U.S. adults, this year, CNBC took a worldwide look at personal finance. The 2024 survey polled 4,342 adults altogether and included 500 adults from Mexico, 503 adults from Australia and 482 adults from Singapore.

[Ruby Soho]

49. Did you read my post?

The whole point is that people consistently state they live paycheck to paycheck. Not sure why that was lost on you.

2017 or 2019, it doesn't matter.

In 2017, nearly 60% of Americans scored the economy good - the highest at that point since the financial crisis.

That was the point: even when Americans score the economy high, they still claim to live paycheck to paycheck.

I'm sorry you missed that.

[Celerity]

50. Of course it matters.

2017 or 2019, it doesn't matter.

If you cannot even get basic facts right, the rest of your argument is damaged.

[Ruby Soho]

59. The basic facts are the same.

Instead of spending energy on playing gotcha about the date of data used from an article written in 2019, how about focusing on the actual point I made?

The point was that even when the economy is perceived as good, people still claim they live paycheck to paycheck. I provided a poll from 2017 where a significant majority of America said the economy was "good".

So now that we've cleared that up, do you have thoughts on those numbers or are you just going to continue to ignore the overall point, which isn't changed or incorrect?

[sl8]

58. It also helps to know how these polls/reports define "paycheck to paycheck"

One poll based report from a couple of years ago defined it as not having 6 months salary set aside for emergencies (I'm going by memory, but I think that's correct). Maybe that's standard, but that's not how I think of living paycheck to paycheck.

It may have been the report you mention; that "78%" figure sounds familiar. When I try to trace the source for that and similar reports now, I'm getting dead links before I get to the source poll.

[RandomNumbers]

63. Yeah, to me PC to PC is "scraping to find this month's rent money"

Not "do they have the recommended emergency fund set aside".

Many people I know scoff at the emergency fund thing. They need pizza and beer, now. Sigh.

[RandomNumbers]

62. I know MANY people who live paycheck to paycheck but wouldn't need to

If they were more careful in some of their choices.

Before anyone yells at me - I, personally, make those same choices that I am suggesting others consider making. And I make a decent salary. Making careful choices about expenditures is why I will eventually retire comfortably. For those others, making careful choices would allow them to survive more comfortably NOW. We still need minimum wage reform so those others could also have some hope of retiring comfortably. But some of the people I know would just buy a bigger TV or get another streaming service.

** SOME, not ALL. Not making generalizations. But SOMEBODY is keeping fast food afloat and a lot of junk plastic products companies afloat. And that ain't all the doing of the uber wealthy.

Just saying.

[Demsrule86]

20. People live paycheck to paycheck because they sometimes spend too much.

The concerts, restaurants, and bars are packed around here. The economy is great in my area...you can walk into a factory here and be paid $25.00 per hour to start. This is an entry-level job that requires no college.

[Tribetime]

38. So if you're living paycheck the paycheck it's your fault because you spend too much

Nice to generalize everybody

[underpants]

11. Not to be cynical but it's always like that

“Kitchen table” politics has been around for ever. I think Reagan’s team came up with that but “Are you better off…” is a staple.

Yes things are more expensive, a lot more expensive, but wages have increased. My daughter makes $17/hour with 1 1/2 experience what’s normally a minimum wage job. Some of it is wages but most of is flat out corporate greed.

[Ruby Soho]

19. I'm making $20,000 a year, if not more, than I was four years ago.

Things are more expensive but I've been lucky that I make a good amount more than four years ago and that I'm financially more stable than I was then.

[underpants]

29. Yes. Me as well

I pretty much get a raise every year. Some across the board and lots of performance increases. Also a few retention ones. They like me.

[Demsrule86]

15. When I was a young married woman with children...we bought a house interest rates were in double digits,

you need 20 % down and My husband was fairly new at his job. I had to quick work because my son was born with VSD and could not go to daycare. It healed spontaneously. We saved and saved...when we finally had the money interest rates were down to 9 3/4. My husband had student loans. When we bought the House, I stayed with Mom for two weeks until payday and my husband stayed with his sister who lived near his job for two weeks. We couldn't afford groceries. We were broke all the time for next few years...little by little it started to get better. But it was tough. No economy is going to support the young just starting out...there are special loans for the young and that can help. But it takes time.

[questionseverything]

54. Today the average starter home is $240,000.

Comparing to 30 or 40 years ago is apples to oranges

[Torchlight]

18. Yeah, the old punchline, "but what have you done for lately?"

can still work occasionaly when forced.

[GenThePerservering]

22. "Bidenomics"

is right wing numbnut talk.

Yes, I'm better off than in 2019. A lot of people are because jobs are easier to get and pay more. This covers the greedflation pretty much.

[Celerity]

68. White House uses the term 'Bidenomics' to help sell the president's economic agenda

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/26/1190327638/white-house-uses-the-term-bidenomics-to-help-sell-the-presidents-economic-agenda

snip

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Under my plan - under Bidenomics, we've created...

That's Bidenomics.

It's Bidenomics.

That's Bidenomics in action.

Bidenomics is just another way of saying restoring the American dream.

[pwb]

23. Most people I know are better off than 2019.

None of us are wealthy but we all have enough.

[elias7]

26. I have to say, I've always been paycheck to paycheck

I am over 60 years old, I’m a physician, I’m still paying mortgage on my house, could not really afford to buy a house until I was 40 years old. Lived on a shoestring until I was over 30. Maybe things are harder now, maybe not. Maybe expectations are unrealistic? Maybe we live with such instant gratification that we want at 25 what most people used to get at 45. Who knows?

[obnoxiousdrunk]

28. The economy is

doing great for DU'ers.

[Sympthsical]

40. Demographics

Older people tend to be more comfortable, and DU is much, much older than the general population.

I admit, I am totally stymied by the "What problems?!" people throw around. It betrays a deep insularity. It lacks empathy, too.

I watch the economy every day, from how it affects my nieces and nephews just starting out, to my friends in their 30s and 40s as they settle with the idea that renting is as good as that's going to get for many of them them.

I don't get it. Are people just not watching? My partner and I are doing gangbusters - we're currently talking about downsizing the house and taking 40% profit on the sale. We might honestly be able to retire very early. But let's discuss the fact there is a 40% increase in our home's value in less than five years. That is insane. We consulted with a real estate agent recently, and she said she could have a cash offer for the upper margins of our ask immediately. Immediately. She is dying for us to sell. The only thing giving us a little pause are the interest rates, because right now we're locked in at 2%. But if we downsize in just the right way, we might be able to just buy outright with cash. In your 40s with no mortgage? Yes, please.

But we're a massive exception - nowhere close to the rule. And we still somehow manage to see how all the people around us are struggling. Even with higher incomes, all that money goes into higher costs. They keep messing with indices - the economy on paper - to paint a much rosier picture than reality suggests.

I just don't understand people who don't see it. Yes, there's political motivation. "Everything is awesome!" during an election year. Yeah, yeah. But in private conversation away from campaign politics, really? People don't see it? Ok, I guess.

[GenThePerservering]

41. DU is much, much older than the general population.

it is?

[Sympthsical]

42. Every poll I've ever seen on DU

Shows the overwhelming majority of DU is 60s and 70s. It's not even close.

Millennials were something like 10%. Gen Z is almost nonexistent here. I think there's one or two posters who fall into that.

If I'm remembering correctly, it's like 60% Boomers, 30% Gen X, 10% everyone else.

Edit: Found a relatively recent one from March: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218738154

[GenThePerservering]

66. I could tell a number of posters were older

...but that is interesting stats.

[Celerity]

48. Extraordinarily so. Also, there are staggeringly few posters under 30yo or so.

I am sometimed called the baby of DU (doesn't bother me, it just makes me sad that we lack younger posters here) and I turn 28 right before the coming election.

I see so few regular posters here who self-identify as being in my broad age cohort (18 to 34). A few 30 somethings but none (regular posters) or maybe 1 or 2 (I cannot even recall their usernames if they exist) who are my age or younger.

I am not even that useful as a conduit for Gen Z, especially American Gen Zers. I was born a couple of months (late 1996) before its birth years (1997 to 2012) started and I relate FAR more to a late 1991 born person than a late 2001 born person.

I skipped multiple grades in the UK school system, and started uni right before I turned 15, so most of my closest school friends from the UK are 3 to 5 years older than me. I did attend, as one part of my tertiary education, an American university (read for my MBA), in my birth city of Los Angeles (I was raised mostly in London, as we left LA when I was very very young).

[Ruby Soho]

65. The average age of someone in America is 38 years old.

I'm just clarifying. I don't have a clue what the average age is of everyone on this forum lol

[usonian]

31. A few own 99% of the wealth.

And they’re trying to convince us that high prices, crappy jobs and foul air and water are SOMEONE ELSE’S FAULT.

[MrsCheaplaugh]

35. Brilliant! I love these.

[usonian]

39. Economists blame the latest unemployment report and the price of washing machines, but

that's just cover for the "elephant" in the room. The criminal skewing and hoarding of wealth into nonproductive things, and going to offshore havens.

Worst of all, the fatcats who destroyed jobs, working conditions, the air and water for the working slobs have conned the working slobs that it's the fault of the people who are working hard to make all those things better.

The latter just don't play the hate and racism card, which is page 1 of the fascist playbook.

Get them to fight for their overlords.

Sheesh.

But pictures convey that so nicely. I use them a lot.

[True Dough]

56. This one has always illustrated things best to me:

[doc03]

37. If people are poor or not many live paycheck to paycheck anyway.

Some people I worked with spent whatever they made and never thought about the future.
While others having the same income instead of buying a new car or something else would
put some of their income into a retirement account. We were offered a cash buyout to retire
many took the cash and blew the money and now barely survive on SS. While others like myself
get a steady income. The others blame the government, the president or their wife for their failure.

[BannonsLiver]

43. A lot of it is just bad choices

Buying things they don’t need or can’t afford and then claiming everything is terrible because there’s no money left for rent and other bills. Or if you have zero skills and don’t care about acquiring any, that will limit income prospects as well, yet there is some expectation the benefits of jobs with skills will be provided anyway.

[doc03]

57. I had a co-worker that took the pension buyout, he received around $120k. He went out

and bought two new vehicles and a new pontoon boat. He passed away two months ago, the only income he had was
his SS. He was bitter at the company which he claimed "took" his pension and a Trumper that blamed Biden for his
poor choices. I kept my pension and have received $1900 a month $319,000 over the last 14 years. Choices
Not saying some people aren't struggling but for many it is their choice.

[RandomNumbers]

64. Thank you, you expressed it better than I did.

I don't want to obscure that there is a lot of inequity in wealth distribution in this country. But the sad fact is many people don't make the most of what they do have.

[liberalmediaaddict]

44. Republicans control the House of Representatives

What exactly is their plan to help out families living paycheck to paycheck? They've had over a year to come up with something.
And how about all the red states led by Republican Governors and state legislatures? What are they doing to improve the lives of their constituents?

President Biden can only do so much unilaterally. He's not a miracle worker or a king And for the past 3 years he's doing something every day to improve the economy and help struggling Americans.

He can promise a bunch of great programs for a 2nd term but unless Democrats take back the House and gain a fillibuster proof majority in the Senate none of that progressive legislation is getting passed.

Honestly after following politics since the days of Reagan I have no idea what average Americans want from their federal government. Seems like they want the government to stay out of their lives and also fix every problem in their lives.

[betsuni]

46. Thank you. Obstructionist Republican control of the House for 6 of 8 years of Clinton and Obama, 2 of Biden

presidencies yet blame goes to Democrats.

And if Biden did make a lot of promises and doesn't have large enough majorities to get things passed, the whining about broken promises and disappointment would never end and help Republicans in the next election

[Mister Ed]

51. The oligarchy isn't working for many people. It's paycheck to paycheck for many families, especially young families.

There's a subject line that more precisely pinpoints the problem.

[LisaM]

52. Housing is the biggest issue for me.

Yes, food prices have gone up but I am really good at stretching a food dollar. I use transit most of the time and we have a hybrid car so fuel prices don't affect us other than when they are tacked on to the cost of other things.

But housing is frightening and I don't know what they can do about it other than cracking down on short term rentals, enacting some rent control, imposing vacancy taxes, and limiting foreign ownership. And I don't know that government has the appetite for that and Biden can't enact those things on his own.

We live in Seattle and we rent and we just had a hefty increase, even though there is endless construction around us, which supposedly will lead to lower rents. It never does. The more they build the more prices go up.

[FloridaBlues]

55. People have lived paycheck to paycheck for as long as I can remember

And during republican rule as well.

[Historic NY]

61. Rent and food prices are not the

President's fault. Some got used to the stability of the Covid-19 months when government money flowed. Some live in the Red state's where wages are kept lower than the minimum wage. In some they have rolled back employee protection and benefits. There are still many more jobs out there looking for workers.

[edisdead]

67. Winless battle never able to do anything about.

The economy will ALWAYS not work for everyone.