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When Your Budget Feels Like a Bad Game Show
Remember when filling up your grocery cart felt predictable, and not like getting the price of every item wrong on The Price is Right? Today, many Americans struggle with essential expenses like housing, food, healthcare, childcare, and education, turning each month into a strategic game of "What's getting cut this time?"
A recent LendingTree survey published in the New York Times this month shows a quarter of Americans are now paying for groceries with “buy now, pay later” plans amid high prices, economic uncertainty, and fear of recession.
And in 2024 alone, 73% of middle-income families tightened their belts so much they practically disappeared — choosing store brands, skipping restaurants, and praying the car wouldn't break down. About 59% of these same families say they couldn't handle a $1,000 emergency.
Promises, Politics, and a Punch in the Wallet
While disastrous trade policies, chaotic tariffs, and draconian deportations of critical workers is sure to drive up costs further, the current cost-of-living crisis predates Donald Trump, and Democrats are not blameless. The pain so many Americans are feeling is shaped by policies enacted by both major political parties. And its obvious that Trump tapped into something powerful for so many Americans when he called out loudly — and repeatedly — that life was just too expensive. But shouting the obvious hasn’t magically shrunk the price of eggs or cool housing markets where rents jumped 6.2% last year alone. The promises have proved empty.
It shows what’s possible when we embrace reality instead of ignoring it (Democratic leaders often seemed afraid to even say “inflation” for fear of being blamed for it leading up to 2024), acknowledge people’s fears, and tap into their hopes. But instead of empty promises — have a plan to deliver. The first party and politician to do that will have a hard time losing, so we’d better hope it’s one that cares about democracy, too.
Maslow and the Missing Middle
When life's basics aren’t secure, who has the mental energy to worry about abstract threats like losing democracy? Consider Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: when you're stuck worrying about food and rent, higher-order concerns like safeguarding democracy and institutions might as well be discussing alien life forms — intriguing but impossibly distant.
And yet, ignoring threats to democracy has real, immediate costs. Stability, safety, and prosperity rely directly on a robust democratic system. Dysfunctional democracy isn't an abstract risk, it's a practical disaster that makes your grocery bill look like small potatoes.
Time to Adapt the Conversation (and Focus on Solutions)
Sure, Bright America wishes far more Americans recognized how essential — and at risk — democracy is. But we get it. If you can't pay your electric bill, focusing on something abstract like “due process” or the “rule of law” could easily feel frivolous. So for those of us whose #1 issue is democracy, we’ve got to shift gears if we want to expand our coalition.
Let’s advocate for practical solutions that directly improve lives today — policies aimed not just at making housing, healthcare, food, and energy affordable, but also looking ahead to how the 21st century must evolve to address the very real pain AI could bring if we stay stuck in the economic status quo. If we meet these voters where they are, we’re dramatically more likely to help reconnect them with the importance of democracy, and thus achieve our goal of preserving it.
A Call to Action (Because We Need You)
Here's how you can help: Join Bright America in prioritizing practical, proven solutions and innovative new ones. We’re launching a new series on creative solutions to the cost-of-living crisis that will be surgically targeted with paid ads to reach voters primarily focused on the daily challenges they can’t avoid as they tune out everything else.
Your investment in Bright America won’t just continue to fuel high-profile lawsuits challenging the authoritarian actions of our government (we’ve raised nearly $500,000 for those lawsuits this quarter!), it will also help expand our movement to those who aren’t yet paying attention by meeting them where they are. Will you consider a donation today?
Together, let’s build a brighter, more affordable, and democratic America for everyone.

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