Anonymous wrote:I have two teenage boys and they eat like there is no tomorrow. I am a middle-aged woman who could eat Cream of Wheat for dinner most nights. DH has more appetite than me. We spend so much money on food. I want them to be grown and flown and paying for their own food!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Well, the interesting thing about the current moment is that over 150 million people just got the chance to voice their opinion on the matter, so we actually know how the economy is treating them. And they did not say that the economy is "way stronger" than anything. Even Democrat strategist James Carville recently said he was wrong about the election because he neglected his famous mantra: "It's the economy, stupid."

As I said, I'm sure in your bubble (and other bubbles) things are going well—maybe better than ever—but that's not the case for large parts of the country, perhaps even the majority of the country. I am always amazed at the blind spot that your ilk possesses. It's likely why you were so blindsided and distraught on election night.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

As I said, I'm sure in your bubble (and other bubbles) things are going well—maybe better than ever—but that's not the case for large parts of the country, perhaps even the majority of the country. I am always amazed at the blind spot that your ilk possesses. It's likely why you were so blindsided and distraught on election night.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do people live?

In DC homeowners hasn’t really gone up much…maybe 5%, but that’s just a $100 nominal increase for the year.

Pissed that health insurance goes up…like 7%. I don’t get why this country isn’t wildly enthusiastic about socialized medicine (except seniors and veterans who all have it). Health insurance premiums are effectively a tax and for generally mediocre coverage with lots of copays and deductibles.

Car insurance didn’t go anywhere…actually decreased a tiny bit.

Grocery prices generally the same…admittedly I don’t buy brands and am fine generally buying whatever is on weekly sales.

Ha, ha, ha! Socialized medicine is not the way to go. It will definitely separate the haves from the have nots. I grew up with a career military father and lived socialized medicine through military hospitals. I almost died at 12 years old with walking pneumonia because no doctor would give me a chest x-ray at Bethesda Naval Hospital, now called Walter Reed.

My family never had a doctor patient relationship with one specific doctor because you get who is working that day when you go in for an appointment or an emergency. In our country, if we have socialized medicine, people will sit in clinics or hospitals for hours on end, seeking the treatment sanctioned by the government. People of means and wealth will pay a doctor to treat them and go on their way. It would be similar to the concierge model of medicine where money talks, and you get good service. Ask our neighbors to the north in Canada how it’s working for them and how many people come to the lower 48 to see doctors because they don’t want to wait weeks or months.

My friends that are business owners who provide healthcare plans for the employees tell me that their health premiums that they supplement for their employees go up 20 to 25% year over a year. Some business owners only cover employees now and no longer cover family members because this expense is too great for their bottom line.

Anonymous wrote:Where do people live?

In DC homeowners hasn’t really gone up much…maybe 5%, but that’s just a $100 nominal increase for the year.

Pissed that health insurance goes up…like 7%. I don’t get why this country isn’t wildly enthusiastic about socialized medicine (except seniors and veterans who all have it). Health insurance premiums are effectively a tax and for generally mediocre coverage with lots of copays and deductibles.

Car insurance didn’t go anywhere…actually decreased a tiny bit.

Grocery prices generally the same…admittedly I don’t buy brands and am fine generally buying whatever is on weekly sales.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Are you sure PP is not wrong on prices? The same government statisticians that produce numbers saying the economy is great also say that inflation is only at 2.9% - why would that be so devastating to PP? PP must be exaggerating.

Actually homeowners insurance increases aren’t really factored into inflation

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/business/economy/home-insurance-inflation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Are you sure PP is not wrong on prices? The same government statisticians that produce numbers saying the economy is great also say that inflation is only at 2.9% - why would that be so devastating to PP? PP must be exaggerating.