Dear editor:

A core tenet of the America First agenda is to restore hope and prosperity for all Americans. A first step was to end historic out-of-control inflation. Prior to the China-virus pandemic, core inflation ran approximately 2%, which is the Federal Reserve’s target inflation rate. From 2021 through 2024, inflation ran as high as 6.6% which we all painfully felt through increased prices. For the first half of 2025, core inflation has improved at 2.9%, which is still 45% higher than the target fed rate.   

However, inflation is just the measure of how prices increase. It is the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that measures the actual cost of a fixed basket of goods and services: food, housing, fuel, electricity, transportation, medical etc. Since 1985, the CPI has increased to 324 meaning that basket of goods we need to get by has increased over three times more than back in 1984. Meanwhile mean household income rose approximately 37% during that same time; just 1/10th of the CPI increase. 

The left ran on “affordability” in November and elected the first socialist mayor of New York. In the deep red Tennessee District 7 House runoff, the Republican fortunately won by nine points against the “AOC of Tennessee,” but Trump carried that district a year ago by 22 points.

For all the good wins being chalked up in foreign policy and domestically and the foundations being laid for the long term, core domestic issues are not being addressed sufficiently now for the average citizen in America. Young Americans and independents were key to the Republican victory in 2024. However, they are now fleeing in significant numbers because the promised-anticipated changes and improvements to their lives are not being delivered. Just listen to podcasts by conservative Millennials, Gen X and Gen Z to get a sense of what they are saying. A good summary is in this interview with Mark Mitchell at Rasmussen: cdm.press/video/2025/11/29/my-trip-to-the-white-house-mark-mitchell-rasmussen/.

Yet we seem to be tone-deaf and dismissive particularly amongst “Boomers” who dominate the ruling class at the federal, state and local levels. Just last week during a “Presser” at the White House, it was claimed that the affordability issue is a Democrat hoax! Really? First home purchase is now at age 40 whereas it was just 33 in 2021. Family formation is similarly delayed. And answers floated from D.C. are 50-year mortgages that just precipitates long term debt on top of the increasing federal deficit. Obamacare was passed in 2010 but we have yet to see a solution floated, let alone implemented, by our side in 15 years. 

After such high hopes earlier this year, we are at an unexpected tipping point. Too many Americans, particularly younger citizens, have become disillusioned with lack of progress in D.C., and with their hope for the future. If we don’t recognize, address and communicate around the broad affordability issue on our side, then it leaves open the field for the Liberals and Democratic Socialists as we saw in November. And if we lose in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 elections, this will all have been a flash in the pan instead of the fundamental change — America First restoration we all hoped for.  

Jim Vetter

Cody