You Are NOT Better Off
Some 44 years ago, during the 1980 presidential campaign, speechwriter Ken Khachigian came up with a line for use in a speech in Pennsylvania. When Ronald Reagan used it in a later debate it devastated Jimmy Carter’s attempt for re-election. The line was simple: “Ask yourself…are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Since then, it’s become the basic barometer to cut through noise and personality.
In 2024, you are not better off than you were four years ago. Here are some numbers to prove it.
Four years ago, inflation was increasing at a rate of 1.6%. Now it is nearly double that; worse, it ballooned to 9% at one point during the last four years, and while the rate of increase is less now than at that point, it’s still a continued increase–and again, at nearly double the rate of four years ago.
During the previous Republican administration, the average price of a gallon of gas was $2.48. Under the current Democrat administration, it’s $3.49 per gallon, more than a dollar more. Gas never rose above $3.00 per gallon on average before; now, the average has been above $3.00 more than 90% of this current Administration’s time.
During the first three Trump years, median household income rose by 10.5%…seven times more than the rate in the Biden-Harris years, of only 1.3%. In addition, real average weekly earnings in the past administration increased by 8.2%; under this administration, they have dropped by 3.4%–a swing of 11.6%.
And we’re not saving like we did. Under Trump, the personal saving rate rose from 5.3% to 19.3%–a 264% increase. Under Biden-Harris, that rate dropped from 19.3% to 2.9%–an 85% decrease. Credit card delinquency rates have also climbed; under Trump, the delinquency rate actually dropped by 11%, while under Biden-Harris, it’s gone up by a whopping 54%, now with a record $1.14 trillion of credit card debt in this country.
You can do the math. But under those parameters, are you really better off now than four years ago?
