A difference without a distinction?

A major Democratic Party talking point in the Presidential election was how well the US economy was doing, creating jobs, jobs, jobs. But they apparently were totally blind to the most important requirement of any job: a living wage.

A living wage is more than a salary covering day to day expenses: it provides a cushion, a little extra that can be used for unexpected expenses and to build value by investment, possibly in a home or the stock market. At least, that’s the way it used to be. Today, a living wage is the exception, not the rule; in fact, far from it.

According to Bank of America, 47% of consumers said they lived paycheck to paycheck in the third quarter of 2024, up from 35% in early 2022. Apparently, the tipping point had finally been reached. A majority of voters revolted, registering their disapproval by unseating the Democratic administration and replacing it, not with the Republican Party, but with the Trump administration.

Can this new Administration break from its roots in the Republican Party and actually work to restore the living wage as the standard? I’m dubious. Over the past 30 years or so, the Republican Party on gaining office has enacted a massive tax cut favoring the wealthy elite who funded their political campaigns, just as they did in Trump’s previous term in office.

And that is their only substantive action. The only difference I can see in the Trump Party is it is beholden to a different set of the same wealthy elite, so I’m predicting the same results, with a tax cut for the wealthy being one of the Party’s first items of business. I truly hope I’m wrong, but that’s the way I see it.

John H. Terrell