The Columbian’s Sept. 13 article “Median household income up 8% in county” has one glaring negative statistic: Poverty rate has increased from 8.8 to 10.3 percent. Our present government, while giving big tax reductions to the rich and very rich, has left those at the lower half of the income level with less and less. And now they are reducing government support of health care (has your health insurance increased?) and are talking about reducing Social Security. President Trump’s tariffs are increasing the cost of ordinary household goods. Where will it end?
When I retired 18 years ago I thought I had a significant IRA. That was all gone three years ago. Now my income increases 3 percent with Social Security. How can they say the cost of inflation is 3 percent when housing costs go up 20 percent or more a year?
With all the hullabaloo about the rapidly increasing economy and stock market, the unpublished fact is that more and more people are falling out at the bottom; hence the rapid increase in homelessness.
For all you lower- and middle-income people, we’d better vote for Democrats before the Republicans take what little we have left.
