Reminder: 290 and 67. The 290 represents how many U.S. House of Representatives members it takes to override a presidential veto (all Representatives are up for reelection this year). It takes 67 U.S. Senators to override a presidential veto (35 Senators are up for reelection this year with 22 of those being Republicans—the ones we have to concentrate on the most). These numbers are very important this year at the ballot box because it will take this number of votes to help right this vast ship of a country for all of us, not just the billionaire class.
How much did you earn last year? Was it $2.2 billion? How about $1 million? $250,000? $100,000? Or maybe closer to $50,000.
Did you earn your salary through crypto? Meme coins and digital trading cards? Stock market trades? Licensing fees? Or maybe memberships from your privately owned club?
I’m guessing, like me, your earnings last year were far less than $2.2 billion or even $1 million. If you are an “average household,” then your earnings may have been closer to $60,000.
For many of us, $60,000 would seem like a dream. That is because we have a large segment of our fellow citizens with household incomes of less than $30,000.
The odd thing to me is, 46% of people with household incomes of $30,000 or less voted for Trump (based on exit polls). They voted for someone who earned more than $2.2 billion dollars last year while president (and an increase from the previous year when he was not president), of which a large percentage was from Trump’s crypto, meme coins, and merchandise, of which his devotees spent at least some of their hard earned money to buy. What is both sad and interesting is that Trump profited while those who invested in these, what could be characterized as schemes, lost a great deal of money because the crypto and meme coins are now worth almost nothing. Those of you who invested lost money while allowing the Trump to profit off of you.
To me the most revealing thing is how little Trump cares for those of our households earning less than $30,000 a year. He demonstrates he cares little about these neighbors on a regular basis.
His White House and his devotees in Congress have passed bills to cut government programs that have, from my own lived experience, helped families survive, most who are working for less than a livable wage.
The Republican Big Beautiful Bill helped cut taxes for the very wealthy. But, for the programs that can help lift those of us struggling, Republicans cut funding. Some of those cuts are being felt now, but there are many more Republicans decided to not have go into effect until January 1, 2027. This was planned carefully to hurt people, but not until after the 2026 Congressional elections. The Republican are hoping that we won’t notice until it is too late, after the 46% that voted for them before will do so again to help them keep the majority. They want to keep the majority so they can further cut what we call the social safety net, programs like TANF, SNAP, WIC, and the ACA.
The hard truth is these programs were just a start. Speaker Johnson has already been recorded as saying Social Security and Medicare are next, along with further cuts to Medicaid and the above mentioned programs. Essentially, the Republicans want us poor and sickly, to keep us in such distress we won’t have time to pay attention to how they are robbing us blind and taking away our civil and constitutional rights.
Overall, the cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and the ACA have significantly harmed individuals earning $30,000 or less, leading to increased food insecurity and reduced access to health care. These changes threaten the well-being of low-income families, making it harder for them to meet their basic needs. And remember, this is before more cuts go into effect in 2027.
Now for hard truths. I, like you, would love to be a multi-millionaire, billionaire, and maybe even a trillionaire. But, the reality is, the odds of any of us, living in a system that works hard to keep us from achieving the rank of the richest 1%, are billions to one. With the laws and systems in place, and those the billionaire class are working now to further put in place, it just isn’t going to happen. Let me say that again for those way in the back, for nearly all of us, in the current system, where we are financially now is most likely where we will be in five, ten, even twenty years from now. I truly wish this wasn’t the case but it is.
As long as Republicans and billionaire owners of companies write and pass the laws, it isn’t going to happen. Republicans and billionaire want keep us earning a minimum wage of $7.50, that hasn’t increased since 2009. Even when cities within Republican led states try to increase the minimum wage within their boundaries, Republican legislators pass laws saying they can’t. Republicans want us tied to jobs out of fear of losing health insurance by opposing Medicare for All or any single-payer system. Republicans want us working at jobs where employers don’t have to offer us medical benefits if they schedule us for less than 30 hours a week at any one job. Republicans don’t want us forming or joining unions so that there is no one to stand up for us working folk. Republicans want data centers, and the surveillance state data centers allow, over us having drinking water, low energy costs, and peace and quiet in our homes due to the noise and light generated by a data center. Republicans want girls and women to be servants to the whims of men, not enjoying the freedoms and rights they deserve.
Bottom line is, Republicans, through policies and law, don’t want most of us to get ahead. As I said before, they want us sick and struggling so we are so caught up in just surviving we don’t have time to stand up to what they are doing. Republicans want us living in fear of one another, blacks versus whites, natural born citizens versus immigrants, straight versus LGBTQ+, Christians versus non-Christians, gender wars, and so on.
To stop the nonsense happening in Washington and across so many Republican-led states, counties, and cities, we have to take a deep breath, know that we are struggling, and in spite of the odds against us, fight back. We have to register to vote, we have to pay attention to what elected officials are doing at that affect our lives and keep us from moving up in the world, and we must show up to cast our ballot in all elections, with the November 2026 election being of utmost importance.
As you vote, remember who is advocating for you and your family to lead a better life, and I will plainly say at this time in history, the Republicans don’t have your best interest in mind.
It is up to us, collectively us, to vote to improve the lives of us all. I can’t do it alone, you can’t do it alone, but all of us together, voting Democrats into office, can do it. Together we will succeed!
United we stand, divided we fall. Our choice.
The following are ways we can stand up to truly follow and rise to the ideals of the creation of our country and what the Constitution actually expects of us.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 
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