Did you catch this week’s brawl for it all AKA the presidential debate? We hope you enjoyed your popcorn as much as we did! 🍿🙃 It truly had a lil’ somethin’ for everyone. Simply award-winning. 💫
That being said, it might have been a little hard to focus on the real issues through the entertainment. 👀 But don’t worry, we’ve got a nice little paycheck party recap for you right here. 👇
Here’s five topics from the debate that could impact your wallet:
- 💰 It’s Tariff Time - One topic on the debate table was tariffs, AKA taxes on goods shipped to the U.S. from other countries. Trump is a big fan of tariffs and believes that through them, foreign countries would “pay us back” and pump more cash into the economy. Harris says tariffs could get passed along to merchants and act like a sales tax that would wind up costing Americans more money.
- 📈 Float On - When the topic of inflation hit the stage, there was a whole lot of finger pointing going on. Aside from the he said/she said, the reality is that cost of living in the U.S. has risen an average of 21% since the start of the pandemic. Economists say inflation was caused by COVID-era supply chain issues and relief programs like the stimulus checks (which happened during both Trump and Biden’s presidencies).
- 🐱 At the Cat Café - All pet eating aside, let’s look at some immigration facts: According to the August jobs report, American born workers lost more than 1.3 million jobs, while foreign-born workers gained over 1.2 million jobs during the same period. Since the end of 2020, over 9 million immigrants have entered the U.S., with only 2.6 million entering through lawful channels. The jobs report can’t tell the difference between who came in legally and who didn’t, but the data shows a significant uptick in foreign-born workers.
- 🏡 Home Stretch - Both candidates have focused on housing in their campaigns. Harris is focused on giving first-time homebuyers down payment assistance and building more affordable housing. Trump’s plan is to reduce the red tape around building new homes and open up federal land for housing construction. As of May 2024, the median home price was $419,300, up 5.8% from last year and the highest median price in history.
- 🎒 Debt-y Downer - Remember when Biden said he’d wipe away everyone’s student loans? Well, he did wipe out over $168B of student debt for federal borrowers, but the rest of the plan was blocked or held up by Republican legal challenges. Student loans weren’t a huge focus of the debate, but the topic did come up. Time will tell if either Harris or Trump will revisit the issue if/when they take office.
🔥Bottom line: As the election gets closer, we’re really feeling the heat! We’re sure you are, too. We try our best to keep things Neutral Nelly over here, peppering in some fun along the way. Because if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane! RIP Jimmy Buffet. 🙏
Which issue matters the most to you?
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