Nearly 20% of Americans lose health care coverage year-over-year as measles cases skyrocket: the state of health

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

Welcome to a special edition of On Deadline, focused on the midterms. The election on November 3rd will decide if the GOP keeps hold of the House and Senate or if the Democrats sweep in. And if that happens, many expect to wake up to a different America on November 4th, one where President Donald Trump's agenda and the final two years of his term is largely thwarted. Who wins will depend on whose economic message resonates best with American voters. So let's talk money. Here's Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates, a group that's been advocating for economic equality for 50 years.

SPEAKER_2 (0:35)

Affordability concerns are top of mind for absolutely everybody.

Noreen Farrell (0:39)

The label of affordability has been thrown around a lot in such a vague way that I think that it can avoid accountability and really specific legislative mandates. And so we really wanted to test what people met. And so we did a poll, it was across genders and demographics, independents, republicans, democrats. And it was interesting. Some of the things are not surprising, right? Six out of 10 felt some sort of economic pain.

Interestingly, 83 percent, even if they didn't claim they felt economic pain, had done something in their lives over the past year to address affordability issues. So forego certain expenses, dip into savings, stop savings, etc. And so that is compelling because that's not, very, very high number across such a broad range of demographics. And obviously, we didn't test whether or not they were in tech or particular industries, but we do know that there was incredible unanimity in terms of the actual policy issues that people are concerned about. Costs, of course, are a big part of the equation, but what was illuminating for us in this poll was also this deep desire to get money back in your pockets. So not just prices, but paychecks.

Incredible support for raising wages for equal pay for equal work as not just a women's issue, but as a family security issue. Paid family leave, child care, all of these things that ensure that being human doesn't put you in economic peril in this country. And so of course, we also saw issues like social security, retirement insecurity, which of course is also a function of your professional savings, your savings over the course of your career and health care. So while we saw a concern about prices, it was really about bigger structural issues. And what might be shorter term easier fixes to put more money back in people's pockets. So I think that's a-

SPEAKER_2 (2:53)

So like the dividend? I mean, it immediately made to the Trump dividend. Did you test people on that? Is that a winning idea?

Noreen Farrell (3:01)

It did not come up as a winning idea. The poll really confirmed this sense of not quick fixes like that, but real policies that can see through people through the course of their careers and also meet the moment. We tested higher wages, pay equity.

When we tested other, that didn't come up as a huge draw for folks. But I think, I really think window dressing with things like very quick short-term fixes that are not long-standing in terms of keeping money in people's pockets, does not appear to, it will be a huge force in the upcoming midterms from our poll.

SPEAKER_2 (3:46)

So the economy, one of the things that comes up over and over is the difference between the economic indicators and what people see when they're looking at their bills on the kitchen table. So what's the disconnect, do you think, between those policies coming out of Washington and the reality in people's houses?

Noreen Farrell (4:04)

Averages aren't speaking to the pain that people feel from paycheck to paycheck, and particularly for those who are middle and working class, who don't have the cover of massive savings and trusts to get them through raining days. You know, those are the people and the economic kitchen table issues that I think could really create some interesting results at this election.

SPEAKER_1 (4:29)

President Trump came into office on promises of ending inflation.

How's that going? Here's Mark Sandelow in the Bay Area.

SPEAKER_4 (4:35)

Let's look at how these inflation numbers could impact the midterms.

Mark Sandelow (4:39)

This is the last report, Steve, before the November elections. 3.7% prices are that much higher than they were one year ago.

That's a problem for President Trump and for the Republican Party. I mean, Trump was not... He didn't suggest he would lower prices. He insisted, iron clad, I will bring every American's energy prices down 50%. We'll gas this up 35%.

He said that prices under Sleepy Joe Biden were a disaster that anybody in their right mind could fix it. Inflation is not as bad as it was under Biden, but at 3.7%, people are feeling the pinch and that's trouble for the republicans. When gas prices are north of $6, people are going to know that. And Trump has been saying, he just said it two days ago, about how prices have come down and everyone knows it. Well, the fact is his own government says prices have not gone down and people know that. When you go to the grocery store and you pay $5 for a gallon of milk, you know that something is not working the way it was supposed to. So the question is, does anybody really believe the Democrats will do a better job of this? Most of the time, inflation is out of the hands of the politicians. You've got global markets, but this time it seems pretty clearly related to energy prices, and that's because of the war in Iran.