It’s Time To Lower Prices For Middle Class Alabamians

Things have never been more expensive in Alabama. From houses to cars to utilities to eggs, the prices of all of our essentials have exploded in recent years. The majority of Americans can’t even afford to pay their rent, much less think about buying a home. If you want to go to college in Alabama to try and increase your future earning potential, you can look forward to a lifetime of repaying student loans. Some research suggests that as many as 75% of Americans cannot afford a new car, which has not been the case since shortly after the invention of the automobile. If you can afford a car, you’ll soon be unable to afford gas for it since Donald Trump and the Republican Party have decided to start wars all over the globe.

So why is this happening? Why can we no longer afford anything? Why can’t the majority of people in the richest country in the history of the world afford basic essentials? In simplest terms, most people are struggling but a few people are making a killing. If you own millions of dollars in stocks, times couldn’t be better. If you happen to work a regular job like most people, you’re probably just barely getting by. This is not the result of some accident. This is a very intentional consequence of Republican policies that have been enacted to make the rich much richer while making the poor even poorer. If you received a W-2 form this year with $60,000 in Box 1, you probably paid Uncle Sam more in taxes than Elon Musk. That’s not an accident. That’s a policy decision that Republican politicians have made. Republicans claim that their tariffs brought over $250 billion into the U.S. Treasury last year, and that’s a true statement. What they don’t tell you, though, is that every dime of that money was collected from American consumers. China and Russia don’t pay tariffs…WE do. 

Are you a middle class Alabamian who receives government assistance to pay for your health insurance or groceries? Well, since Republicans passed their “One Big Beautiful Bill” last year, you may soon lose that assistance. But at least our country’s richest billionaires are getting a huge tax cut, so that should provide you with some comfort. Your family may not have enough food to eat, but the billionaire class will be able to buy more private jets and build more rockets. I want to reiterate that this is not an accident. It’s a policy decision. Their rockets are more important to your representatives than your family’s food.

My fellow North Alabamians, this is why I’m running for state senate. Of course I can’t single-handedly fix our state government, but I will be a warrior for our state’s working class. One of my top priorities will be reforming local zoning laws that have put housing out of reach for many Alabamians. Local officials should have some say over land use, but we need to enact legislation at the state level to ensure that they do not unnecessarily restrict building. I also want to expand Medicaid so that more Alabamians will have access to affordable healthcare if they get sick. We should not have people dying in our state because they can’t afford to go to the doctor. I want to keep state tax rates low for working people, but our state’s wealthiest citizens have got to start paying their fair share! The government has a responsibility to effectively allocate resources, and it’s time that the folks in Montgomery start working for the people, not just their biggest campaign donors.

This will not be easy, and the Republicans who run our state will concede nothing without a fight. That’s why the people of Alabama need to elect Democrats who are willing to stand up for the working class and go toe-to-toe for our values of freedom, liberty, and democracy. Our country is rapidly becoming an authoritarian oligarchy, and our best chance of turning the tide is to elect representatives with the courage and fortitude to take on the wealthy and powerful as well as their hand-picked puppets who masquerade as our representatives.

Alex House

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For the past several years, Alex has dedicated his life to helping students to succeed in college, and he currently serves as an Academic Advisor at a Huntsville university. He’s passionate about helping people to pursue their educational and occupational goals.

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