Life Sucks Now

A no-bullshit look at what's broken in America — and who broke it.

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Climate Crisis

The Planet Is On Fire.
Literally.

Record-breaking heat, stronger storms, rising seas — the science has been settled for decades. The political will hasn't been.

1.5°C
Critical warming threshold — already breached in 2024 for the first time in recorded history.
$92B+
Cost of US climate and weather disasters in 2023 alone — a record-setting year.
3.3–6.6B
People projected to be exposed to dangerous heat by 2100 under current policies.
Global Average Temperature Anomaly (°C above pre-industrial baseline)
1.5° 1.0° 0.5° 0° 1.5°C limit 1950 1965 1980 1995 2010 2024

Source: NASA GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP v4). Values approximate for illustration.

The US is the world's second-largest cumulative emitter of CO₂, yet Congress has repeatedly gutted or blocked climate legislation. The Inflation Reduction Act was a step — but experts say it's not nearly enough.
Cost of Living

You're Working Harder
and Falling Further Behind.

Wages have grown. But rent, groceries, healthcare, and childcare have grown faster. For most Americans, the math simply doesn't work anymore.

+23%
Grocery prices since 2020 — eggs, milk, bread all significantly more expensive.
$2,000+
Median monthly rent nationwide in 2024. Up over 30% since 2019.
$13,493
Average annual cost of employer-sponsored family health insurance in 2023.
Cumulative % increase since 2000: Wages vs. Key Expenses
Median Wage
Rent
Healthcare
College Tuition
Childcare

Source: BLS, National Low Income Housing Coalition, KFF, College Board. Values approximate.

Government Services

Your Tax Dollars.
Not Working For You.

The US spends more per capita than almost any other developed nation — but delivers far less to ordinary people. Where is the money going?

🇺🇸 United States
  • No universal healthcare
  • No universal paid parental leave
  • No free public college
  • Crumbling infrastructure (D+ rating, ASCE)
  • Longest working hours in the developed world
  • Highest child poverty rate among wealthy nations
🌍 Peer Nations (Germany, Canada, Japan, etc.)
  • Universal or near-universal healthcare
  • Paid parental leave (often 12+ weeks)
  • Subsidized or free higher education
  • Modern rail, transit, and infrastructure
  • Shorter working hours, mandatory vacation
  • Lower child poverty rates
The US spends ~$14,000 per person per year on healthcare — more than any other country — yet millions remain uninsured and life expectancy has declined. Other wealthy nations cover everyone for half the cost.
Wars & Military Spending

Endless Wars.
Endless Bills.

The United States has been at war for most of its existence. The human cost is incalculable. The financial cost has been paid by ordinary Americans — not the war profiteers.

$8T+
Estimated total cost of the post-9/11 wars (Afghanistan, Iraq, and related conflicts). Brown University Cost of War Project.
900,000+
People killed in the post-9/11 wars, including civilians, US military, and contractors.
$886B
US defense budget in FY2024 — larger than the next 10 countries combined.
2001
War in Afghanistan begins. Lasts 20 years. Taliban retakes power in 2021. Cost: $2.3T.
2003
Invasion of Iraq based on false WMD claims. 4,500+ US troops killed. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians dead.
2011–
US involvement in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and other conflicts continues — often with little public debate or congressional authorization.
2022–
$175B+ in aid to Ukraine as Russia's war drags on. Legitimate debate about scope, oversight, and end goals is drowned out.
For what the US spent on the Iraq War alone, it could have provided universal pre-K for every American child for 35 years, or covered every uninsured American for a decade.
Corruption & Captured Government

The System Isn't Broken.
It's Working As Designed.

Legalized bribery, revolving doors, and a Supreme Court that dismantled campaign finance reform. The wealthy write the rules — and the rules show it.

$4.1B
Total lobbying and outside spending in the 2020 federal election cycle. A new record.
Citizens United
2010 Supreme Court ruling that opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate political spending. Dark money exploded.
432
Former members of Congress who became lobbyists as of 2023. The revolving door spins constantly.

How Corruption Looks in Practice

💊
Pharma lobbying has blocked Medicare from negotiating drug prices for decades, costing Americans hundreds of billions.
🏦
Wall Street deregulation pushed by bank lobbyists contributed directly to the 2008 financial crisis — then banks were bailed out.
🛢️
Oil and gas companies have spent billions lobbying against climate action while internally knowing about climate change since the 1970s.
🔫
Gun lobby spending has blocked nearly every meaningful gun safety measure despite overwhelming public support for them.
Policies Hurting Americans

Policy Choices.
Not Natural Disasters.

Poverty, inequality, and suffering at this scale don't just happen. They are the result of specific, deliberate policy choices — often made by people insulated from the consequences.

Tax cuts for the wealthy
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act added $1.9T to the debt while the top 1% captured the largest share of the benefits. Trickle-down economics has failed for 40 years.
No federal minimum wage increase since 2009
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25/hr since 2009. Adjusted for inflation, it's worth less now than it was in 1968.
Student loan system
$1.7T in student debt. Congress made student loans non-dischargeable in bankruptcy — a protection afforded to almost no other type of debt.
Mass incarceration
The US has 4% of the world's population but 20% of its prisoners. Mandatory minimums, private prisons, and failed drug policy created a system that destroys lives and communities.
Healthcare for profit
Insurance companies, hospital networks, and pharmaceutical corporations profit from illness. The US is the only wealthy nation without universal coverage. 26 million remain uninsured.
Gutting the social safety net
Decades of austerity politics have eroded food assistance, housing support, mental health services, and public education — leaving the most vulnerable with nowhere to turn.
Congressional Wealth

Your Representatives.
Their Fortunes.

The median American household net worth is around $192,000. These are the people writing your laws. Net worth estimates are from public financial disclosure filings via OpenSecrets — the real numbers are likely higher, as disclosures allow wide ranges and exclude certain assets.

# Member Party / State Est. Net Worth How They Got Rich
1 Dave McCormick R PA — Senate ~$400M+ CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund. Made his fortune managing money for the ultra-wealthy.
2 Greg Gianforte R MT — House ~$350M+ Co-founded RightNow Technologies, sold to Oracle for $1.5B in 2012. One of the richest members ever elected to Congress.
3 Rick Scott R FL — Senate ~$260M+ Former CEO of HCA Healthcare, which paid the largest Medicare/Medicaid fraud settlement in US history ($1.7B) while Scott led it. He claimed no knowledge.
4 Mark Warner D VA — Senate ~$240M+ Made his fortune as an early telecom and tech investor in the 1980s–90s, including early stakes in Nextel.
5 Darrell Issa R CA — House ~$230M+ Made his fortune manufacturing car alarm systems (Viper/DEI). Entered Congress already one of its wealthiest members.
6 John Duarte R CA — House ~$180M+ Owns Duarte Nursery, one of the largest plant nurseries in the US. Also notably sued by the Army Corps of Engineers for illegal wetlands destruction.
7 Nancy Pelosi D CA — House ~$140M+ Husband Paul Pelosi is a venture capitalist and real estate investor. The couple's stock trades — often in sectors Pelosi oversees legislatively — have drawn sustained scrutiny.
8 Mike McCaul R TX — House ~$120M+ Married into the Clear Channel Communications (iHeartMedia) founding family. Chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
9 Ro Khanna D CA — House ~$80M+ Spouse holds significant tech stock holdings (Amazon, Google, Apple, etc.). Represents Silicon Valley — one of the wealthiest districts in the country.
10 Kevin Hern R OK — House ~$75M+ McDonald's franchise owner — operates dozens of locations in Oklahoma. Chairs the Republican Study Committee and opposes minimum wage increases.
Congress members trade stocks in the industries they regulate — legally. In 2023, over 70 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act (which requires disclosure of trades) with zero consequences. A McDonald's franchise owner votes against raising the minimum wage. A pharma CEO votes against drug pricing reform. The pattern is not subtle.

Sources: OpenSecrets.org, public financial disclosure filings, Roll Call Wealth of Congress report. All figures are estimates; actual wealth is likely higher.

The Record

What "America First"
Actually Delivered.

Forget the tweets. Look at the outcomes. Here's what the Trump administration's policies actually produced — in numbers.

$7.8T
Added to the national debt during Trump's first term — more than any single-term president in history. CRFB ↗
$1.9T
Cost of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which delivered 83% of its benefits to the top 1% over 10 years. Tax Policy Center ↗
100+
Environmental rules rolled back, including clean air, clean water, and methane protections. NYT tracker ↗
COVID response
The US recorded the highest COVID death toll in the world — over 400,000 deaths during Trump's term. Early warnings were downplayed, PPE stockpiles were depleted and not restocked, and mask guidance was politicized. CDC ↗  ProPublica ↗
Gutting the ACA
Repeated attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no replacement would have stripped coverage from an estimated 20–32 million Americans. The individual mandate was eliminated via the tax bill, destabilizing insurance markets. CBO ↗
Family separation
The "zero tolerance" border policy deliberately separated over 5,500 children from their parents — many still not reunited. Federal judges called it cruel and unconstitutional. ACLU ↗  NBC / OIG report ↗
Abandoning climate commitments
Withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. Reversed Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. Opened protected federal lands to oil and gas drilling. Gutted the EPA's enforcement capacity. EPA EO 13783 ↗  Brookings ↗
Trade war costs
Tariffs on China and other trading partners cost American consumers an estimated $80B+ per year — a tax paid by US importers and passed on to American families, not China. Tax Foundation ↗  Peterson Institute ↗
January 6th
The first sitting president in US history to attempt to overturn a certified election result. 140 police officers injured. A bipartisan Senate report and the House January 6th Committee concluded Trump's actions directly contributed to the attack on the Capitol. J6 Committee report ↗  Reuters ↗
These aren't opinions — they're documented outcomes with sources from the Congressional Budget Office, Tax Policy Center, EPA, CDC, and bipartisan congressional investigations. The record is the record.