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- [00:03]
Morningstar Narrator
Data is everywhere. But is it ready for consumption? Morningstar developed the language of global investment data so you have the right ingredients to help you shine. Morningstar, where data speaks.
- [00:18]
Producer/Interviewer
Keep bringing them. Keep bringing them.
- [00:20]
Heather Byram
We got it. We got an extra person.
- [00:22]
Sabrina Siddiqui
The volunteers here at Betty Lou's Pantry in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley are getting ready for the next day's food drive.
- [00:29]
Interviewer/Volunteer Coordinator
Oh, did you get the rest of the side dishes, Chuck?
- [00:31]
Kobe Byram
Yeah.
- [00:32]
Interviewer/Volunteer Coordinator
Did you count these?
- [00:32]
Sabrina Siddiqui
They're moving empty banana boxes that will soon be filled with donated food driven in from around the area. The president of the nonprofit that runs Betty Lou's, Chris Page, says he's seen more need from visitors in recent years as grocery prices have gone up. And after the Trump administration made cuts to SNAP or food stamps as part of last year's One big Beautiful Bill
- [00:55]
Interviewer/Volunteer Coordinator
act, I could tell from in many cases, just the panic on their face. You know, I mean, I remember talking to a few that literally were in tears, I mean, you know, over what was happening.
- [01:07]
Sabrina Siddiqui
Paige told me the pantry in Coopersburg recently decided to double the grocery store gift cards they give people every month up to a $50 value specifically because of higher prices.
- [01:20]
Interviewer/Volunteer Coordinator
You'd be real surprised with the type of people, their personal situations and the challenges, especially today, you know, with the cost of everything, you know, with gas and food. And it is a real challenge.
- [01:35]
Sabrina Siddiqui
Post pandemic inflation hasn't let up when it comes to groceries while an open ended war in Iran continues to drive up the cost of gas. I wanted to find out how those higher prices are factoring into voters concerns in this year's midterm elections, including the race for a competitive seat here in Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district. I'm Sabrina Siddiqi and this is what's News Sunday today. And over the next several, we'll be hitting the road to report on the cost of everything from manufacturing to food to housing and to see what the rising cost of living could mean for who will control Congress next year. In this episode, I talk to everyday voters as well as some of the candidates in a Democratic primary coming up this Tuesday. Then I'll talk to Republican Congressman Ryan McKenzie, who will be defending his seat against that primary's winner this November. This is the Cost of Living Election part two.
- [02:38]
Heather Byram
Thanks for coming to visit us.
- [02:40]
Sabrina Siddiqui
Of course. Of course. One family that benefits greatly from Betty Lou's Pantry is Heather and Kobe Byram.
- [02:47]
Heather Byram
This is our food pantry world. We got a bunch of different foods that we're gracious for.
- [02:53]
Sabrina Siddiqui
We're standing at their home Pantry in nearby Hellertown. Heather tells us all the shelf stable goods here came from Betty Lou's.
- [03:01]
Heather Byram
This is all food bank. This is our saving grace. We got the rice and the potatoes, and we got all the cereals up top and some of the sweet treats as cakes.
- [03:12]
Sabrina Siddiqui
The Byrams get most of their fresh food from the grocery store, but they've turned to food banks, too, because they find it harder and harder to afford groceries, to say nothing of a meal out.
- [03:23]
Heather Byram
Some people like to go out to eat all the time. We definitely can't afford that. So my option is to set out a nice table, put a candle out, make it look like a restaurant type thing, and serve food that way, because that's all we have.
- [03:38]
Sabrina Siddiqui
As the little person, the Byrams are Trump supporters. They don't blame the president for their financial struggles. Do you feel like prices have gotten
- [03:47]
Interviewer
better, worse, or stayed the same since
- [03:49]
Sabrina Siddiqui
President Trump took office?
- [03:51]
Heather Byram
Well, they were going up even before him, and then when he got the office, he said also it was going to hurt before it gets better. So I know that whatever he's doing, yeah, it is hurting us a little bit, but it was hurting us long before he was president, and it kept going up.
- [04:10]
Sabrina Siddiqui
Heather's husband, Kobe, works for a company that fixes buildings that have been damaged by fires or storms. He also supported Trump, but he's a little more critical of the administration.
- [04:20]
Kobe Byram
I believe that both sides have their evil doings because, you know, as the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. That's just basically the way it is. And then my views about Trump, it's 50, 50. You know, I could say that he has done a lot for our country, and he hasn't done enough for our country.
- [04:44]
Sabrina Siddiqui
Kobe says stopping the tariffs and ending the war in Iran would help bring costs down for him and his wife. But he voted for Trump three times. And when I ask him if there
- [04:55]
Interviewer
was another election tomorrow, would you do anything differently?
- [04:58]
Kobe Byram
No.
- [04:59]
Producer/Interviewer
Yeah.
- [04:59]
Kobe Byram
No.
- [05:01]
Sabrina Siddiqui
Kobe and Heather also both plan on voting for their sitting congressman, Republican Ryan McKenzie, in November. Since gas prices have gone up, the Byram say they basically stay put unless they really need to go out. But after visiting their home, we went to the supermarket. Standing in the aisles of her local grocery store, Heather says whatever money they do have no longer gets them as much.
- [05:28]
Heather Byram
Oh, my gosh. That time that we had three bags for 92 bucks. Remember that? Yeah, it was like $92.10.
- [05:35]
Sabrina Siddiqui
At the meat counter, Heather points to black Angus roast beef.
- [05:38]
Heather Byram
Look at this prime example. Save $2. But you're spending $12.99 for a pound. Every time they do that, they up the price of it. Then they say, oh, I'm going to take $2 off. You know, you're still paying for the price.
- [05:52]
Sabrina Siddiqui
To make their money go further, the Byrams have been trading down, going for store brand items instead of private label options, Store brand coffee instead of Maxwell House, store brand soda instead of Coke, store brand breakfast bars instead of Kellogg's. But there is one special case.
- [06:10]
Kobe Byram
Toilet paper.
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Heather Byram
Yeah, that's one thing Eddie has one preference over and that's toilet paper.
- [06:15]
Kobe Byram
It gotta be cotton owl. It's gotta be cotton owl. You know, if you go with the store brand, it feels like sandpaper.
- [06:24]
Sabrina Siddiqui
In the end, the Byrams were only at this grocery store to give me an idea of the shopping decisions they have to make. Heather was pushing a cart around, but it was empty. She and Kobe told me they just don't have the money to buy any groceries right now. Costs in the US have soared in the latest available data. According to the Labor Department. Consumer prices in April saw their biggest year over year jump in three years. This past week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that their fruits and vegetables index has risen just over 6% over the last 12 months. And gasoline prices meanwhile were up 28% last month compared to a year earlier, according to the Labor Department. At a gas station back in Coopersburg, people of all political stripes told my producer that they're not happy about that.
- [07:20]
Mike McNerney
That's a new high.73 for a fill up is a new high. Price just seems to keep going up every time I come here. It's like sticker shock every time.
- [07:27]
Local Voter 1
Oh, it's horrible. I've been doing a thing lately where instead of filling up, I just put in $20 each time.
- [07:34]
Local Voter 2
I'm retired, so I'm on a fixed income.
- [07:36]
Sabrina Siddiqui
I had to go back to work
- [07:37]
Local Voter 2
part time because the food prices and
- [07:39]
Sabrina Siddiqui
the gas prices and some of them do blame the president.
- [07:43]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
I mean, the gas prices are just continually rising and this administration isn't doing anything about it.
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Sabrina Siddiqui
One voter alluded to the war in Iran.
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Local Voter 2
This is something that can be controlled if we would just not get into something that we don't belong to.
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Sabrina Siddiqui
A recent Reuters Ipsos poll found that 3/4 of Americans, including half of Republicans, think the Trump administration is at least partly to blame for growing gas prices. And roughly 63% said their household's financial situation had taken a hit from it. On Tuesday, a reporter asked President Trump whether Americans financial situation motivated him to make a deal with Iran to end the war?
- [08:26]
Producer/Interviewer
Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about American financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.
- [08:42]
Sabrina Siddiqui
That's the previous day Trump said he supports suspending the federal 18 cent per gallon tax on gasoline. That would take Congress to approve and cost of living is on the tongues of many of the politicians running for Congress here in Pennsylvania's toss up seventh District. It's the message Democrats hope to ride to victory in the midterm elections this November, including the Democrat here who has the party's backing, Bob Brooks.
- [09:09]
Bob Brooks
It's about what things cost. People can't afford to go to the doctor. People can't afford to fill up their vehicle.
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Sabrina Siddiqui
Brooks calls himself the working class candidate in this race. His campaign logo features a firefighter's hat over the O in Bob. He spent 20 years at the City of Bethlehem Fire Department and he's now president of a statewide union, the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association.
- [09:30]
Bob Brooks
I've taken snap benefits. I have had to live in public housing after my house burned down. You know, I've gone through the struggles and the problems that everyday people are having today. So I think it's time we send somebody to Washington D.C. that understands the life people are living because I've been through it.
- [09:47]
Sabrina Siddiqui
Brooks has gotten the endorsement of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and progressive champion Bernie Sanders. He says that if he's elected, he'd work to reverse the cuts from Trump's one big, beautiful bill, extend health care subsidies and cap the cost of certain drugs. There are three other Democrats in the primary, all of whom are making an affordability pitch to voters. But as I headed to Pennsylvania just a week and a half before the upcoming primary, I expected to meet engaged voters and see lawn signs promoting this or that candidate. I didn't. Most of the lawn signs I saw were planted in public places, not at the homes of eager voters. Joe Biden won this district in 2020. Then Donald Trump won it in 2024. For a congressional district that rests on a knife's edge, where every vote counts, I found the pre election buzz pretty lacking. That could signal a big advantage for the district's current representative, Republican Ryan MacKenzie. At the same time, it's Trump's economy now. And if the high price of groceries and gas now belong to the GOP and its leader, McKenzie has a case to build with voters. So I talked with him about what he's doing to address affordability. That's after the break.
- [11:14]
Harvard Business School Narrator
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- [11:48]
Sabrina Siddiqui
And now onto my conversation with Congressman Ryan McKenzie of Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district. It's been edited for length and clarity.
- [11:57]
Interviewer
Congressman, thanks so much for taking time. You know, obviously there's been so much focus on inflation, you know, grocery prices, gas prices. What are you hearing from your constituents about the cost of living and what are you doing in your position as a member of Congress to address it?
- [12:12]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
Yeah. When we campaigned in 2024, cost of living and inflation were the number one issue and they remain today. These issues are really stubborn and hard to deal with because the policy changes that you're making are going to really have long term positive effect. But people are still struggling in the short term from the inflation during four years of the Biden administration.
- [12:33]
Interviewer
You know, your website currently has improving affordability in big letters on the homepage. Would you say that that is the most important issue in this campaign?
- [12:42]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
I would say so. And when I started my first month or two in office, the first package of legislation I introduced was in that affordability lane. And so I introduced a package of legislation for working families to increase the child tax credit, increase our child and dependent care tax credit, make permanent the tax credit for paid maternity leave. We were able to achieve a lot of those things in the working families tax cuts. And then what we do now is again, working on these pretty significant pieces of legislation that are going to have really positive impacts on affordability in the long term as well.
- [13:18]
Interviewer
One issue where you voted in line with more Democrats was on extending the Affordable Care act subsidies. What passed the House essentially died in the Senate, didn't even come up for a vote. Do you wish that more of your Republican colleagues would have supported an extension of those subsidies?
- [13:35]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
Well, I think it's important to again, look at both the short term and long term when it comes to health care. So our effort was definitely around affordability for healthcare in the short term. Providing those tax credits would have brought down costs for people. At the same time, we have to look at healthcare in the bigger picture sense of how do we drive down costs in healthcare over the long term. And that is a much bigger challenge.
- [13:57]
Sabrina Siddiqui
A Wall Street Journal poll we had
- [13:58]
Interviewer
just a few months ago showed that health care costs are actually the second biggest cost strain for voters after groceries. But when it comes to Congress, it's the number one issue they want Congress to address because I think they recognize that groceries is a little more complicated. Congress doesn't always have as much leeway there, but healthcare costs is something that directly is tied to action from Congress. What would you say that Republicans in Congress, just because you control both chambers, I know the majority is a slim. You need Democratic votes. But what would you say Republicans are doing to try and lower those?
- [14:30]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
I think your assessment of the general public sentiment there is probably correct. They are looking for answers out of government on what we can do to bring down the cost of health care. And so that effort to pass the extension of the ACA tax credits is something that we could have done that would have brought about real relief for people in our local communities. And that's why I supported it, because we heard from people. I remember hearing from a small business owner, a restaurateur in our area. I forget the exact numbers at this point, but his prices were going from $300 a month, I think it was, to $900 a month. And he said it's simply unsustainable. And he said that he was actually going to remove himself from the market and hope that nothing happened for him and his family. And that is not a good outcome. So we would have liked to have seen that extension.
- [15:16]
Interviewer
We've spoken also this week with some of the Democrats who are running in this primary. Whoever wins, of course, will be your oppone in November. And they say that growing prices are easily linked back to Republican policies on a national level. They think voters will agree with them. What is your response to that?
- [15:33]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
I don't think that's correct. I mean, we saw for four years during the Biden administration that inflation went up across the board, probably around 20% on everything, driven by monetary policy and overspending when it comes to things like energy. We saw that during the Biden administration. They had a very hostile approach to permitting and new fossil fuels and extraction that is coming back to bite us in a big way because now we are behind the eight ball for several years of developing our energy sector. And so I think they should be looking at themselves, the policies. I mean, if you look at California, California is one of the most unaffordable places to live and they have passed every Democratic policy under the sun.
- [16:18]
Interviewer
I want to talk for a moment about this district. It's swings back and Forth. It's expected to be fairly competitive in November. How are you feeling about your incumbency? Do you feel vulnerable running for reelection? Do you feel like this is going
- [16:32]
Sabrina Siddiqui
to be a tough fight for you?
- [16:33]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
I think we always knew that this seat is going to be competitive. It always has been. It always is going to be. And it's because we have a very diverse economy here. And so we have people that work in the meds and EDs, we have people that work in manufacturing and logistics. So we have blue collar workers, white collar workers, a big mix which comes together and lands pretty 50, 50. We are doing everything the way that I think people want to be represented in our local community, making sure that we're delivering for our community. We're making sure that in the appropriations process, we're bringing back funding for first responders and transportation upgrades, increasing the affordable housing in our local community. These are things that we prioritize, we talked about on the campaign trail, and we're delivering for our local community. I think people see and recognize that work.
- [17:24]
Interviewer
This is probably going to be the line from Democrats going into November. Ryan McKenzie is a rubber stamp on the Trump presidency. And looking at how this is a competitive district, voters swing back and forth, I think they see that as a liability. That's how they're going to frame it. Do you see it as a liability being called a rubber stamp for the Trump administration?
- [17:42]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
I think what we do is always represent the best interests of the Lehigh Valley. And so you talked about instances where I have broken with the party on things like health care affordability. But at the same time, this district did vote for me. It voted for President Trump as well. And so that is what the people in the community wanted. They spoke loudly in 2024, and we're trying to make sure that we're delivering on those things that we campaigned on.
- [18:07]
Sabrina Siddiqui
Well, Congressman, thank you so much for being here.
- [18:08]
Congressman Ryan McKenzie
Thank you.
- [18:11]
Sabrina Siddiqui
The Cost of Living election is part of the Wall Street Journal's what's News. This episode was produced and mixed by Pierre Biennime. Michael Lavalle wrote our music editorial Oversight from Joshua Jamerson, Chris Inslee, and Talia. I'm Sabrina Siddiqui and I'll be back soon with the next installment of the Cost of Living Election. Thanks for listening.
- [18:35]
Mike McNerney
I'm Mike McNerney, Equity Investment Strategist. Markets move fast. My mission is to provide market insights to our clients that help turn uncertainty into opportunity. Janice Henderson, Investing in a brighter future Together.