Observatory

The wealthy have no fear from the poor working hard. What threatens the balance of power is the poor having money of their own. Financial security is more than a matter of comfort. It is the freedom to reject an exploitative wage, to stand up to an abusive employer, or to walk away from injustice without fearing financial ruin. But when next month's rent is at stake, even the most degrading circumstances can become impossible to escape. Savings, in this sense, are not merely accumulated wealth. They are the foundation of personal autonomy. Consider Trump's economic policies. Sweeping tariffs have driven up import costs, much of which is ultimately borne by American consumers. While Trump

The Trump administration no longer even pretends to give a damn about the cost-of-living nightmare crushing ordinary Americans. To them, the rest of us—the people actually paying the bills—are completely disposable. Washington is deploying every taxpayer-backed lever it can find, propping up the Treasury market and keeping torrents of liquidity coursing through Wall Street, even as working families are being strangled by rent, groceries, insurance, energy bills, and the relentless erosion of their purchasing power. Trump appears obsessed with one objective and one objective only: keeping the stock market levitating through the midterms so that he can manufacture the illusion of pro