Wow, excellent analysis!-----2006 midterm election. It was a Watergate-level repudiation. What happened, and why? What are the consequences, and where on earth do we go from here?

Here’s what exit polling showed were the top issues in Kansas. - Ted Cruz

• Number one, cost of living, energy, and groceries. That was listed as number one by 30.6 percent of voters.
• Corruption. Number two, 18.5%.
• The cost of the Iran war, 10.1%.
• The candidates are terrible, 7.9%.
• The Canada trade war, 7.6%...
  

The top issue, cost of living, is very real. 
Here are some stats that are a lot more real and personal. 

• Spam, Hormel’s processed meat substitute, broke record sales, selling 113 million cans last year. ...That’s double the share just two years ago.
• In August, banks repossessed 42% more homes than they did last year. 
• In 2024, car repossessions topped 2.3 million, above the 2009 peak in the middle of the Great Financial Crisis.
• In 2025, 6% of 401k holders took hardship withdrawals, paying penalties. That is a record, and triple the norm.
• And here’s one that’s really stunning. Americans made more than 75 million paid plasma donations in 2026. That’s another record. That means 200,000 Americans every single day, with a needle in their arm, just to pay for groceries...