Opinion | How Is America Doing? New Yorkers Weigh In.

Hey, how’s it going? Yeah, you. I noticed things have been pretty crazy lately, so I thought I’d check in. How are you doing, America? Today I’m in New York’s suburbs, one of the places that will decide control of Congress this fall. And I’m asking folks: Are you a voter? How do you feel about taxing the rich? What’s the best thing Donald Trump has done? What’s the worst? What are politicians missing about how life in America actually is today? – Mara. – Hi, Mara. Eric. If you were to describe America right now in one word, what word would you use? – Scary. – Disastrous. – Chaos. – Rebuilding. – The country is in trouble. – Despair. – Terrible. Decline. – It’s just bad. It’s just bad. “Only about one in 10 Americans think Congress is doing a good job.” “I don’t think folks have ever been more pessimistic.” “Neither party is really popular right now.” Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, Virginia. And who’s this? This is Melanie. Hi, Melanie. All right. What would you like to see from a politician? What would you like to see them do that they’re not doing? Oh, please. The economy, you know, hear the people out, let us be a voice that you can hear us. Really hear us. The food I used to buy, I can’t afford it anymore. What food do you miss the most? – The meat, the steak. – Yeah. We can’t even afford to eat some steak. It’s not like we did it all the time, but we like to cook out. Do you own or rent a home? – I rent. I can’t even afford to buy. – Would you like to buy – if you could? – I was. I have savings for that, and I can’t. I can’t afford it. Has the rent gone up? Yes, to the point that I had to get a second job. So it’s been a lot. I definitely think that the cost of living is very difficult right now. I am a mother of five. I’m single by choice. I’m middle-class. The government doesn’t help me at all. I’m not saying that because I’m looking for anything, but I think we give too much to people that are not doing their part. Did you vote for Donald Trump? I did. What is the best thing Trump has done so far? It’s more of what he stopped rather than even what he did. I don’t believe that our border should be open. I am pro-life. I don’t believe that we should have abortions up until nine months. You still feel like you support him still today? – I do. – You’re happy with —— To be quite honest with you, I’m not in love with Donald Trump. That’s not how it is. But I support him because I think that between the two candidates that we had, he was the better option. And I still feel that he is. “With the way the party is heading, democrats could be out of power for the next 15 years.” “The democratic party is in serious trouble.” “The party has gone between stagnation and retrogression.” I wonder what you would like to see from the Democratic Party that you haven’t. I would like to see the Democratic Party talk more about nuts- and-bolts stuff. I think they get very distracted with transgender sports. Everybody has rights for this and rights for that and rights for that and this. I don’t disagree with it, but it was like way too much attention paid to that. And people were rolling their eyes. Like, I was rolling my eyes. It’s like, come on. We’ve got to talk about what to do about transportation, what to do about health care, what to do about food insecurity, all these things that affect people day to day. “An affordability crisis looms over Americans.” “Many low- and middle-income paychecks aren’t keeping up with inflation.” What do you think the worst thing is that Donald Trump has done so far? Taken away health care from a lot of people, cutting people’s benefits. I don’t think he really realizes how hard it is for someone to take care of their family. Can I ask about what percentage of your paycheck goes to rent? Maybe like 70 percent of it. – Seventy percent? – Yeah. I just had an increase maybe within the last few months. Have you ever gone yourself without food? Many a time, yeah. How often in a week or a month is it that you skip a meal so that your kids can have something? Maybe like three times a week, three or four times. As long as they eat, I’m good. “Everyday people are struggling and the income divide is only getting worse.” “Historic cuts to health care and SNAP.” “This is the biggest cutback in the U.S. social safety net in history.” How do you feel about taxing billionaires and multimillionaires? Do you think they should pay more? I’m a stylist, but I also do taxes. So I always say to the people that I work with, I would love to see Donald Trump’s taxes so I can see how he got to 0. It’s very hard to get to 0, so I’m just wondering how he does it all the time. If you’ve got like five houses, come on, you should be taxed a little bit more. We’re talking about the superwealthy. – Yes. – Not people who are —— No, not like me. Come on. I’m barely — I’m hanging on, guys. So I’m crawling. What income do you think is the right amount to say they should pay a little more? Oh, God, I don’t know. – Just a ballpark. – I can’t even put a number on it. You know why? Because I can’t imagine that amount of money. And when people tell me, I’m like, what? “These elections, it’s almost going to be the billionaire donor class versus the American voter.” “Democrats are hoping to seize on voter frustrations with the president.” “Will there be this huge national political shift?” Are you planning to vote in this year’s election? Oh, absolutely. – Definitely. – I don’t think I’ve ever missed a year. Do you think you’ll vote this year? I will not, no. No. OK, so tell me why. It’s a circus. Yeah, it just seems like — it reminds me of the popularity contests in middle school. Whoever can meme harder or mud-sling better is going to end up on top. That’s basically what it is. Popularity contest. Let me ask you this. The Democrats and the Republicans have never had in our lifetimes such wildly different visions for the country. But yet you’re saying it’s kind of all the same. So what makes you feel that way? Because there’s a complete lack of transparency on both sides. And even beyond that, it’s gotten to the point where dishonesty is just the new norm. It’s like, let’s just lie about everything. Anybody that’s honest can get a vote for me. I haven’t seen honesty in politics, which is why I haven’t been voting, yeah. What’s the dream? The dream? Hmm. Complete economic freedom. And I would want that for myself and everybody I know. My family, my friends, people in general. “Fifty-seven percent say the American dream is dead.” “One in three Americans under 35 is now still residing at home.” My mom, when she got to this country, she cleaned houses. And my dad does construction till this day. And I don’t know if he’s ever going to be able to retire. What drives me is to be able to help my parents. I just want them to be able to rest and stop working. How do you feel about being an American these days? Like, is that a part of your identity in a significant way? How do you think about that? I don’t think I’m proud to be an American. Like, it’s so funny because we celebrate Fourth of July, and my cousins are like, “You’re so American, Gess.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I grew up here, but I’m never going to fully be from here, because it’s not what I stand for.” Do you think that if the country changed your feelings about that might change? Yeah, yeah, I would say so. But when you have the wrong people running the U.S., it’s not something you’re proud of. I just hope that we’re able to do something to get these rich people out.