Make America Affordable Again
Real policies, real results. A side-by-side look at what's actually making life more affordable for Wood County families — and what's making it harder.
Two different paths on affordability
Democratic policies have put money back in the pockets of Wisconsin families and rebuilt rural infrastructure. Trump's tariffs and foreign policy have raised prices, cost Wisconsin its export markets, and shrunk the state's manufacturing base.
He's cashing in. You're paying more to borrow.
While deficit-financed war spending pushes up the interest rates Wisconsin families pay on mortgages and car loans, President Trump and his family have turned the presidency into a personal fortune.
Self-DealingThe Trump Family Fortune
Financial disclosures and independent reporting show the Trump family growing dramatically richer in office — largely through ventures that trade on the presidency itself.
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$2.3B → $6.5B
Trump's estimated net worth has nearly tripled since taking office, driven largely by his family's crypto ventures.
Source: Forbes -
$1.4 billion
Reported crypto income in 2025 alone — over $500 million from World Liberty Financial, a venture Trump co-founded with his sons, and $635 million from selling his own $TRUMP meme coin.
Source: Trump financial disclosure, Al Jazeera -
$6 billion lost
Trump Media (Truth Social) stock has fallen more than 70% since he took office, wiping out shareholder wealth — while Trump personally collected over $1 billion in revenue from the same companies.
Source: Fortune -
No blind trust
Unlike prior presidents, Trump has refused to divest his business holdings, even while signing executive orders — like a strategic bitcoin reserve — that financially benefit his own crypto ventures.
Source: CNN
The BillWhat Wisconsinites Pay
Deficit-financed war spending is driving up the cost of borrowing for every family — whether you're buying a home, a car, or just carrying a credit card balance.
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$48.1 billion
Added national borrowing costs in 2026 alone from Trump's Iran war, pushing long-term interest rates roughly half a point higher than they'd otherwise be.
Source: Center for American Progress -
$300 billion+
Estimated total fiscal cost of the Iran war, after the Pentagon requested $200 billion in deficit-financed supplemental spending.
Source: Cato Institute, CAP -
6.7%–6.85%
The average 30-year mortgage rate in 2026 — among the highest in a year, making it harder for Wisconsin families to buy a home.
Source: Bankrate, HousingWire -
6.4% / 11.4%
Average auto loan rates for new and used vehicles, squeezing families just trying to buy a car or truck to get to work.
Source: Experian State of the Automotive Finance Market
The record, documented
Every figure below is drawn from federal data, nonpartisan research, and Wisconsin-based reporting.
Affordable Care Act
ACA Marketplace and Medicaid expansion enrollment reached a combined 44 million people in 2024 — up nearly 60% since 2020. The working-age adult uninsured rate fell from 20.4% in 2013 to 11% in 2023, a historic low, and Medicaid expansion alone is estimated to have saved 27,000 lives.
Rural Broadband
The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law sent Wisconsin over $1.1 billion for broadband deployment through the BEAD program. In Wood County, TDS Telecommunications is building nearly 400 miles of fiber to reach 3,500+ addresses in towns like Lincoln, Arpin, and Pittsville; Frontier has expanded fiber to 77,000+ rural Wisconsin locations, including the Marshfield exchange.
Child Poverty
The American Rescue Plan's expanded Child Tax Credit cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021, from 9.7% to a record-low 5.2%, lifting 2.1 million children out of poverty. When the credit expired, child poverty more than doubled — rising to 12.4% in 2022 and 13.7% in 2023, the largest year-over-year jump on record.
Tariff Price Increases
Federal Reserve research found tariffs are now subject to "full pass-through" to consumers, raising core goods prices by 3.1% through February 2026. The Yale Budget Lab estimates tariffs cost the average household $1,700 to $4,700 per year. Clothing prices are up 14%, furnishings up 8%, and household essentials up 5% since tariffs began.
Soybean & Commodity Markets
Wisconsin's 16,000 soybean farmers produce about $1.3 billion a year and export roughly two-thirds of their crop, mostly to China. China halted purchases of U.S. soybeans starting in 2025 in response to tariffs; exports collapsed from nearly 1 billion bushels to 218 million bushels. Overall Wisconsin agricultural exports to China fell 53% in the first seven months of 2025. Industry experts warn it could take a decade or more to rebuild those relationships even after tariffs are lifted.
Fuel & Fertilizer Costs from the Iran War
After U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February 2026, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, a passage for roughly 20% of the world's seaborne oil. Brent crude spiked to $126/barrel. National gas prices peaked at $4.56/gallon in May 2026 and remain above $4/gallon. Farm diesel hit a record $5.41/gallon, and nitrogen fertilizer prices jumped roughly 70% as natural gas costs spiked — driving up costs for every Wisconsin farmer.
Manufacturing Job Losses
Wisconsin's manufacturing workforce shrank by about 9,500 jobs between January 2025 and January 2026, falling from 461,100 to 451,600 workers, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Tariff-driven uncertainty has made manufacturers more reluctant to hire, compounding a decline that began in late 2022.
Research Funding Cuts
UW-Madison saw a 17% decline in federal research funding in 2025, with new awards down 30%. More than $12 million in grants were terminated or withheld, and a proposed 15% cap on NIH indirect-cost reimbursement could cost the university $62 million a year — funding that supports jobs, medical research, and Wisconsin's innovation economy.
Wood County deserves an economy that works for everyone.
Join the Wood County Democratic Party and help elect leaders who will fight to lower costs, protect Wisconsin farmers and manufacturers, and invest in our communities.
Sources
- KFF — ACA Marketplace and Medicaid Expansion Enrollment, 2024
- CMS — 2025 Marketplace Open Enrollment
- ASPE / HHS — Uninsured Rate at Record Low
- NTIA — Wisconsin's Internet for All Initial Proposal
- Wisconsin Public Radio — Wisconsin Broadband Expansion Funding
- U.S. Census Bureau / Columbia Center on Poverty and Social Policy — Child Tax Credit & Child Poverty, 2021–2023
- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas / NBER — Full Pass-Through of Tariff Costs to Consumers
- Yale Budget Lab / Center for American Progress — Economic Policy Impact on Household Costs
- Wisconsin Watch — Midwest Soybean Farmers Squeezed by Tariffs, Iran War
- Purdue University Center for Commercial Agriculture — U.S.-China Soybean Trade Impact
- CNBC — Iran War Energy Shock Hits U.S. Economy
- Forbes / AAA — U.S. Gas Prices Top $4 Again
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via Wisconsin Public Radio — Wisconsin Manufacturing Job Losses, 2025
- Wisconsin Public Radio — UW-Madison Research Funding Cuts
- The Daily Cardinal — Over $12 Million Cut in Critical Research Funding at UW-Madison
- CBS News — Trump Family's Net Worth Increased by Billions Thanks to Crypto
- Al Jazeera — Trump Reports $1.4bn in Cryptocurrency Income in Government Filing
- Fortune — Trump Media Stock Decline & Monetizing Truth Social Access
- CNN — Trump's Conflicts of Interest in Stark Relief
- Center for American Progress — Trump's Iran War Has Increased Borrowing Costs by $48 Billion
- Cato Institute — The Iran War Could Be a $300 Billion Shock
- Bankrate / HousingWire — Mortgage Interest Rate Forecast for 2026
- Experian — Auto Loan Rates and Financing for 2026