Who can forget the dumb “Trump Low Prices/Kamala High Prices” campaign signs that we all saw in neighbors’ front yards during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Gas prices are up 15 cents a gallon this week, sitting at an average of $4.10 per gallon today, per data from GasBuddy.
Average nationally on Election Day 2024: $3.09 a gallon.
Yeah, that’s a dollar per gallon more, every time you fill up.
The increase at the pump is being felt everywhere, thanks to Donald Trump’s military assault on Iran that has no end in sight, his tariffs over personal slights – not to mention the stupid notion that we need to punish Canada for wildfire smoke.
How much has this cost you?
A new congressional report tells us that Virginia families have had to spend more than $2,900 extra since Mr. Low Prices took office in 2025, and this is across the board.
“This new data confirms what we’ve been hearing from families across Virginia for months,” U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said in a joint statement on the extra money we’re paying for everyday life.
The average per month there: $161.11.
For folks in our home base of Waynesboro, where the median household income is $59,994, who would have an average household income at $4,999.50, that’s 3.2 percent of your household budget.
I wonder – were people in Waynesboro thinking two years ago, when the city gave Trump a majority in his run for a second term, that they had a 3.2 percent cushion, $161.11 a month, that they weren’t doing anything with?
Doubt it.
“President Trump promised the American people lower costs, but instead, his reckless war of choice in Iran and his chaotic economic policies have driven up the price of filling up your car, buying groceries, keeping the lights on, and putting a roof over your head,” Warner and Kaine said.
“Virginians deserve leaders focused on lowering costs – not policies that make life more expensive. We’ll keep fighting to reverse these harmful policies, end this unnecessary war, and put more money back in Virginians’ pockets.”
Trump: High prices
Housing costs
- Virginians have had to spend $637 more ($35.39 per month) on housing, including rent and mortgage payments.
Energy costs
- Since the start of President Trump’s war of choice in Iran, Virginians have had to spend more than $2 billion extra on gas, averaging $605 more ($33.61 per month) per household.
- Virginia families also paid $170 more ($14.17 per month) for electricity in 2025 under President Trump than they did in 2024. In just the first six months of 2026, Virginia families are projected to spend an additional $181 more ($30.17 per month) for electricity than they did in the first half of 2024.
Grocery costs
- Across the country, Americans paid $310 more ($25.83 per month) for groceries in 2025 under President Trump than they did in 2024.
- Grocery prices are more than 4 percent higher than when President Trump took office.
- The average price of ground beef and coffee are hitting Americans particularly hard, as beef has risen to a record high of more than $7 per pound and coffee prices have spiked to nearly $10 per pound.
Healthcare costs
- Following President Trump and congressional Republicans’ refusal to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, average ACA premiums across the country have increased by more than 50 percent in 2026 compared to last year.
- Average deductibles also surged to record highs, rising by more than $1,000.
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Chris Graham
