The New GOP Bill Will Gouge Workers—And to Them, That’s Nothing New

Out-of-control costs were a constant theme. And no matter what kind of work people are doing, they don’t expect their paychecks to keep up or to get dramatically bigger any time soon. So people turn to gig work and side jobs, they sell their possessions online, and even sell their plasma. Americans are nothing if not industrious, and they’ll do anything to make a little extra money to get by.

Workers don’t expect outside help. They no longer expect much from government—and they don’t see any politicians willing to stand up to corporate interests on their behalf.

For all the talk we hear from supposed economic experts about the complex factors that determine wages and prices, workers have pretty good intuition. They know corporate greed when they see it—and they know it’s a big reason why they can’t get ahead and their incomes don’t keep up with costs.

A delivery driver in Texas told us, “They know people need to survive off certain things... And companies know they can continue to raise prices because people need this stuff, and they’re gonna have to pay it, regardless of if they’re living in a one-bedroom shack or living in a mansion, you’re still gonna have to pay for it because you need it. So companies are going to steadily gouge you.”

Another worker, an occupational health care provider in Missouri, said, “We don’t have the option of not paying them … I mean, we have to have insurance by law. We have to have housing. We have to have food. Companies know this, and so they’re like, ‘Oh, we can jack it up another 50 bucks. They’ve got to pay it, no matter what we can jack it up another $1,000.’”