costs as much now as a Broadway show used to cost back when that was a real splurge.

starting Feb - because of the generosity of Trump and the Repugs will pay for all these 10 things including food - right? (sarcasm)

because of the hits Madagascar's taking. Fortunately, we can live without those, but for various reasons beef's become something of an indulgence.

4 oz. of whole vanilla bean, about 3 of them, = 125.00 .

yum...

From what I hear, I am missing out on some good eats that use vanilla beans.
But if the beans are that expensive, so is the extract that we all use.

may have missed my chance to get a bean for "only" $17. Droughts, cyclones, poor Madagascar. Hope this spring's crop keeps farmers afloat.

Especially fresh fruits and vegetables, but also dairy products, coffee and tea and cleaning products. I also buy cat food which, of course, means I'm in it for the real big bucks. LOL.

clean the litter box regularly, as I do.

I have two cats and get their supplies there at a much lower price.

Vacations? New cars? Meh. But emergency & retirement savings, medical & dental care, child care? What good is a national defense budget if you don't also care for your citizens? Our government should provide the following:

basic guaranteed income to cover three hots & a cot
free healthcare
free education K-college
free child/elder care
a comprehensive public transportation system

Anything less is not civilized.

My rwnj relations like to post an image of a blank writing pad with the words: This is everything you were promised when you came into this world. I told them we pool our resources & work together so it doesn't have to be that way, & I remind them that they grew up in America at a time when we had quality public education K-12, state colleges that didn't take six figures to earn your degree, publicly owned hospitals where an appendectomy didn't break you for life, a highway system that wasn't outdated, national parks that were maintained & had reasonable rates, & on & on. They are Breitbart/Fox addled & believe that they pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, & that brown people are getting a free ride. But hey, they're not racists.

finally spread the pain lower-income people had been feeling for some time to the middle classes.

companies have cut back so much there is no backup if someone is out.

Lax employment security means if you insist on a 2-week vacation, you can often expect to be on the list the next time layoffs roll around.

and the less people do these things, the worse the economy is as a whole. i can't get over how stupid republicans are not to catch on to this.

i fear the next great depression possibly within my lifetime.

The first great depression happened because there were too many wealth hoarders that were holding the world's money hostage. 100 years later, nothing's really changed!

of a capitalistic engine. The GOP is severely shortsighted. Always have been and are known for tanking the economy by the time they leave office.

We have one everytime the repugs get in, the one in '08 was more severe than most — two wars off the books didn't help at all.

massive destitution. i know there is too much poverty today and also that 2008 hurt many people but i'm thinking on a massive scale.

either way it's a travesty that in this incredibly wealthy nation this even happens ever.

With the median household income being $54K and the median home price being $200K, something's gotta give.

"Nearly one-third of households making $75,000 or more a year live paycheck-to-paycheck ..."

a mathematically calculated game of ripoff of the American society. As Americans snooze, they lose, big time.

due to massive student loans. I even have a little assistance from my parents to get by and I make a decent income. It's insane how expensive it is just to cover the basics.

I'm 71 and in poor health.
I get $25 a month EBT (food stamps).

Thank God for Medicare

Your medication must take up most of your income. This country is so sick. More and more money keeps going to the rich and the poor just keep getting screwed. It's so wrong!

I let my $25 a month food stamps rollover each month until I have about $100 before using it.

The copays on my medications are $3.30 each prescription thanks to Medicare. (Blue Cross Medicare Advantage HMO)
Without it my insulin alone would be $1,400 each month.

By biggest expense is rent.

We're barely above poverty level.

I am one of the lucky ones, I am a college grad (Engineering) and have been working in my field for some time and returned to night school and am earning my Masters. I feel pretty accomplished, I did what i had to do to get a good job. I still feel lucky, but what's remarkable is when I think about it, my blue collar father was able to have a better life security and financial wise than me.

He made as much money as I do most of his career. And he retired with a Pension that has allowed him to maintain his lifestyle.

Me? I make good money, and am lucky enough to own a home and 2 cars, one of them almost new. I have a 401K that is way behind where it should be. And I have student loans that are going to be an anchor around me for the rest of my life.

I worked hard, did what I was supposed to do and am a success. But I still will never be as financially set as my father was when he retired after 40 years of being an autoworker.

There is a great crisis coming to this country. People haven't saved enough for retirement and will simply have to figure out how to live on social security, and they're after that too. Tens of millions of working people will become impoverished once they stop working. Something has to give. The future is so bleak for most Americans they can't even bare to think abut it.

many are willfully ignorant, and are getting what they voted for (or by not voting.)

At this stage in the game corrections can be made, but let the status quo go on several more election cycles and recovery will be difficult and possibly impossible. Some societies collapse, America is no different. Great civilizations have fallen apart over the eons.

Americans have really had it pretty good over the decades since WWII, but now the country edges or is in full Idiocracy. Many neglect woefully their civic responsibilities. And many of TPTB could give a F about the country or the people. They are in the game for themselves and their cronies. It's a damn sad state of affairs in the US.

Many Americans simply have no future when they can retire. I am in my 40s, most of my friends have saved nothing for retirement, they are hopeless at this point. They're looking at retiring on social security when they're 70 and eking out a miserable existence until they die. Myself, I will struggle too, but at least I'll have some investment income and hopefully a paid for home.

By age 50, you should have 6X your income in your retirement account, I won't be even close and I am much better off than most. We need to strengthen social security and increase payments.

(my worst nightmare) I believe it's the 1930's all over again.
Only there will be no FDR to save our asses this time.

We CANNOT let this happen!

It's just been one big power and wealth grab by those who already have too much power and wealth. It's a ponzi scheme. The only difference between Bernie Madoff and the Kochs, Waltons, etc is that Bernie was stupid enough to get caught. The Kochs and Waltons have the pieces in place to make sure that doesn't happen and things will only get much worse.

and this list is the starting point.

A family of 4 living in a one bedroom is the new standard coming to a city near you.