If You Want My Vote, Talk About My Budget

Cedar Valley News – February 5, 2026
If You Want My Vote, Talk About My Budget
By: Chloe Papadakis
From the fictional town of Cedar Valley, where characters from Quiet Echo continue to respond to real-world events.

If you are running for office this November, I have one question. Do you know what my groceries cost last Tuesday?

Billions will be spent on campaign advertising before November. A Fox News poll last week found nearly four in ten voters say the economy and prices should be the top priority. Yet almost nobody running is telling us what they will do about the numbers on our kitchen table.

Seventy-two percent of Americans experienced a financial setback last year. More than half feel overwhelmed by their finances. A third of households cannot cover an unexpected $400 expense. And 85 percent of Americans tell Pew Research that elected officials do not care what people like them think. That is not a partisan divide. That is a national verdict.

Meanwhile, Congress just finished its $1.653 trillion spending package and held press conferences to celebrate their process. The median member of Congress is worth over a million dollars. They earn $174,000 a year. They have not chosen between the light bill and the grocery bill in decades—if they ever did.

Now 61 members are heading for the exits—a record. Pelosi. McConnell. Durbin. Shaheen. Tillis. Ernst. Nadler. Hoyer. Bacon. Chip Roy. Dozens more. And when they explain why, listen.

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy called Capitol Hill “chaos” and said lawmakers are leaving because “when nothing is happening, when it’s just pure fighting, people say, ‘I could go spend my time doing something else.’” He warned that “the politicians are now picking the voters instead of the voters picking the elected officials.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene, in her resignation letter, wrote that no matter which party holds power, “nothing ever gets better for the common American man or woman. The debt goes higher. Corporate and global interests remain Washington’s sweethearts.” She said an “elite donor class” has replaced ordinary citizens—people who “can never, ever relate to real Americans.”

Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett put it his way: “So long as the biggest fear of many Republicans is the danger of a mean Trump tweet, the House will remain broken.”

Left, right, and center—same diagnosis. The system does not work for the people it was built to serve. But not one of them said: “And here is what I am going to do about your grocery bill.”

I ran into Dina Stavros at the post office yesterday. She works at the school. She sat down Sunday to plan February’s budget and started crying. The heating bill went up. The insurance went up. The groceries went up. Her paycheck did not. She said, “I feel like I’m failing, Chloe, and I’m doing everything right.” Dina is not failing. Dina is what this country runs on.

Here is my challenge to every candidate on the ballot this November. Do not tell me you will “fight for families.” Tell me you know what it costs to be one. Stand in front of Cedar Valley and say: “I know your heating bill went up forty percent. I know you are choosing between your child’s shoes and your car payment. I know because I asked. And here is what I will do.”

Cedar Valley has seen that kind of candidate. You remember Hal Driscoll. Eight years in the state legislature. Same truck. Answered his own phone. When Betty Harmon’s husband got sick, Hal did not send a staffer. He came with a yellow legal pad and sat at their kitchen table until the paperwork was done. People voted for him every time—not because they agreed with him on everything, but because he was present. He was a friend.

The Bible says, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost?” Luke 14:28. That is advice for anyone who wants to lead. Count the cost. Know what things cost the people you are asking to trust you.

If you want my vote, start at my kitchen table. Talk about my budget. Be more concerned with my fiscal well-being than with being popular. Do that, and you will not need to worry about the 85 percent who think you are corrupt. You will be something better. You will be a friend.

This editorial is part of the fictional Cedar Valley News series. While the people and town are fictional, the national events they reflect on are real.

Want to know the full story behind Cedar Valley? Teresa, Caleb, Dan, and the community you’ve come to know in these editorials first came together in Quiet Echo: When Loud Voices Divide, Quiet Ones Bring Together. Discover how a small town found its way from fear to fellowship—one quiet act of courage at a time. Available on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ME4nSs

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Start Your Publishing Journey with Expert Guidance.
Unlock Exclusive Tips, Trends, and Opportunities to Bringing Your Book to Market.

About Us

Kindly contact us if you've written a book, if you're writing a book, if you're thinking about writing a book, we can help!

Departments

My Account

Social Media

Payment

Publication Consultants Publication Consultants

Copyright 2023 powered by Publication Consultants All Rights Reserved.