1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

The numbers don't lie, and right now they're telling a story of real pain. Gasoline is up 28.4% and energy up 17.9% — largely driven by the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz disruptions — and 57% of consumers say high prices are actively eroding their finances. Consumer sentiment has collapsed to a historic low of 44.8. Real after-tax income per capita has already dropped from $52,934 in January to $52,330 in April. That's not anxiety. That's a squeeze people feel every time they fill up their tank or buy groceries. Yes, headline GDP and employment figures still look decent on paper. But payroll growth slowed to just 115,000 in April, employment actually fell in February, and year-ahead inflation expectations have climbed to 4.8%. The strongest aggregate numbers predate the energy shock entirely. What families are living right now is not what the rosy quarterly averages describe. I want you to stop hiding behind lagging indicators and start pushing for concrete relief — on energy costs, on prices, on the policies driving this squeeze — before the damage becomes irreversible.