ICYMI: Gillibrand Op-Ed In Empire Report: Costs Are Up. So Are The Stakes This November.

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand published an opinion piece in Empire Report laying out the stakes for the midterm elections next week.

Senator Gillibrand detailed how President Trump and Republicans in Congress have raised grocery and utility costs for New York families, cut healthcare and food assistance, and waged a war that has spiked gas prices across the country. Next week, voters get to issue a referendum on this cost-increasing chaos.

The full text of the op-ed can be found here and below:

Costs are up. So are the stakes this November.
By Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

“What can be done to help all of us with this financial crisis?” That was the question Patricia from North Syracuse asked me in a letter earlier this year.

A lifelong New Yorker, Patricia has faced skyrocketing grocery, heating, and gas bills that are making it increasingly difficult for her to make ends meet.

I have spent the last year talking to New Yorkers at grocery stores and gas stations across our state—from Long Island to Buffalo to the Capital Region. At every stop, I’ve heard stories just like Patricia’s.

Donald Trump promised to bring prices down “on day one.” Instead, he has unleashed cost-increasing chaos that is straining working families’ budgets across our state.

On November 3, New Yorkers get to issue a referendum on the president’s failure.

Just one week out from election day, costs are top of mind for many working Americans. Let’s talk about the cost of President Trump’s leadership and the Republican Congress that enables him.

Already, New Yorkers have paid over $6,000 more due to President Trump’s reckless policies. That $6,000 comes from rising prices on the essentials that New Yorkers rely on.

This week, the average price of gas in New York is nearly 50 percent higher than before President Trump launched his war of choice with Iran. That means every commute to work, every ride to a doctor’s appointment, every carpool to school costs about 50 percent more than it did just eight months ago.

It also means it will be more expensive for New Yorkers to heat their homes this winter. Thanks to the president’s war with Iran, the average cost of home heating oil in New York has climbed to $6.27 per gallon. That’s a 69 percent increase from this time last year. As costs continue to rise and temperatures continue to drop, some families will be forced to choose between turning on the heat and paying for other essentials like food or healthcare.

At the same time, New Yorkers are seeing higher prices at the grocery store—due to a combination of high inflation, high diesel prices due to the war with Iran, and President Trump’s tariffs. 

Amid this hardship, President Trump’s administration has played politics with our families by cutting their food assistance and ripping away their healthcare. Thanks to Trump, about 220,000 New Yorkers have already lost their SNAP benefits and 200,000 have been kicked off their healthcare.

This pain was completely avoidable. It is a result of President Trump’s backward priorities and indifference toward working families—and of the Republican Congress that refuses to rein him in.

Next week, the voters get to have their say. And while President Trump isn’t on the ballot, here’s why this election matters: Congress controls the purse strings. 

We decide whether tariffs stand, whether war is authorized, and whether heating assistance funding is renewed. But right now, Republicans in Congress are blocking us from passing meaningful legislation to check President Trump and lower costs.  

If Democrats take back the majority in November, we can change that. We can force a vote to revoke President Trump’s tariffs and refund the money Americans have paid for them. We can end the war in Iran. We can stop the corruption in Washington. And we can pass a budget that prioritizes working families.

New York is central to that fight. Competitive House seats across the state—some of which could be decided by just a few hundred votes—could determine who controls Congress. We need every New Yorker to think about what is at stake.

Patricia asked what can be done to help New Yorkers like her get their feet back under them. The answer is simple: vote for a government that is actually willing to prioritize lowering costs.

Election Day is November 3, and early voting has already begun. Make a plan to vote and bring your friends to the polls.

The cost of sitting this one out is too high.

The post ICYMI: Gillibrand Op-Ed In Empire Report: Costs Are Up. So Are The Stakes This November. appeared first on Kirsten Gillibrand | U.S. Senator for New York.