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Representative Jeff Van Drew’s blunt message on Fox News’s Saturday in America should wake up every hardworking American: the Democratic Party’s embrace of socialism and expensive, top-down policies is a direct driver of the affordability crisis that families face today. Van Drew — a former Democrat who walked away in 2020 — didn’t mince words when he tied rising costs, especially in healthcare, to the same political forces that pushed him across the aisle. His warning is not the timid hand-wringing of a pundit; it’s the voice of someone who lived the breakdown inside the party and chose principle and common sense over ideology.
Jeff Van Drew’s party switch in late 2019 and his official move in January 2020 were not political theater — they were a repudiation of the leftward lurch he saw swallowing sensible governance. He left because the party he once trusted started rewarding radicalism and punishing anyone who stood up for fiscal responsibility and individual liberty. Van Drew’s switch was a loud signal that Democrats’ flirtation with socialism has consequences for both party unity and public policy.
On the policy front, the numbers prove his point: reputable analyses show marketplace insurers are proposing double-digit premium increases for 2026, driven in part by the expected expiration of enhanced premium tax credits that have been propping up affordability. KFF’s review of insurer filings found median proposed rate hikes in the mid-teens and warned that losing those credits would leave millions staring at devastating sticker shock. This isn’t abstract theory — it’s real families preparing for real, painful budget decisions because Washington and state capitals chose political grandstanding over stable markets.
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ national story is clear: cities like New York have elected candidates from the party’s far left, and voters are being promised government solutions that sound good in campaign speeches but will inflate costs and destroy incentives when implemented. The recent election of a self-described democratic socialist in New York City is a textbook example of what Van Drew warned against — idealistic promises that ignore market realities and punish the very people they claim to help. If voters think handing more control to city hall will make groceries, housing, and healthcare cheaper, they are tragically mistaken.
Conservatives don’t celebrate economic pain; we offer a better path. The affordability crisis is overwhelmingly a government-made problem: restrictive zoning, crushing regulatory overreach, and misguided subsidies that distort markets have squeezed supply and sent prices through the roof. Restoring common-sense federalism, cutting needless red tape, and empowering local entrepreneurship will do far more for affordability than more giveaways and price controls ever could.
Van Drew’s message should be a rallying cry: the fight for affordability is a fight for the American way of life — self-reliance, opportunity, and the dignity of work. Republicans must offer concrete, pro-growth alternatives that lower costs without stealing freedom, and we must make the case relentlessly that socialism’s glossy promises come with a hidden tax on liberty and prosperity. For every struggling family balancing rent, medicine, and groceries, the lesson is simple: demand accountability from the officials who created this mess and vote for leaders who trust the American people and free enterprise to rebuild the middle class.
