ScooterD:
I seem to recall a different history, one where, for example, ObamaCare was passed without being read, spending programs were expanded in the name of stimulus, and virtually everything that the democrats wanted passed, got passed.
Graybeard:
This is genuinely sad, and it is a story repeated so many times across the land by small business owners everywhere. The most infuriating thing is the denial of inflation. Costs of living have definitely gone up since 2008. As you said, health insurance. But taxes also increased substantially. Groceries definitely increased, some dramatically. Gas is $3 per gallon, and I don't see it coming down because of the drilling moratoriums and the steadily increasing increase in the cost of a barrel of oil. People were alarmed in about 2008 when it was $68/barrel. It's over $90 now. There's a big army of people who had to retire early because they were fired and they can't get a job anymore.