By Robert Dean
Guest Columnist
I’ve got a ritual when I get that paycheck on the 15th: Dinner. This week, I had my kids. So those two gremlins, me, and their stepmom went to Shake Shack. It being payday, I figured, let’s do something nicer than McDonald’s, something different than the local joints we usually support. I had an intense craving for the cheese fries; because whatever cheese concoction they use over there, they’re doing the Lord’s work.
We ordered: one Chicken Shack, one cheeseburger with ketchup only, one Double SmokeShack, and one Black Truffle Burger. One chocolate shake, one Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup shake, and two cookies and cream shakes. One order of fries, two orders of cheese fries, and one order of bacon cheese fries.
The total? $101. One hundred dollars on burgers, fries, and shakes. Yes, I went big. That’s the point of a payday treat.
My jaw hit the floor. I could have taken everyone to grab steaks. Instead, as my hungry family looked at me, as it poured outside, I slid my card in the machine, knowing that if I said, “let’s go somewhere else,” I would be killed on the spot.
These prices are unsustainable. At the grocery store, it’s grim: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price of lean ground beef reached $8.46 per pound in September 2026, while prices overall climbed 5.4% over the previous year.
Shake Shack isn’t immune. During its second-quarter earnings call, the company said beef costs were up in the mid-teens compared with the previous year. Add labor, rent, and keeping the lights on, and the insane price of their hamburger makes more sense. But understanding why something costs more doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.
The conversation is bigger than cheese fries. With the midterms approaching, affordability isn’t an abstract economic debate happening in Washington. It’s dinner, the grocery receipt, and the money left in your checking account at the end of the week. I do this math constantly.
I’m gonna leave this here like a cat leaving a bird on your doorstep: do some footwork into who you’re going to vote for this midterm season. Ask hard questions about how a candidate’s agenda affects all of us. Gas prices suck. Rent? We’re all paying way too much. Inflation reached 3.7% in September.
Here’s one worth asking about. The war with Iran, a war that 59% of Americans said was the wrong decision when surveyed in March, sent fuel prices through the roof. By October, 65% disapproved of Trump’s handling of the conflict, according to Pew Research Center.
So last week, to bring those prices down, Washington struck a deal to supply more than 300,000 tons of Russian diesel to American and global markets, temporarily easing sanctions. Think about that. We’re supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia, while making it easier for Russia to sell fuel because of an energy crisis worsened by a war the United States started.
Russia isn’t neutral in the Iran conflict. Moscow has a strategic partnership with Tehran, and U.S. intelligence has indicated Russia provided military assistance to Iran. We’re helping Ukraine fight Russia, fighting Iran, which Russia supports, and now opening the door to Russian diesel bringing Moscow hundreds of millions in revenue. Analysts say the additional supply is unlikely to make much difference at the pump. Make it make sense.
Washington keeps making tone-deaf deals to protect its own interests while the rest of us are watching Dollar Tree meal videos, trying to figure out how to stretch twenty bucks. Most people can’t afford a $101 Shake Shack dinner. Truth is, I couldn’t afford it, either.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon estimated $43.6 billion in costs from the war in Iran through September 3, including operations, ammo, and equipment replacement, according to Bloomberg Government. The AP reports that Moody’s Analytics economist Mark Zandi estimates the war has cost the average American household $2,000 in higher costs.
For perspective, $43.6 billion is more than the federal government spent on school meals and other child nutrition programs in an entire year. It’s also roughly 43% of annual SNAP spending.
When you vote, look past the color of the candidate’s party line. Ask what they’re doing for working-class people. How can you help me avoid spending the equivalent of my phone bill on dinner? How can you put working-class people back to work? We’ve got plenty of money for war, but somehow never enough for medication or a doctor’s visit.
Being a good parent feels like a cost-benefit analysis. It’s exhausting.
At prices like that, I don’t know how many more payday dinners I’ve got left with those two gremlins.
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