Former U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers understands that “these days the most expensive vehicle to operate is your grocery cart.”

The Republican running to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow released an ad on YouTube Wednesday to highlight the plight of more than 40% of Michiganders living paycheck to paycheck, and promise to “change Washington by putting you and your family first.”

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“I’m Mike Rogers, my parents were raising five boys on a teacher’s salary,” he said. “Boy, you can’t do that today.”

After decades of relatively low inflation, prices increased drastically when President Joe Biden took office, reaching a peak of about 9% in June 2022 based on a Consumer Price Index that doesn’t take into account food or gas prices, which have increased at a faster pace.

Research from University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes shows wholesale food prices jumped 22.4% between January 2020 and January 2024, and are now at the highest level in 15 years. That has contributed to a 25% increase in grocery store prices overall, though some individual items have increased more.

An analysis by The Wall Street Journal in May found eggs are up 63%, a pack of chicken breasts is up 40%, grapes are up 32.3%, jelly 37.7%, lunch meat 36.3%, water 40.5%, sugar 52.9%, dish soap 46.3%, toilet paper 37.7%, and flour 43.4%.

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“Food inflation has been nuts,” Tim Mahedy, senior economist at KPMG told CNBC as inflation hit its peak around December 2022. “We hadn’t seen [these levels] consistently really in decades.”

Other essentials have also outpaced the CPI, including gas prices that went from an average of $2.63 per gallon in January 2020 to an average of $3.60 in July, and average monthly rents that jumped 30% over the same time.

The National Bureau of Economic Research notes “the rise in inflation has been attributed to many factors,” but pointed directly at Washington as the primary driver.

“The US response to the COVID-19 pandemic included a series of federal initiatives, notably the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan, which collectively authorized roughly $5 trillion in government spending,” the bureau reports. “These programs contributed to strong consumer and business demand, which tightened labor markets (between mid-2021 and early 2022 the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed workers doubled), putting upward pressure on wages and prices.”

While price increases have slowed somewhat this year, 80% of Americans recently told pollsters at Qualtrics the impact has been significant, with 44% now concerned about their financial stability.

Rogers’ ad contends “Washington politicians are wasting your tax dollars on corporate welfare, and giving hotels and healthcare to illegals, rather than making life more affordable for families.”

The Heritage Foundation confirmed that reality in October when the nonprofit think tank condemned the Biden administration for paying $2.5 billion in taxpayer funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house illegal immigrants.

“America First Legal revealed that migrants were receiving concierge services under this contract, including hotel rooms, room service, 24-hour snacks and drinks, laundry and dual-language television, in addition to other services,” the foundation reports, noting the spending is roughly half of what the government spends on housing military families.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, “Based on their use rate of major welfare programs, we estimate that illegal immigrants receive $42 billion in benefits, or about 4 percent of the total cost of the cash, Medicaid, food and housing programs examined in our study.”

Rogers, who won his primary on Tuesday to face off against Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin in November, is laser focused on changing the dynamic to shift focus to Michiganders struggling to get by.

About 200,000 more Michigan residents are unable to afford a “survival budget” that covers food, shelter and other basics than in 2019, joining what’s now 41% of the state living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent United for ALICE report.

“You shouldn’t have to choose between putting gas in the tank and putting food on your table,” Rogers said in the video. “I’ll change Washington, by putting you and your family first.”