learn & vote 2024
An Educational Outreach Campaign by Project Promise
Every election season, voters across Portage County and the nation as a whole are inundated with television commercials, mailers, political calls and texts, in addition to an onslaught of media narratives that attempt to sway public opinion based on incomplete, or oftentimes outright non-factual information. The quest for fair and unbiased information becomes more difficult in the modern age, especially with the advent of social media and unverified election-related content posted to these platforms.
Learn & Vote 2024 seeks to break through the noise and misinformation to educate Portage County voters on the issues at stake in the upcoming November 5 election. Our goal is to present an array of stats and statistics pertaining to the current state of affairs in our country that are oftentimes not reported by media organizations. The stats and statistics featured relate to kitchen table issues that impact the everyday lives of Americans. The stats and statistics compiled have been thoroughly researched by our organization’s team and are cited by reputable agencies and institutions.
There is no doubt that America faces enormous challenges ahead of us as we face multiple crises that need to be addressed by our next President. In the mission statement for Project Promise, we state that a part of our mission is to promote the ideals of our founding fathers, and help America return to the shining city on a hill it once was at America’s inception. A well informed public empowered with facts and knowledge on issues pertaining to the country during a crucial election year is one of the best ways we can help restore our nation’s greatness and return to that once glorious vision.
With that spirit at heart, we believe there is no better time than the present to help equip citizens of Portage County with valuable information to help them make better informed decisions on November 5.
Section 1: Cost of Living Woes
The most common grocery store items on your shopping list are becoming more unaffordable. On average, the price of a grocery store haul is up 21%.
Furthermore, since 2021:
- Egg prices have increased 71.4%
- Sirloin steak has increased 29.6%
- Milk prices have increased 14.1%
- Bread prices have increased 30%
- Butter prices have increased 27%
- Chicken has increased 26%
- Sugar prices have increased 44%
Section 2: Energy Costs & Pain at the Pump
Whether you’re driving to work on the daily commute, or taking a road trip this summer, doing so will cost significantly more. Furthermore, reversing policies that allowed America to emerge as an energy independent nation have been enacted since 2021 that are creating a harmful effect on your wallet.
- Average price of gasoline has increased 42% since January 2021.
- Federal policies have been enacted to cancel drilling leases in Alaska that were previously established in 2017. Doing so has denied American access to around a total of 11 billion barrels of oil.
- In 2021, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline was revoked in Executive Order 13990 by President Joe Biden. This pipeline was expected to transport 830,000 barrels per day from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
- The Keystone XL pipeline would have created between 16,000 and 59,000 jobs and would have had a positive economic impact of between $3.16 and $9.6 billion.
Housing
Whether you’re buying a home or simply trying to pay your rent, doing so is harder than ever.
- Average annual 30 year fixed rate mortgage has risen from 3.11% in 2020 to 6.80% in 2024.
- Average cost of rent has increased 24.2% since 2017.
- Average nationwide year-over-year rent increase since 2017 is 5.77%
Crisis on our Southern Border
The unmitigated crisis at the United States/Mexico border jeopardizes national security and has the potential to impact all 50 states. This vulnerability is also being taken advantage of by other nations aside from those in Latin America who may have nefarious designs on the United States.
- Nearly 7.3 million migrants have illegally crossed the southwest border since January 2021, a number greater than the population of 36 individual states.
- Over 2 million illegal migrants have been released into the nation’s interior with little to no ways of tracking them.
- As of March 2024, 37,440 Chinese nationals have been encountered at the Southwest border. An 8000% increase since 2021.
- The number of illegal migrants discovered to be on the terrorist watchlist has increased 2,500 percent from Fiscal Years 2017-2020.
- Customs & Border Protection arrested 35,433 illegal aliens with known criminal convictions nationwide in 2023.
- 294 illegal aliens apprehended are currently on the terrorist watchlist.