A BIG part of the problem is that “the government” does not seem to recognize the squeeze being experienced in the finances for middle-class families over the past six years or more. And “the government” is not going to create “solutions” to these problems. If “the government” would stop wasting tax money, begin to show some loyalty to the dwindling actual tax-payers, and stop acting as if we all should just want to pay more taxes for their feel-good programs, etc., it would be a tiny step in the right direction.
The hell they don't. It's by design.