Explainer: The $2.3 Trillion Bill You Didn't Vote For

Americans are spending an extra $847 a year on groceries, gas hit $4.89 a gallon in California, and the Pentagon just told Congress this war carries a $2.3 trillion price tag — and that's before counting the invisible costs. Seventy-eight days into the U.S.-Iran war, the damage isn't just happening in the Strait of Hormuz — it's happening at your checkout line, your gas pump, and in the sleepless nights of military families on their fifth deployment. The war started in the headlines, but it landed in your wallet. Everything you need to understand the home front crisis and why it explains the war happening right now. New to the conflict? Start here, then subscribe for daily briefings.