The Pump Is Eating Your Paycheck: The Cost of Energy

One host paid $3.39 a gallon this week. Another paid $5.24 — for the same gas, in the same country.Oil just crossed $100 a barrel, diesel is near record highs, and every truck, shelf, and grocery cart is passing the bill to you. The Inner Circle follows the money: the $300 Target run that started as "one thing for my daughter," the $1,000 first-day-of-school outfits, the sale signs hiding the same price underneath, and the down payment Abe calls flat-out criminal — until Ms. B, who owns the receipts, pushes back. Then the debate that splits the panel: is your car an asset or a liability? Is the American dream formula from 1975 still working in 2026?And the line that says it all: the people stretching one paycheck across two countries aren't struggling — "they're the best economists ever."This capitalist society is going to mess around and find out.Amplify. Empower. Elevate.