"Affordability" is the new hot word in Washington, D.C., and in politics in general. It's something both parties are trying to focus on: how to define it, how to tackle it, and what to do. But for all the chatter, it's the wrong focus on how to fix the real issues in the economy.

Donald Trump is the latest to use the term. In a private dinner with various CEOs, he reportedly asked around about "how to tackle affordability." He went on to predict a U.S. economic boom.

According to one CEO, "While he stopped short of specifically mentioning an 'affordability crisis' as alleged by Democrats, Trump appeared to concede that parts of the American dream have become out of reach, and asked the CEOs if they had any solutions."

The connection to Democrats is critical. Zohran Mamdani ran his mayoral campaign on "affordability proposals," in a bid to provide answers. And Democrats are starting to pivot into economic talk, claiming we need to address the issue as a society.

I agree on the need to make things affordable, but this is nothing more than a reframing of the real issue: inflation.

Five years ago, while the cost of living was an issue for people, it wasn't the issue. Then came the inflation crisis that defined Biden's entire term in office. At no point did the Biden administration or Democrats acknowledge inflation was a real issue or the need to tackle it. It was ignored for the entirety of his time in office, while they occasionally slapped "inflation" on legislation that didn't address inflation.

Using the term "affordable" is a way to talk about inflation without using that word. Democrats can't speak about inflation because doing that reminds everyone that they did nothing while Rome burned. And with Trump, the focus on inflation ignores his struggles with the Federal Reserve.

J.D. Vance appears to get this point, emphasizing it in an interview with Fox News. He called the affordability a relic of the Biden era:

Vance focused on how the U.S. had "inherited this terrible inflation crisis from the Biden administration" and said it would take more time for the full impact of the Trump administration's economic agenda to kick in, comparing moves such as cutting taxes and pushing worldwide tariffs to trees that will eventually begin bearing fruit.

It makes sense to blame Biden for inflation. We're not even a year into Trump's first term. But we are approaching a year, and Biden is fading in voters' eyes.

At some point, you have to own your portion of the problem and the ability to solve it. And what Americans want dealt with is not "affordability," another political buzzword, but rather inflation.

In truth, what Americans want is deflation —a decrease in prices to offset the cost increases everyone has experienced from the pandemic to the present. That's a far different request than making things "affordable." It's also the correct request.

What we need, as a country, is to actually deal with the primary drivers of inflation. Trump plans to run the economy hot and attempt to outgrow inflation. The economic data show that the plan isn't really happening. The artificial intelligence bubble is driving the rise in the stock market and other indicators.

It's excellent for the retirement account, but it's not translating into lower grocery prices. And the primary sources of inflation are different than the tariff question. I'm not a tariff person, but I do get the national security reasons for placing high tariffs on China.

But Trump could remove all tariffs tomorrow, and we'd be back where we were when he entered office for a second time. Last November, inflation was still rising in the United States. Voters named inflation and the cost of living as their top issues for the election.

Biden didn't change anything on the way out; he was too busy writing pardons for friends and family. Trump's tariffs contribute to some of the price rise, but they are not the main drivers of price increases across the board. The supply and demand issues that drove prices up in 2024 remain.

We don't have an affordability crisis; we have an inflation problem. Democrats want to talk about affordability because it's the new term. Trump is starting to take that word and test it out for himself. I'd lean towards Trump in whatever he decides on the "affordability' messaging problem.

But on the real issue —inflation —no one is touching it. We're still muddling through an inflation crisis that's approaching five years old.  Inflation is toxic to any country, and dealing with it over several years is even worse.

We need Donald Trump to ignore affordability and to focus on the issue that got him elected: reversing the Biden inflation crisis. Do that, and Republicans will be in better shape in the coming years. If not, this is going to get really bad in the midterms.

Inflation is the obstacle. Inflation is the way forward. Defeat that, and you get the victory.