As per usual, if anyone is still confused as to the median voter’s stubborn resistance to admitting the economy’s overall awesomeness, new data showing that health premiums went up 7.7 percent in 2005 may help illuminate things. 7.7 percent, after all, was more than twice the inflation rate and the growth in worker’s wages. In fact, since 2000, health premiums have gone up by 87 percent. Somehow, I doubt the average worker’s salary has done the same.

Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.