The root of this is not a Republican problem or a Democrat problem...the root is a parenting problem.
Parents need to counsel their children (young adults) wisely, and to diligently be realistic in their kids abilities. Watching kids go to college without an end game is largely a sign of bad parenting advice. And this is one mistake that can be extremely costly!
Little kids....little problems. Bid kids...big problems.
Especially when the parents haven't "figured it out" yet and are "getting by" on a shoestring budget, or no budget at all. A lot of learned behaviors there.
While I agree that it is harder for the middle class to make it in today's age, it appears that we confuse "wants" with "needs" waaayyyyyy to much. I look at the differences between what is standard by today's......well standards, and what would have been considered standard even a generation ago and the costs of said new standards. Keep in mind that this is a very conservative look at things (i.e. no crazy sport fees / associated travel expenses, etc.).......On a personal side note, I was pretty proud that I went without internet in the home for ~9 years. No way I can do that now with the kid and their toys, and more importantly, their school work - kind of forced the issue.
Today's typical expenses (most of which didn't exist, or were more affordable 20 years ago)
Phones - $50-$60 per phone / per month - $600-$700 per year per phone
Cable - $125 / month - $1500 / year
Internet - $75 / month -~ $1K / year
For a family of four - that is about an extra $5K / year just to "keep up with the Jones'".
This isn't including taxes, mortgage payments, vehicle payments (which seem like another house payment), monthly expendables (food, utilities, fuel, etc. all of which have gone up) and any other convenience items / monthly expense (Amazon Prime, App fees, etc.).
At the end of the day, we gotta be disciplined and say no, way more than we say yes. That is becoming increasingly more difficult (especially when you have kids and with the way we as a society have shifted to shying away from conflict / confrontation).