Nation Can't Let Middle Class Fall by Rep. Bernie Sanders The corporate media doesn't talk about it much, but the United States is rapidly on its way to becoming three separate nations. First, there are a small number of incredibly wealthy people who own and control more and more of our country. Second, there is a shrinking middle class in which ordinary people are, in most instances, working longer hours for lower wages and benefits. Third, an increasing number of Americans are living in abject poverty - going hungry and sleeping out on the streets. There has always been a wealthy elite in this country, and there has always been a gap between the rich and the poor. But the disparities in wealth and income that currently exist in this country have not been seen in over a hundred years. Today, the richest one percent own more wealth than the bottom ninety-five percent, and the CEOs of large corporations earn more than 500 times what their average employees make. The nation's 13,000 wealthiest families, 1/100th of one percent of the population, receive almost as much income as the poorest 20 million families in America. While the rich get richer and receive huge tax breaks from the White House, the middle class is struggling to keep its head above water. The unemployment rate rose to a nine-year high of 6.4 percent in June, 2003. There are now 9.4 million unemployed, up more than 3 million since just before Bush became President. Since March, 2001, we have lost over 2.7 million jobs in the private sector, including two million decent-paying manufacturing jobs - ten percent of our manufacturing sector. Frighteningly, the hemorrhaging of decent paying jobs is now moving into the white-collar sector. Forrester Research Inc. predicts that at least 3.3 million information technology jobs will be lost to low-wage countries by 2015 with the expansion of digitization, the internet and high-speed data networks. But understanding the pain and anxiety of the middle class requires going beyond the unemployment numbers. There are tens of millions of fully employed Americans who today earn, in inflation adjusted-dollars, less money than they received 30 years ago. In 1973, private-sector workers in the United States were paid on average $9.08 an hour. Today, in real wages, they are paid $8.33 per hour - more than 8 percent lower. Manufacturing jobs that once paid a living wage are now being done in China, Mexico and other low-wage countries as corporate America ships its plants abroad. With Wal-Mart replacing General Motors as our largest employer, many workers in the service economy not only earn low wages but also receive minimal benefits. Further, as the cost of health insurance and prescription drugs soar, more and more employers are forcing workers to assume a greater percentage of their health care costs. It is not uncommon now that increases in health care costs surpass the wage increases that workers receive - leaving them even further behind. With the support of the Bush Administration many companies are also reducing the pensions they promised to their older workers - threatening the retirement security of millions of Americans. One of the manifestations of the collapse of the middle class is the increased number of hours that Americans are now forced to work in order to pay the bills. Today, the average American employee works, by far, the longest hours of any worker in the industrialized world. And the situation is getting worse. According to statistics from the International Labor Organization the average American last year worked 1,978 hours, up from 1,942 hours in 1990 - an increase of almost a week of work. We are now putting more hours into our work than at any time since the 1920s. Sixty-five years after the formal establishment of the 40-hour work week under the Fair Labor Standards Act, almost 40% of Americans now work more than 50 hours a week. And if the middle class is having it tough, what about the 33 million people in our society who are living in poverty, up 1.3 million in the past two years? What about the 11 million trying to make it on a pathetic minimum wage of $5.15 an hour? What about the 42 million who lack any health insurance? What about the 3.5 million people who will experience homelessness in this year, 1.3 million of them children? What about the elderly who can't afford the outrageously high cost of the prescription drugs they need? What about the veterans who are on VA waiting lists for their health care? This country needs to radically rethink our national priorities. The middle class is the backbone of America and it cannot be allowed to disintegrate. We need to revitalize American democracy, and create a political climate where government makes decisions which reflect the needs of all the people, and not just wealthy campaign contributors. We need to see the middle class expand, not collapse.
Wow, I can attest to the truth of this... almost every person I know who is middle class and has kids is doing this for a variety of reasons. Not just to make ends meet, as many can do that, but to make enough to pay for their kid's college education, now or in the future. To pay for camps for their children during the summer so that they can continue working and the children have something to do while school is out. The most incredible thing about this trend is the huge number of 2 income families. I grew up with a stay-at-home mom and most of the other kids I knew did as well. Today, the majority of those mothers are working, as well as their husbands, to maintain the middle class standard of living their parents could enjoy with one wage earner. And both parents are working increasing hours with less time off. More older kids are staying at home alone after school, unsupervised, because the parents have to work and can't afford "afterschool" care of some kind. And these are middle class Americans. No wonder that so many teenagers get in trouble... the parents are busy keeping up the standard of living. Thanks for the post, Bob*. I think too many take our middle class for granted. Some around here who are unmarried and living well are in for a shock when they have kids and start seeing the bills rolling in.
Mrs. rimrocker stays at home and has since our first daughter was about 6 months. We also moved from a big city to a more rural/small town situation. When we first made the move, we took about a 60% pay cut. The money didn't come close to making up what we felt we were losing. Thankfully we had lots of equity built up before the move, hit a few good stocks when we had investment income, and I am now at about 80% of what we once were (but nowhere close to where we would both be had we stayed in the same positions). The things you do for your kids!
You know you guys are going to make TJ sick just like saying teachers should be paid more.. The "science' of Econ has proven that everyone is paid what they are worth. You guys should take some courses. Next thing you will be complaining about tax cuts for the rich and rising tuition at UT. Don't you know that if we were to rescind the cuts and the tuition increases that you would just be worse off. Similarly with your whining about overtime laws or unions or minimum wages or safety conditions. All those things would just make you poorer. Don't you know anything!? Class envy and warfare is despicable and sinful and you should stop it. The rich are getting richer and they deserve it because their marginal utility is higher. Jeez, whining about the middle class. Why don't you all just move to China if you want everyone to be the same.
I have good friends who are die hard republicans, but I don't blame them because they make alot of money and the republicans are paying them very well for their vote through tax cuts. However, what I don't get is poor and middle class people being republicans. What do they get out it? I guess they just got suckered into believing that if you give the rich more money they will pass on to them in the form of jobs and business when in reality they just keep it and and use it as leverage against the poor people.
I'd like to believe in the free market (and I do, to varying degrees)... but it really does at times seem like a rigged game with those at the top creating rules that perpetuate the current structures. What's best for certain people isn't always best for society in general... meritocracy is a long, long way away. And even if it were here success wise, reward-levels have become way out of proportion. Good article, Finn... though I wish there were citations as to where he got the #'s.
yet you blindly support a president w/ a known cocaine history. i commend your stance on blatant hypocrisy.
keep trying the fact that you have made this same exact post in 2 threads explains a lot about how much of a pretencious judgmental ass clown you are
life is nothing like the movies ....... but why do i feel more and more like there are "good guys" and "bad guys"? im just reading and getting instintual feelings but im lookin around and it seems to me like some people just dont mean well for humanity. im not a melodramatic person. im dead serious. looks like im going to have to get into supporting politics. i hate politics. *rolls up sleeves*
However, what I don't get is poor and middle class people being republicans. What do they get out it? I see a number of reasons. Just speaking of my relatives who fit this profile. (Most of my relatives are democrats). Almost all the working class conservatives belong to baptist churchs and their main poltical interests are abortion, anti-gay initiatives school prayer,creationism and the like. They believe that Dubya is godly. We have another group who back the Repubs due to anti-affirmative action, anti-immigrants and perception of the Democrats as the party of minorities. As can be seen from the bbs we have folks who have been taught economics from a conservative bias. They believe that unless you're a communist what is the alternative? They believe You can't have democracy plus more equality. Being ahistoric and believing blindly that they have "science" of Econ on their side they ignore examples like contemporary Western Europe, or even recent past US history that show you can have democracy, more equality and a decent standard of living.
