Middle class grow fearful about their prospects »
Posted by: TechnologyExpert 4 months, 2 weeks agoGrowing numbers of middle-class Americans say they are not better off than they were five years ago, reflecting economic pressures amid growing debt, a study released Wednesday shows. Their short-term assessments of personal progress, according to the study, is the worst it has been in almost half a century.
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mdual4 months, 2 weeks ago
I grew up middle class and still am and one thing I know is that today's "middle class" is just trying to pretend they're rich and can't sustain it. EVERYONE I know leases a car, maxes their credit cards to buy designer, nobody owns a darn thing, it's all borrowed. This is just stupid and pretentious.
I drive a mercedes, bought it used, five years old but looks new and drives like new and cost less than a new jeep. I don't need new car smell so this luxury I can afford.
Government needs to be in the business of running the country and not the business of subsidizing lifestyles.
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DanmLiberals4 months, 2 weeks ago
sadly more and more people in this generation rely on the government to do everything for them. And even with all the systems in place we still can't get people to take the initiative to go out and find a job or create one. We have the best colleges in the world and they are being filled by immigrants that have the mindset America "used" to have. We also have jobs that Americans once had, being taken by immigrants because the immigrants want to work.
You guys can bag Bush like you always do and that will get you no where. It's the peoples fault that they have lost the will to succeed. There are so many social programs now that if you can't succeed here, then you are at fault.
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saintetienne4 months, 2 weeks ago
"Walk a mile in another's shoes before you judge and label so harshly, please."
I would, if I could find another who's actually walked a mile.
Most people these days are too busy looking for shortcuts, looking for government subsidies or just plain looking for the easy way out. Either that or their lunkheads are glued to their plasma screen TVs eating up "American Idol" or "Dancing With the Stars".
"American Idle", indeed.
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libsRfunny4 months, 2 weeks ago
"Nice way to lump an entire chunk of the country into your conveniently ill-conceived definition of lazy, government-assistance-reliant bums."
I agree with DamnLiberals. I took on student loan debt to put myself through college/grad school. I got sick of the Midwest's lousy job climate and bitterly long, cold winter (global warming my a$$) and relocated to a much better climate.
I'm getting interviews and job offers I never would have in the manufacturing-based Midwest. And, I have to pee in a cup to get many jobs.
I live in a diverse and mostly lower-middle class to poor neighborhood. My next door neighbor is a crackhead relying on gov't assistance. If I have to drug test for a job; people should have to drug test to get gov't assistance.
The thought of my tax dollars subsidizing his drug habit angers me - especially when I have to hear the drug-addled fights he gets into with his woman. Almost called the cops last night, but called the landlord instead.
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ETproductions4 months, 2 weeks ago
I'm not looking for the Government to do anything for me. I am concerned with what they are doing TO me.
I agree we need to get our borders under control, but it is utterly ridiculous to say the economic problems our middle class face are the fault of illegal immigrants. They work, are mostly middle class and contribute to the economy. And they are suffering from the same economic pressures that average Americans face.
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libsRfunny4 months, 2 weeks ago
"I kinda liked that guy, even if he was a liberal."
He wasn't. Not by today's standards, anyway.
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lovermanComment removed: User banned.
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doppich4 months, 2 weeks ago
Can you imagine McCain or Obama taking on Big Oil (or any corporations) the way JFK took on Big Steel? (No need to mention Bush-Cheney.) The "checks and balances" are long gone, whether among the three branches of government or business-government-labor in society at large The corporations rule through their politician proxies.
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Isoparm4 months, 2 weeks ago
Dl, sadly you let the govt. do your thinking for you. You refuse to take the initiative to learn about the how, and why of our govt's. agenda, even when it is your duty as an American (?) to do so. Your support of Bush proves my point. Immigrants are filling our engineering schools because Americans are to lazy to learn the sciences. America is becoming dependent on immigrant talent to fill the jobs that are creating that cutting-edge technology we are all so proud of. There are more engineering jobs, than people to fill them, with starting salaries in the 60k range.
Bush fits your profile of the American attitude that you describe, to a "T"!. He never would have even got into the schools he did, if it wasn't for his father. He has always been a mediocre student, and he is utterly ignorant of the physical sciences. It is your fault for giving us Bush.
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ETproductions4 months, 2 weeks ago
In 1929 before the Great Depression, the concentration of wealth (all assets including money, property, stocks, etc.) in the hands of the richest 1% reached a high of 50%. One percent of the people owned 50% of everything here. The middle class was in shambles. By 1933 when Hoover left office, the Republicans had held the Presidency for all but 12 of the past 44 years.
The Great Depression brought some equity back to the distribution of wealth and a long run of Democratic rule. The top 1% retained between 25 and 30% of the nation's wealth during that time.
Beginning with Nixon in 1969, the tide began to turn again. By the end of George W. Bush's term in 2009, the country will have again been under Republican rule for all but 12 of the past 40 years. And concentration of wealth is back to near 50% in the hands of the elite 1%.
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ETproductions4 months, 2 weeks ago
Real income has been stagnant for 8 years while inflation has roared ahead unchecked. Good paying manufacturing and technology jobs have been flying offshore to be replaced with low paying service-sector work offering no health care. Nearly 1/5th of Americans are without any health care now, and another large block are under-covered or have plans that routinely cancel coverage for anyone who gets seriously ill.
If McCain wins and makes the Bush tax advantages for the very wealthy permanent, there will soon be no more middle class. America will have been reduced to third world status like so many banana republics to our South.
The very wealthy will either remain in heavily guarded enclaves here or move on to better climes like Dubai or Switzerland or the French Riviera.
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jordan114 months, 2 weeks ago
FDR put a stop to the elitists using the infrastructure provided them by the common man to succeed, & giving nothing back. He allowed them their fortunes, of course, but put a cap on them. Anything over was taxed at 70%, to stop the building of dynasties that could become so powerful, the common man would become a slave to them. This allowed the masses to keep more of their earnings, & created the middle class.
I'm dumbfounded by people who struggle, yet keep voting this class of vultures into power. They're being used with childish BS like 'prayer in schools', or 'gay marriage' emotionalism to get their votes, and they fall for it. They are sinking their own ship.
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libsRfunny4 months, 2 weeks ago
"This story has already been posted as have over 50 comments and over 100 votes...why is this one here?"
Yeah, I noticed that, too. But, it's Propeller. The libs running it don't like to nix stories they love, even when they should.
That's why the left intact the blatantly false fairy tale about Rep. McHenry allegedly dressing down a US soldier when in fact he was speaking to a foreign contractor in Iraq.
If it fits their liberal agenda, they will leave it in place.
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GWHayduke4 months, 2 weeks ago
So, you couldnt find a 'conservative' site to post your whining on?
Damn lazy neocons not bright enough to develop their own social networking site?
Thats OK. You still have AM radio stations blasting .5 kilowatts of OPERATION CHAOS propaganda!
Meanwhile, I'm sure the vast liberal conspiracy will welcome your posts.
They are, after all, AGAINST censorship!
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newbie04204 months, 2 weeks ago
Not much of a surprise considering all you heaqr on the news is how bad our economy is doing and how we are doomed for a recession.
It's like the global warming crap, repeat something long enough (true or not) and people will blindly believe it.
I know the economy isn't doing as well as we would like but I also realize it isn't nearly as gloom and doom as certain media reports would like us to believe (keep em scared and they'll keep buying our papers)
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Blackacereturn4 months, 2 weeks ago
newbie you are an idiot, you are new in every sense of the word. The ECONOMY is BAD. Wake up!
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newbie04204 months, 2 weeks ago
At least I can comprehend what I read:
"I know the economy isn't doing as well as we would like"
"I also realize it isn't nearly as gloom and doom as certain media reports would like us to believe"
Personal attacks aside, I know the economy is bad thank you very much. I don't need you to insult me and my monkier (very mature by the way) to tell me that.
Now if you'd like to have an adult discussion as to why you think it's so bad, I'd gladly counter with why I believe it's not nearly as bad as some people would like to say it is.
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Blackacereturn4 months, 2 weeks ago
I have a question for you Newbie - Why did Bear, Stearns go under and why is our government that you think shouldn't do anything for the people spending 39 Billion of the money it took from those people to bale them out. I listen to you guys on the right and I wonder if you just talk because you can? If so, you should have had my Grandmother in your life she would have slap the silly out of you! This happened before with (Kidder Pee Body) under the first bush when we had the market crash in the late 1980's early 1990's.
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Isoparm4 months, 2 weeks ago
"It's like the global warming crap, repeat something long enough (true or not) and people will blindly believe it."
Why, I couldn't have said it better myself! your comment very much proves my point. The only people who refer to the dynamic as "global warming", are the dittoheads of Limbaugh notoriety, and the Fox followers. NO ONE with any understanding of the science involved, refers to it as "global warming". Anyone with any understanding of the dynamics involved, knows that "global warming" is just ONE possible EFFECT of the cause, which is a shifting heat balance in the earth's atmosphere. There are a few equilibrium points where the environment could stabilize, no one knows 100%. Meanwhile, the ice is melting.
Google "Temperature" and "Heat". You will see that they are NOT the same thing.
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nikkibabe4 months, 2 weeks ago
If this is true, Americans are really dumb idiots who deserve it. If not, how can a sane person explain that John McCain is neck and neck with Democrat Obama? All he is offering is 4 more years of Iraq war and rest of Bush policies.
Unless all sane voters (except hardcore neo conservatives) take the upcoming election as a "revolution" in the making, the middle class is doomed.
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TOD3964 months, 2 weeks ago
Have you looked at what Obama is truly offering? He will put the final nail in the coffin if he enacts all of his spending plans. There is no magic answer for the mess the US economy is in. One man or even one administration doesn't wield the power to bring down the economy. There are other factors that are beyond the control of government that explain why the economy is down. It will take the united effort of maybe 200 to 250 million US residents to change the course. The problem is, that everyone else thinks it is up to everyone else.
The government is not responsible for financial prosperity. Prosperity is NOT your birthright!
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joeblowe4 months, 2 weeks ago
While it IS true that a large national economy is not subject to the will of a single man at the top, the government AS A WHOLE can certainly INFLUENCE the economy. Even that one man (the head of the fed) can greatly INFLUENCE the economy. Should it be that way? Well, not really. Government interference CAN be responsible for as many ills as it cures. Maybe just not immediately. A lot of our current problems right now (and, really, a RECESSION is not the end of the world...) are a DIRECT result of the "war" in Iraq. And there are a lot of indirect consequences too. WHY is the price of oil suddenly over $100/bbl? Has there been a sudden increase in demand? Well, we doubtless use a LOT in military actions, no? Would our national economy be better off if we had never gone to Iraq? Only to the tune of several MILLIONS of dollars PER HOUR!
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ETproductions4 months, 2 weeks ago
Banana republics DO exist, and in every single case, they exist because there is a government in the back pocket of the extremely wealthy and the corporations making sure they exist.
The big Con lie is that government can't do anything at all, but it must be kept in the hands of the Cons anyway.
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cleare4 months, 2 weeks ago
prosperity may not be our birthrights, but an even playing field is. government is responsible for leveling the playing field and has done an abysmal job.
the giant crashes we see with Bear & Stearns, the junk bond crisis in the 1980s...Enron and the current crisis in home mortgages is directly related to deregulation policies initiated in the 1980s under Reagan. it seems everyone forgot why those regulations were in place to start with.
i'm a passionate capitalist, but capitalism has to be tempered with fairness. i still don't get why the rich aren't willing to pay living wages to their workers. 2/3rds of our economy is run on consumer spending. the more disposable income people have the more profits the rich are going to make.
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newbie04204 months, 2 weeks ago
"your focus on denying the obvious"
From my post:
"I know the economy isn't doing as well as we would like"
Care to retract your statement....
I'm all for fixing the economy but I also realize knee jerk reactions from the government are what caused (at least many people believe) the Great Depression and would hope we learned from history.
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Blackacereturn4 months, 2 weeks ago
It will not take a Knee Jerk reaction to fix this economy for crying out loud any one who care to knows if you stop this stupid war all if not most of this will go away.
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RussianThreats4 months, 2 weeks ago
Hard to do much with a slim majority and a president who vetoes almost everything they bring to the table.
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jordan114 months, 2 weeks ago
Of course you know that democrats can't. CONS filibuster every GD piece of legislation. A filibuster requires a greater number of votes to break. Democrats don't have that greater number of votes. Too bad those damn voters don't get off their sorry butts and start electing decent Congress people.
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quackpot4 months, 2 weeks ago
Just be patient, Commodore. After the next election, the democrats will have enough of a majority to be able to fix the damage caused by seven years of republican out-of-control spending and welfare for the ultra-rich programs.
Until then, we will have to survive with the Administration plan (Secretary of Treasury Paulson's plan) to solve the financial crisis by lining the pockets of Wall Street tycoons with $200 billion of newly printed money (to be obtained via the Federal Reserve System in return for worthless Wall Street paper).
Happy yachting.
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nikkibabe4 months, 2 weeks ago
Those who complain about Democrats in Congress are ignorant of the fact that it is 50-50 split in US Senate. A party needs a 65-35 majority to push through legislation especially with a President whose only line is "my way or no way".
With religion, faith, abortion and gay & lesbian twists that control elections in this country, there is hardly any chance for a "REAL" candidate with solid economic & foreign policies to get elected. Does such a candidate exist?. Hard to tell.
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simonsez4 months, 2 weeks ago
"The analysis did not measure wealth directly. It looked at taxes on capital gains, dividends, interest and rents. Income from securities owned by retirement plans and endowments was excluded, as were gains from noncorporate assets such as personal residences.
This technique for measuring wealth has long been used in standard economic studies, though critics have challenged that tradition.
Sounds to me like a typical government measurement. If you don't include personal residences in the mix, you don't have anything remotely close to accurate. For most of us, that is the source of our wealth.
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ETproductions4 months, 2 weeks ago
Not so. There are two separate metrics discussed. One is income. That excludes real estate. But with the burst of the real estate bubble, if that were included, it would further depress the lower income levels, who have most of their net worth in property.
But the 50% projection comes from two separate studies of wealth. That includes cash, stocks, property, businesses owned, retirement plans, endowments. It is MUCH harder to get at all that data. Hence the most recent study available was from 2003. But again, projecting that study forward with the impact of Bush's tax advantages to the massively wealthy, the wealthiest 1% now own somewhere around 50% of everything in the country. And they are increasing their hold on wealth at a very rapid rate.
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