The Collapse of the Middle Class

[Boudicea]

Article on CommonDreams.org by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Worth a read. http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0904-01.htm

[Pillowbiter]

1. The sad thing is...

I was reading articles like this during the Bush I administration. The middle class was shrinking exponentially then. The government was set to be bankrupt by 1996.

Then Clinton put a cog in their plans.

PB

[teryang]

2. While I was reading this

This article really hit home. Property tax up 50 percent. Housing cost up 100 percent. Home insurance up 100 percent. Federal income taxes up 400 percent. Costs of everything: electric, phone, water and sewage up 15 percent. Food up 10 percent. All this because I moved and changed jobs. Spouse out of work. If I lose my job due to illness or otherwise I'm looking at bankruptcy right around the corner. Talk about declasse. The odd thing, we're frugal, save, and economise on everything. I feel like I'm being held up for something almost daily. I work six days a week on average, occasionally seven. No social life at all.

[AP]

3. Meanwhile, profits up for huge corporations (wonder where those

profits came from? I think you just need to read your post and it's obvious) and more and more political power is concentrated in the hands of republicans.

Where the hell is our democracy???