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Feedback ForumSend us your opinions, reactions and ideas about "Middle Class Insecurity"Submissions for this question are no longer being accepted. Previously submitted comments appear below. Comments may have been edited for content or space. Poster: Jason 'Great White'- Shark Comment: Your last episode left a bad taste in my liberal, environmental & Floridian mouth. The episode reminded me of all those ultra-conservative political shows on the commercial media (especially TV) that were given the United States' broadcast airways with the rules that clearly stated they have to provide a percentage of their broadcast schedule to ONLY constructive, helpful, etc. programming. You took pieces, from your recent shows, and asked questions of ONLY a conservative Republican advisor (NO OTHER GUEST CAME ON FROM ANY OTHER POLITICAL SIDE, LET ALONE ON AT THE SAME TIME) during the WHOLE the show. That is exactly what the conservative, let alone the ultra-conservative, political shows do, on those big business broadcast media owned by the conservative, let alone the ultra-conservative, political supporters. Within the cropping of those pieces you pointed out one opinion and neglected any possibility of any other opinions; when I watched other shows (surrounding the episodes of the pieces you cropped) and the very episodes those cropped pieces came from I was given at least both sides of each issue. Poster: Cindy Ross Comment: Regarding the program aired 2/8/2008, the Republican strategist interviewed lost all credibility with me after at least three times comparing MoveOn with the Swiftboaters. I, like thousands of Americans, support MoveOn to the tune of $15/month--all I can afford. It is a grassroots effort as we, the working poor, attempt to achieve clout through solidarity, and to counteract the pernicious power of corporations. MoveOn does not traffic in lies, but in truth--though it is often truth that no one, least of all the corporate powers-that-be, want to hear. Poster: Lin McClellan Comment: Debt and the new bankruptcy and credit card rules are destroying the middle class. How about rescinding those stupid rules our Republican Congress passed and set a maximum limit of interest that lenders can charge for credit. How would that affect the economy--give some money back to the people who have been overcharged with automatic increases in interest, insurance premiums tied to credit scores, job selection tied to credit scores. Poster: Sally Squires, New York Comment: What no-one is talking about it that not only are real wages falling dramatically in the US, but actual wages are dropping dramatically and millions of jobs have been outsourced overseas. I see people who were earning $25 an hour in 1970 who are now being paid $7.15 an hr. This is not an isolated incident, this is happening across the board and no one is talking about companies getting away with paying workers below the poverty line. American companies have no ethics, everything is about the bottom line. They have no respect for their workers, they see them as their personal slaves. So after 300 years of slavery, the USA now has a system of economic slavery.In my opinion, the USA is sliding very quickly into being a third world country and no-one is doing anything to stop it. Poster: Susan Elizabeth Siens Comment: I had to turn the program off after the interview with the second family in distress who voted Republican. If they carefully thought out the consequences of their votes, and decided that electing someone who was anti-abortion was more important than anything, they are now reaping the consequences of their decisions. We constantly expect teenagers, whose brains are not fully developed, to be able to imagine the consequences of their decisions, but I meet few adults who are capable of understanding the same. It is hard to be sympathetic with these people who made decisions that have resulted in painful circumstances for themselves. It is much easier to be sympathetic with people who understand the importance of regulating the antisocial and greedy among us, who understand the importance of access to education, health care, and housing, and who have voted for pursuit of these policies. When people vote to promote the interests of the wealthy and powerful, interests draped in anti-abortion rhetoric and warmongering, what exactly do they expect? Poster: Victor Comment: I am a Vietnam vet, a Christian and an American. I am an independent. My American moral values are that there should be a just living and affordable health care for all working men and women in this country. That abortion, stem cell research and gay rights have nothing to do with politics except to divide this country. We are fighting a war in Iraq right now that has the same moral values as those of the Iraq’s and the Reagan/Bush republicans (division of a country). Religion does not belong in choosing a President for this United States of American. Once the people of Illinois figure this out, they will be much healthier economically. What a person does in the privacy their home is not the governments business. The preachers, ministers and priest should be more concerned about the living conditions of the working poor in this country instead of the agenda set by their republican political partners. I have a hard time feeling sorry for the people who drink the moral republican kool-aid. Poster: Manny Comment: I appreciate your report on Dupage County's squeeze on the middle class. I would like to point out that in Illinois every political office is controlled by Democrats; with the tax hikes from the Democrats, the housing issue is further exacerbated. And to further destroy the middle class, you have the County of Cook, in Illinois, governed by the longest Democratic ran government, where corruption is rampant across ALL offices. Poster: Jean SmilingCoyote Comment: CONGRESS MUST RESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF THE LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED ¯ (Extensions of Remarks - December 06, 2007) [Page: E2515] SPEECH OF HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY OF ILLINOIS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2007 • Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address a problem of growing importance: the problem of long-term unemployment. • I recently received a letter from a constituent, who urged me to speak out on behalf of workers unable to find appropriate jobs at living wages, who are being excluded from productive participation in the workforce. She called for Congressional action. • Jean SmilingCoyote of Chicago wrote, “When unemployed Americans run out of unemployment compensation, they are counted neither as unemployed nor as part of the labor force....... We need to take pro-active steps to end long-term unemployment of Americans. The first step is to have these people identify themselves and what they can contribute economically. We have to persuade employers to hire them for appropriate jobs at living wages, starting with people who've gotten a good education and stayed out of trouble.” [Page: E2516] • We need to adopt measurements that accurately count the number of unemployed and policies that help create good jobs in the private and public sectors. I hope that we will make this a priority in the 110th Congress. Poster: John Spears Comment: I heard a lot of the same old complaints from your interviews -- high middle-income taxes, low wages, job insecurity. Most of us have these concerns which do indeed have serious consequences -- home forclosures, job loss, high medical costs, etc. I'm not trevializing the problems, I've had them too. But what I didn't hear was anyone taking responsibility for their own contribution to their problems. Were any of these people, possibly, guilty of living beyond their means? Were they, just maybe, pushing their life style to the limit, with too little margin for emergencies? And why did none of them say they would make spending adjustments to get their finances back on track? Perhaps they, like me, let their expectations become too optomistic. Thankfully, we all have some degree of resiliancy, and we'll make the necessary adjustments to get through. Poster: Hrdddrv Comment: How on this earth is it STILL possible to believe that Republican is the moral party?! Are you kidding me?! Wake up! Republican power does not care about you. They have falsely garnered your support with their BS rhetoric about family and Christian values and making you think you pay too much to help some lazy slacker liberal who doesn't want to work. They lied to you to gain power! Is that moral? Is preaching against child sexual abuse while doing it yourself moral? Are trashing the protections of the constitution moral? Is torturing innocent people so that you might find one or two who aren't innocent moral? Is torture moral at any time? Is taking away all accountability for government and its contractors so their friends and cronies can make millions from our losses and suffering moral? Is ignoring compassion and those who need help moral (or the Christian thing to do)? Is pre-emptive war moral? How about letting thousands of our own people die for their profits - moral? Come on, for God's sake, what the heck does it take for these people to realize they've been had?!! I was absolutely stunned to hear suffering families on this show remain loyal to the people who put them in their current situations. It's just plain unbelievable. And we're in deep trouble, because I know there are too many of them still out there. It could be you next who needs the help that could come from good social programs - that you bitterly complain about and whine about having to pay for. It could be you next who is the victim of the destruction of accountability because some corporation or government official is untouchable. I just don't get how this is possible. Poster: AMS Comment: Our economy is now reaping the results of stagnant wages---which are themselves the fruit of policies that favor huge CEO salaries, the interests of stockholders over employees and accumulation of wealth in fewer and fewer hands. We are told that we live in a consumer economy and that it's vital that people spend money. But they can't spend it if they don't have it. And they don't have it if their wages haven't kept up with inflation, and rising prices eat up every cent for necessities like food, heating and housing. In the early 2000's, people spent money despite stagnant wages, but to do so they either stripped the equity out of their homes or bought on credit. Their equity is now gone and their credit is maxed out. Corporate America's reluctance to share their profits with their employees is coming home to roost. Poster: Barbara from PA Comment: I would like to know where you got the definition of middle class as a family of 4 living on $40,000 to $120,000. I am sure if you profiled two families, one at each end of that scale, you would find folks at the lower limit having a very difficult time making ends meet while those with an income of $120,000 enjoy a life of ease. As for political party loyality: I am a registered Republican but I have never let that influence how I vote. I vote for the person not the party. Poster: Kathleen from Maine Comment: WE USED TO BE MIDDLE CLASS.........Your show really hit home watching the families that you interviewed lose everything, their homes, their health, and their dignity. But most of all they have lost what America is supposed to be all about.....whatever happened to......Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? My husband and I were proud homeowners, had decent paying jobs, company paid health insurance, two cars in the yard and we put two children through college.....we did all that on a yearly income of less than $60,000. But like so many others the year our daughter graduated from college we had over $70,000. of college debt, my husband became ill, he lost his job, our health insurance and we had to sell our home in order to get by. We purchased a smaller home, were able to get low paying retail jobs with no health benefits so we had to pay privately $700. a month which was approximately 2 weeks pay and still carrying all of the college debt. At this point we were both in our late 50's and going along okay until I injured myself at work and lost my job. Not long after that my husband was in an accident broke both arms and a wrist, lost his job and our health insurance that we were paying for and had to sell our home once again. It just has become such a struggle because we could not at our age get another job especially because of our injuries and taking the time to recover from them. So, we were forced to sell again and purchase an even smaller home are now just waiting until my husband turns 62 so that he can collect his social security. In the meantime we have been reduced to needing help with our heating costs, health care costs, and other subsidies in order to get by. I do not believe this is Life, Liberty, or the Pursuit of Happiness, it is just a daily struggle for so many of us who used to be considered middle class but we have definitely graduated to a new low in our lives that we never imagined would happen to us....our dignity is gone along with our hope because of the economy issues in this country. Shame on George Bush for putting our country in the state that it is in today. I wish some of our wealthy politicians could walk a mile in our shoes. Poster: Patrick from Minn. Comment: House payments or big screen TV? House payments or new car? House payments or Disney Land? Many middleclass families(not all) need to manage their priorities. The conservative/moderate middle class now suffer the consequences of their voting patterns, their obsession with upward mobility, their blind trust in corporate world economics. Americans have come to believe that opulence is another right given by God and our constitution. Ask the 30,000 humans who die each day from disease and starvation about tax breaks, investments in Wallstreet, or that shiny new SUV. It must be shocking for the middle class to wake up and see that they too are now just a weakening cog in the global corporate financial game. Poster: Jerome Comment: I can't believe just how many evil, corrupt politicians have gotten into office because of single-issue voters, the anti-abortionists in particular. I'm anti-abortion, but I'm also for those of us already here. It's sad to see just how blind and flat-out stupid some people are and will always be. And it's damn hard to feel sorry for them now, like the people in tonight's story. Especially since the rest of us are forced to reap what they have sown with their blinders on. Our country's a disgrace, and every one of them who voted for Bush and company...not just once, but twice...is responsible. Our country will never recover from these past 7 years, never. Poster: T Partier Comment: That the growing pain and squeeze on the middle class has been ignored and downplayed for the past eight years is just further testament to the gross incompetance and absolute disconnect from reality so often demonstrated by the current administration, in so many, many arenas. Ever notice that the first words out of Bushes mouth for years, when discussing the economy has been to the effect 'Our financial markets are robust.' Like - that really is an indication of how Joe Average Guy is doing. And many Joe Average Idiots re-elected this IMMORAL imbecile. Thanks in part to the MORAL voters. The people that failed to realise just how morally bankrupt the philosophy espoused by most - but not all - of the Republicans on the national stage today. Me thinks a good course on critical thinking is long overdue in our public schools! How could you POSSIBLY even begin to think Bush and Co were moral - even before his first term? Get off your one issue BS, how many lives are destroyed vs how many fetuses destroyed by abortion? How many unnecessary deaths are attributable to poor access to medical care? It was really moral to go out to California and accept a guitar from a celebrity while at that very moment people were stranded on their rooftops in New Orleans. It was really moral to allow - even promote - the conditions that led to Abu Gharib. It is really moral to LIE to the American people about your conduct of various policies of national and international import - to help make sure you get re-elected. GIVE ME A BREAK. Geezy - start thinking for yourself, start INVESTIGATING and last but not least - START SCREAMING at your legislators when things are not right. Oh - but they oppose abortion. Cripes - do you really think Democrats relish and promote abortion? Get real, the contention is largely that situations do occur that that option is best left open on the table. If all you are doing is listening to your preacher - well he surely isn't thinking about the greater interest of the world as a whole. Quit being a sheep. Pick your fights wisely - for if you don't - you'll not even have the resouces to deal against abortion. Hard to fight when you've been marginalized by financial disaster wrought by greedy selfish people who lie to your face to get more of what they want. Remember - Bush is the guy that marginalized the appeal processes for those on death row in Texas while he approved the deaths of 158 people. That's right - in a state that has been in places - notorious for sloppy police work. Yup - that's REAL MORAL. Remember when Dick Cheney had to fly back 'home' to register as a Republican in his home state so he could run as VP? Had been living in Texas for what - 5 years? Just because he was able to dupe the system to circumvent the law that prohibits both POTUS and VP being from the same state didn't make it MORAL. Oh, I could go on and on - like Rumsfeld having machine signed letters of condolence for families of dead soldiers - or the lies about how some died - all good and MORAL stuff. But next time you think you are voting family values and morals - think longer, investigate more ambitiously and then choose. What really is moral? And no - I won't be voting Clinton - but I sure as heck am not voting for any republican. Romney is another liar and McCain - well, go check his record on veterans affairs with several veterans organizations - their anual scorecards. Don't be shocked to see that he scored only in the 20's in 2006 while Kerry scored in the 80's. Yup that's REAL MORAL. Poster: Free McKilt Comment: Shame on you! You talk about the economy and how it is affecting the middle class, but you assiduously ignore the only candidate, Ron Paul, that is uniting Left and Right, Republican, Democrat, Independent, and Libertarian around a banner of fiscal security, sound money and fiscal policy, and an end to foreign intervention. Either you don't understand what he is saying, or you are part of the media blackout of this important issue and this important candidate. I think you can do better. Pay attention, the Ron Paul Revolution is not done yet. -Free McKilt Poster: Eliz Savage Comment: 1- $40-120k is not an accurate way to portray the middle class - how about the average cost of housing as a percentage of income factored by family size? So if a single person makes $19.23 per hour, the annual income is $40,000. Let's say that person pays 1000 per month rent, $200 utilities. Thus, he or she pays 36% on housing, or $14,400 annually. If the tax bracket is 15%, housing and income tax = 20,400, over half of the gross salary.... NOT counting healthcare insurance expense. There is no room for error or illness. Poster: Benny Comment: I have read that Middle Income (for a family of 4) is defined as between $40,000 to $120,000. How can a family of 4 live off of $40,000 and pay a home mortgage at the same time?! Am I missing something? In my opinion a middle income family (of 4) should be making between $60,000 to $120,000. Benny Poster: Joshua Salik Comment: One of the factors behind McCain's victories is his image as a war hero, and it is therefore natural to ask whether he really is. In almost every country in the world being a prisoner of war does not qualify one as a hero. In most countries people who survived the harsh conditions of prison camps are suspected of being traitors or collaborators, and indeed some of the prisoners who were with McCain in prison camp believe that this is exactly what he was - a traitor, not a hero. But this is not all that makes McCain's past questionable - he is one of the few prisoners of war who refused to be set free, claiming that he wants to stay with his friends in the camp. What stood behind this refusal? Did he really care so much for his friends or did he prefer to stay in the camp and enjoy the better treatment he received from his captors instead of risking his life in combat? Since Senator McCain is running for president these questions should be investigated thoroughly, and the sooner the better. Poster: Tracy from Montana Comment: Greetings, Our middle class insecurity is justified. As money is being printed at the fastest rate in history, we are realizing a huge 'hidden taxation'..... in the form of inflation. Monetary devaluation affects the middle class moreso because we must pay a large share of taxes, as well as being burdened by inflation. Unless we stop paying off a credit card with a credit card with a credit card (ourselves as well as our government), we will never earn freedom, only indebtedness. Ron Paul has it right, and it seems like he is making a showing whether the main stream media, and the 'not so mainstream' media like yourselves, recognizes him or not. He is the jagged little pill, we as Americans, must swallow. Ignoring him doesn't make the ills of our country go away. Ignorance is no longer an acceptable response. More and more people are waking up to the fact that none of the candidates offer anything more than the same old establishment rhetoric that helps no one, except our ever growing government. Our government and the media hate Ron Paul. That my friends, is a perfect reason to love him. Pauls numbers are growing exponentially, and for many good reasons. Take a shot of cod liver oil and gulp down that jagged pill. Our children and grandchildren deserve freedom, even if the lower, middle and upper classes must sacrafice some comforts to make it happen. Poster: L . Charles Hughes Comment: My Analysis has it that the LOSS OF MANUFACTURING JOBS is the problem ! ! - when we lowered the Import Dutys from an average of about 26% to about 2% to accomodate the Offshore Manufacturing folks who sent their INVESTMENT Moneys Overseas for a Greater PROFIT we signed the Death Warrent for the AMERICAN MIDDLE cLASS. - They don't care. No body cares. I do (... --- ...) lch Poster: Mississippi Middle Class Comment: I realized through this program that my family is not alone in our struggles. We are in fact average, middle class. We have no health insurance, my husband is 61 with a history of depression. Our retail business of 25 years went out with the coming of the big super stores, and we can't seem to pull out of the credit card debt. Both of my daughters are in debt for their educations. It was not supposed to be this way. I was slightly disappointed that the candidates for President didn't seem to care or have any suggestions. I am a family values Republican who refuses to vote for anyone who is in favor of abortion. I live in the rural South so our vote is a joke. I really am discouraged that everyone running seems so rich and powerful. But that's what politics is all about: power and money. Poster: Samuel Comment: Many in the middleclass repeatly vote republican. They are Reagan democrats. The deregulated market, no safety net, and global market place are all tenets of the republican ideology. So why are these folks complaning. You got what you voted for. If you are having issues, go to the church for help. The church will exercise it's moral obligation to help those in need. If these folks want to vote against their own economic interest based on religious manipulation by the republic party, then good luck!!!!! Poster: Linda from Arkansas Comment: I would love to invite those people that were shown on your show, the fellow with the illness, that are Huckabee supoorters to email,fone or visit us and discuss how Mike DID make it very possible in Arkansas for us to live on a meger income and own a home, live a normal,crime free, and good life...we live on disability and bought a home, and enjoy a good life in the Ozarks!! I would love to tell them how we did it!.. Poster: Jackie McCuin Comment: I have been in public education for 25 years. History and Social Studies curricula have received minimal attention during my tenure. I believe that the results of this phenomenon are now evident in many peoples' difficulty in connecting the dots between their economic plights and poor quality of life and the policies of the Republican Party that only support big business and the wealthy of this country. Poster: John Epstein Comment: A wonderful and sensitive report on people's pain. However, as a lifelong liberal voter with some financial security, I couldn't help but be unsettled: why am I willing to vote against my financial interests (increased taxes) when people you interviewed think their so-called family values vote against theirs? My sympathies are strained. Thank you, John Epstein Poster: Jason Comment: I agree that the Middle Class is continued to be squeezed while we share the brunt of the tax burden...more so than the rich and poor. However, how many middle class Americans simply don't know how to budget and plan financially? Growing up in the 1970's, I remember that having a two car garage and two bathrooms was rare...now, that is a bare minimum in these huge houses that people are building. As an educator, I see teenagers handed new cars, designer clothes, etc....and they didn't have to work for them. This country has learned to live beyond its means and as a country we need to make some tough decisions and learn how to budget and follow a financial plan. |
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