Sobering chart 'o the day
by digby
Middle class decline:
Here's Elizabeth Warren from 2009:
Pundits talk about "populist rage" as a way to trivialize the anger and fear coursing through the middle class. But they have it wrong. Families understand with crystalline clarity that the rules they have played by are not the same rules that govern Wall Street. They understand that no American family is "too big to fail." They recognize that business models have shifted and that big banks are pulling out all the stops to squeeze families and boost revenues. They understand that their economic security is under assault and that leaving consumer debt effectively unregulated does not work...
America today has plenty of rich and super-rich. But it has far more families who did all the right things, but who still have no real security. Going to college and finding a good job no longer guarantee economic safety. Paying for a child's education and setting aside enough for a decent retirement have become distant dreams. Tens of millions of once-secure middle class families now live paycheck to paycheck, watching as their debts pile up and worrying about whether a pink slip or a bad diagnosis will send them hurtling over an economic cliff.
America without a strong middle class? Unthinkable, but the once-solid foundation is shaking.
Here's her speech from the 2012 cnvention:
This is the message for the Democratic Party if they would just use it. They need to stop talking about "opportunity" as if it's something they can create out of thin air start talking about the needs and aspirations of the vast numbers of Americans who have no illusions that they're going to be Tom Perkins someday and simply would like to feel that they have a chance to be securely middle class. That's the American Dream. Let the Republicans sell the Randroid nonsense that being rich is everything and anyone who isn't is a failure to the masses of America. I don't think anyone's buying anymore.
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