The Economic Pains of the Middle Class

Middle-class Americans’ paychecks are flat or dropping, while health care costs continue to rise and home heating costs are skyrocketing. U.S. trade deficits and the borrowing from China to fund tax cuts will have real and harsh impacts on future generations. Recent news about cuts in workers’ pay and insecurity about their pensions is also increasing the economic concerns of the American people. And yet the Bush administration is cheerleading policies that help the wealthy while doing nothing to address these fundamental problems.