Truly an Endangered Species

Like pollution, global warming or the spotted owl, perhaps the latest endangered species seems to be the middle class in the United States.

No one seems to be talking about it. Not the media, not the bloggers or the internet sites. What does seem to have the national discourse right now is cut, cut, cut. For some reason cutting the deficit seems to be the highest priority among our nation's representatives. For example, this morning Representative Eric Cantor (R) Virginia proposed cutting the loan program to the auto industry so that disaster relief dollars could be moved from that program to help those impacted by hurricane Irene. This proposal is a shameless shot across the bow of the middle class which is being pummelled by idelology to seek its demise. So which program should take priority? Both.

The government has spent a lot of money in the form of loans to keep the auto industry buoyant again and it is working. Auto companies have been saved, auto jobs are coming home again and car companies are building cutting edge cars like the Nissan Leaf right here in the USA. They are doing so at a profit. So why would someone like Eric Cantor want take money away from an industry that is creating jobs to pay for disaster recovery in another part of the country? The answer may be that there are few auto industry related jobs in Virgina. But the more curious response might be that the middle class has a faint voice in today's political discourse. And who are the middle class? It is both white collar and blue collar auto jobs. Many (but not all) of the blue collar jobs are union jobs.

But since the 1980's the real incomes of middle class Americans have remained flat. Wages have only risen 11% in the past 30 years according to the Economic Policy Institute while each worker has contributed 59% more to the GDP. This statistic alone tells the story of how middle class workers are working harder with less to show for it.


While the Republicans continue to beat the drum for lower taxes for corporations, one Congressman, Louie Gohmert (R) of you guessed it, Texas, advocates for a 0% corporate tax. This in a time when corporations are seeing record profits. But has corporate America rushed to the aid of the American worker? Not exactly. There are well publicized examples of companies like GE, Ford and eBay that pay no taxes. In a glaring example of how the private sector has actually become a job killer, at&t bragged that they would cut 40,000 jobs in their proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA. These are good high paying jobs that existed within the corporate structure of the acquired company. When at&t got wind that the justice department would block the merger, at&t backpedaled saying that they would bring call center jobs back to the US, luckily it was too little too late. But has the final chapter on that acquisition been written? We will see.


But there are others. United Airlines buying Continental. Southwest buying Airtran. Look at the banking business merger/acquisition/purchases even before the financial crisis which are too great to count or even track. Where did all those good jobs go? Cisco Systems purchase of dozens of companies among the Flip Video which was closed down by Cisco just two years after it was purchased. What happened to all those workers? Sometimes it is a good thing that one company purchases another to save it from ruin. But more often than not, it kills competition and just puts good people out on the streets. Innovation? We cannot reinvent business, industry or ourselves fast enough to keep pace with the consolidation of our bigger companies.

I for one have never been a big fan of higher taxes. But I saw a banner the other day on a BMW that read "Please Raise My Taxes." The ridiculousness of the right in refusing to raise any one's taxes for any reason ever is just not realistic. Smaller government? It is funny that those in a position to seriously advocate for smaller government are themselves employees of the government. Even the patron saint of the conservative movement raised taxes between five and seven times depending on who you listen to. But the bottom line was he did raise taxes and he left this country with record deficits when he left office.

This is capitalism. So the question should be asked: Does capitalism exist to support the citizenry or does the citizenry exist to support capitalism? While I have never lived under another form of government, I have studied other forms of government and spoken to enough people who have that say yes, capitalism and especially the form of capitalism that exists here is the most desirable. But just because it is the best, it does not mean that it cannot be improved on. What? How do you improve on capitalism and the free market?


Well, free market capitalism is being improved on by our government who gives out subsidies to farmers and oil companies to name just a few. That is right. I have pointed out in previous posts that some of the same representatives the criticize subsidies, tax increases, refuse to back stimulus for regular workers, and align themselves with the Tea Party actually have received subsidies for themselves. Now I have to assume that some of the subsidy money trickles down to their workers but that would be just an assumption. So what is wrong with subsidizing through tax money or incentives programs that create jobs for the middle class?

The US Post Office has been the butt of many jokes and the scene of several tragic episodes. But what is also represents are hundreds of thousands of good middle class jobs and a system to deliver mail to every mail box in the country. Would those be government jobs? Yes and no. The US Post Office is supposed to be self supporting and has been. It is also required, unlike other federal agencies to make an annual payment of more than $5 billion as an advance contribution to future retiree medical costs and has a $6.9 billion surplus. It also supports 8 million private sector jobs that depend on the mail. Is the US Mail Service easily replaced? Sure you say, FedEx and UPS will pick up the slack. Think again the US Postal service is required to deliver to all addresses in the US and 20,000 new added every year. FedEx has a minimum of over $15 to deliver an envelope. Will Congress vote to help the post office and the many middle income jobs that are directly and indirectly dependent upon it? Don't bet on it.


Earlier this year it was the states that were the battleground for white collar jobs. It was in the
State of Wisconsin. Under attack were teachers but more specifically unions. Schools have been under siege ever since early in the Bush administration when the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. Since that time teachers and school districts have complained that the resources to educate have been severely limited and stretched to the limit while expectations have been unreasonably high. So in Wisconsin they decided not only to cut teachers' salaries but to no longer allow for the union to represent them in collective bargaining. It was shameless how some of the conservative media chided the teachers for being over paid public servants while just months before defended Wall Streeters who potentially would forgo their giant bonus as a result of the financial meltdown. Unlike Wall Street, the teachers were willing to give back some of their already meager salaries to help with the state's economic problems but to outlaw collective bargaining was too much. Two State Senators Dan Kapanke and eastern Wisconsin Senator Randy Hopper were successfully recalled in a backlash against the legislation.

I spoke with someone the other day who works in the medical field. They told me that they were going on strike next week. They said that the health care insurance provider they worked for made $900 million in profits last year. So I figured that the least they could do would be to give out small cost of living raises. "No," they said, "We are just trying to keep even."

As a middle of the road voter, what has our government or the private sector done to at least preserve middle class jobs in this country and help the poorest of the poor? After all isn't this one of the main reasons we send representatives to state capitals and Washington, D.C.? You would think so. But take John Boehner a now very high profile representative and Majority Speaker in the House of Representatives. You would think that he would represent the constituents of the 8th District in Ohio; his district. But while vigorously opposing the Obama stimulus package and most recently the Obama jobs bill, he has over 90 bridges in his district that are structurally unsound. Tina Osso the Executive Director of the Executive Harvest Food bank which resides in Representative Boehner's district recently wrote Boehner outlining the impact the cuts would have on the poorest of the poor and inviting him to meet with her. Boehner has not responded.

The middle class is under attack. No one will save us if we will not save ourselves. As the middle class disappears we should not do so without a fight. While many of us are working well over 40 hours per week or two jobs to stay even, there is little time to even get on the phone or write an e mail. We may be losing our voice but it is not yet gone. Write your Congressman and Senator and make an occasional call to the White House and let them know that for now we are still out there and we vote.

We used to take pride in helping those that were down on their luck. Now we just yell at them. During a recent Republican Presidential candidate debate sponsored by the Tea Party Congressman and Presidential Candidate Ron Paul was asked if a coma victim should be left to die if they did not have insurance? Before he could answer someone from the audience yelled "yes!" Paul himself answer "no" but did not offer any suggestions as to what should be done. The responses are telling. Is this really what we want? Is this is where this country is headed? After one of the largest transfers in wealth in our history during the past 10 years. Now those that have are taking it to a higher level. Use the power that they have gained through lobbying to squash the middle class making America a land of have's and have nots. In the past 100 years this country was built by people helping people but also by the government who helped us do for ourselves. We were the strongest when we worked together to make America and the world a better place. That is something we should all think about as we head into this election season.