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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

"War on the MIddle Class"

Lou Dobbs is a joke. Here we have an exceedingly rich white guy pretending to be worried about immigration (I bet his nanny is an illegal) and this supposed "war on the middle class," the title of his book. The middle class in this country could be defined as anyone not poor (making less than $25,000 per year) to $400,000 to $500,000 per year. The fact remains that this broad group runs the country since they consistently vote - after all, no one speaks for the truly poor nor cares about them -- and the rich are too few in number to make a difference until after the election when they buy what they want from our esteemed elected officials. So why this Dobbsian concern for the "middle-class?" Could it be he has plans to run for something?

A recent article by Clive Crook in the Atlantic puts some Dobbs' assumptions in perspective:
1. The so-called stagnation of incomes is belied by a steadily improving quality of life.
2. The so-called rising debt of the middle-class is mostly in mortgages that are supported by increased capital property values. In fact, "40% of middle-income households have no credit card debt at all."
What may become a problem is the impending retirement income problems and health care. But Dobbs doesn't seem to care about them Why would he when he has millions socked away.