Are you operating on a tight budget...Are you struggling with taxes, credit card debt, everyday cost

The Squeezing of America%26#039;s Middle Class

(April 16) - The idea of a thriving middle class has always been at the heart of the American dream. The concept really took off in the wake of World War II, when the GI Bill started helping everyday Americans pay for college or vocational education and take out loans to buy homes.

By the 1950s, TV shows like %26quot;Leave It to Beaver%26quot; were presenting an idealized picture of middle-class life. Dad worked, Mom took care of the kids, and there wasn%26#039;t much talk about how they%26#039;d pay the bills.

But today the American middle class is struggling.

%26quot;It seems as if health care, retirement security, being able to pay for kids%26#039; college, being able to hold on to and afford a home are real sources of anxiety for middle-class Americans today,%26quot; Jacob Hacker, a professor of political science at Yale University, told Sunday Morning correspondent Rita Braver.

Hacker, an author of a new book that focuses on problems facing America%26#039;s middle class, says the middle class is more of a symbol than a concrete definition.

%26quot;I think the symbol is people who are not rich, who have to work hard, usually both parents are working,%26quot; he said. %26quot;They probably have children, that%26#039;s sort of the image that we have. It%26#039;s a hard-working middle-class family with kids, making $60,000 to $80,000 a year and feeling really strained economically.%26quot;

Are you operating on a tight budget...Are you struggling with taxes, credit card debt, everyday costs, etc...?

My hubby and I are right there with everything you said.

We filed for bankruptcy back in 2001, since then things have been better for us. We have only one credit card which we try to pay off each month. We don%26#039;t have many of the fancy things that many people have such as a house, new cars or other luxury items. We are very happy with what we do have though and don%26#039;t really miss many of the things we don%26#039;t have. Everyone has their own set of priorities and as long as your happy, good for you. It%26#039;s the people who seemingly have everything and are never happy. I just don%26#039;t understand them.

Are you operating on a tight budget...Are you struggling with taxes, credit card debt, everyday costs, etc...?

We operate on a budget, though it%26#039;s not extremely tight - My husband works, and - though we%26#039;re considered middle class - we operate this way so that I can stay at home with our daughter. Would we be completely out of debt and able to BUY a house (instead of rent) if I were working also? Perhaps, but then again, perhaps not, because we%26#039;d probably be doing like MOST Americans with two incomes are - living in a bigger house, buying MORE for our money, and living on TWO incomes instead of using the second as extra money.

The middle class is struggling - yes, it%26#039;s true - but part of the mistake is believing that %26quot;middle class%26quot; means $60-$80K/yr...I%26#039;m only 25 and I remember growing up and my parents made more money than most of the parents in my small-town class - and THEY were middle class at only $45K/year between the TWO of them. So that is part of the problem.

Another part of the problem is big business pushing out the little guys, and big business going overseas. Just because a person can be paid LESS doesn%26#039;t mean they necessarily work more efficiently. One way to combat this problem of taking business overseas? FORCE businesses to either pay overseas workers what they would make if they lived in America, or force them OUT of America and don%26#039;t use their business. Seem harsh? Perhaps we NEED to make some harsh choices, because we are %26quot;only good as our weakest team member%26quot; - and our weakest and poorest Americans are VERY poor (I%26#039;m talking 3rd world here, IN AMERICA!).

There are other ways to solve this problem, I%26#039;m sure, though I%26#039;ll admit I don%26#039;t have all the answers. But I agree, the Middle Class is being destroyed, and unless we have people willing to act, we%26#039;ll NEVER get it back, and the distance between the Upper and Lower Class will only serve as an entrance into the Class systems we tried to get away from by breaking away from Europe.