What If The Middle-Class Ruled?

President Obama is bravely captaining our economic ship. Where the last president balked at an aggregate demand-increasing stimulus and a meaningful overhaul of the automobile industry, Obama steered a $787 billion stimulus through Congress and threw car industry veteran Rick Wagoner overboard. Obama's paradigm-shifting budget is likely to sail, relatively unscathed, through Congress in the next week. Meanwhile, Congress has filled in some rather important details, taking responsibility for successfully expanding children's health insurance and strengthening safeguards for fair pay.

But TheMiddleClass.org's 2008 Middle-Class Scorecard, a congressional accountability project sponsored by the Drum Major Institute, shows that several of the more basic protections for middle-class Americans - what I would like to call "low-hanging fruit" - are still unresolved, even as Congress takes on large-scale reform projects like a health care overhaul and climate change legislation.

In 2008, legislation imposing stricter regulations on credit card companies and allowing bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of primary mortgages in bankruptcy stalled in Congress, while legislators resisted including improvements to food safety regulations in a bill strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission. These legislative failures have had serious consequences for middle-class Americans: interest rate hikes that the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights would have prohibited are instead proliferating; the 800,000 homes that would have been saved from foreclosure by the bankruptcy provision are still in danger; and Salmonella-tainted peanut butter has killed nine people and infected almost 700.

Congress is, indeed, addressing each of these issues. Markups of legislation strengthening credit card regulations are scheduled for this week in both the House and the Senate, the House passed a bill including the mortgage modification provision earlier this month, and proposals for food safety reform are solidifying.

Yet, the TheMiddleClass.org Scorecard urges caution. Only 38% of the Senate - and no Senate Republicans - voted in favor of bankruptcy modification; 74% of the House (only 43% of House Republicans) voted for the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights', but the legislation was left to die by the Senate. Other measures that would have benefitted the middle class were subject to similarly chilly receptions, with important legislation to bail out the auto industry receiving support just above 20% from Senate and House Republicans. Only 60% of all House members voted in favor of legislation that extended unemployment insurance and established a new GI Bill.

The complexity of the economic and financial crisis Americans are now experiencing does not make commonsense protections for consumers and homeowners any less important. In fact, as the crisis deepens, such protections become even more important as struggling companies try to squeeze the last pennies from vulnerable consumers. But as TheMiddleClass.org Scorecard demonstrates, protections for middle-class Americans are often talked about in Congress, but never fully addressed. Lawmakers should use the current crisis as an opportunity to usher in a new era of middle-class American rule. Next year's Scorecard should show all legislators voting in favor of strengthened credit card regulations, bankruptcy modification for primary residences, and a food safety overhaul.

Follow Harry Moroz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hmoroz

Comments

[WorkingClass]

The ruling class will always reward and protect those most useful to them. That ls the middle class. Workers are abundant and therefore expendable. The New Deal did not create the huge American middle class. It created a prosperous working class. Americans are unable to make these elementary class distinctions because we spent 40 years fighting communism. We have believed that America is a "classless society" which is an absurdity that remains lodged in our brains. Only the working class has the muscle to end corporate rule. What is needed is an American Labor Party.

Solidarity.

[Tyler-Durden]

yes, i realize now my first comment is completely ridiculous. the rich may want us to think we're middle class while making about ~$40k a year, but we're really lower class.

thanx for helping me open my eyes on this today!

[TryToBeFlexible]

The ruling class basically treats the rest of Americans as cattle.

[Robster]

First, we have to agree on just who the middle class is.

[Tyler-Durden]

the middle class is any citizen earning $35-80k.

if you're making less than $35k, you're poor. you have limited choices for leased residency, cannot afford a house realistically, and must budget to eat.

once you're making more than $80k, you can purchase a home and afford to eat practically where ever you want.

anyone disagree with this range?

[Tyler-Durden]

or...do i disagree with my own comment.

perhaps the middle class is between $100-$200k income. they are the people who endorse the elitist piracy and corruption of the upper class who make a $quarter million + income. They endorse the corruption because they feel they're just on the verge of "making the team", where by they will join the elitist ranks and benefit from their crooked ways.

the poor is anyone making less than $100k and working for a living. Many in this class think they're middle class because they are simply in denial.

DO MORE PEOPLE AGREE WITH THIS DESCRIPTION THAN MY PREVIOUS DESCRIPTION??? Cuz I think this may be closer to the truth.

[WorkingClass]

The middle class is defined by its usefulness to the ruling class. Professors, Lawyers, Doctors, Administrators, Military Officers, are middle class and they will be rewarded and protected by the ruling class. It may be useful for some purposes to separate Americans into three groups according to income but when discussing class the defining characteristics are the role one plays in society. In capitalistic societies there is an inherent conflict of interest between the ruling class and the working class. This dynamic is sometimes referred to as "class war". Only the middle class has the problem choosing sides. As long as Americans continue to equate class with income they will not understand their political dilemma.

[Thevail]

But..it will take the middle class standing up for itself to actually achieve anything.
And that would require:

A) Knowing who IS in the middle class. Where is the line between working poor and middle class? What's the dividing line between upper middle class and rich?

B) The "middle class" having an actual, factual understanding of the issues that affect them.

C) Finding someone other than the middle class to act as a milk cow to feed all the social programs and tax needs of this country.

Right now, the "middle class" pays for almost ALL the healthcare of senior citizens and the poor in this country. And most of us don't mind..we don't want to see the elderly, the poor, or children without healthcare. We'd just like to be allowed to eat at the buffet we're expected to serve year after year.

[Citizen54]

It would be a great day indeed. But considering that the nefarious "bankruptcy" bill referred to in the post was pushed heavily by our current vice president (formerly the Senator from the Credit Card Industry), it would be naive to get our hopes up. Biden isn't exactly what you call an agent of positive change, even though he loves to play the part of middle-class advocate.

Vote very single incumbent out of office ad we might see some Change we can believe in.

(Or at least take away their taxpayer-supported healthcare coverage.)

[Rog49Thomas]

The central problem is that we choose our representatives with less care and attention than we employ voting for our "American Idol".

Then one could analyze the mental skills brought to bear in either endeavor.

But that is too depressing a topic for so early in the morning.

[WorkingClass]

Study the role of money and media in our elections and especially our nominating processes. You will see that our "representatives" are not really elected but are selected by our corporate rulers.

[potjustice]

Looks to me as if quite a few Demo senators need to be replaced by new Demo senators.

Primary fight anyone.

[TrooAmerican]

If anyone BUT, the Rich ruled, we'd have healthcare for all, plenty of renewable energy, low pollution, cleaned up useful national parks and recreation, good education, good jobs, good relationships with all other countries, better equiped military, Better TREATED veterans and wounded vets, Far less Immorality and crime in government, and lower taxes because we'd have so much less financial and tax fraud, unethical financial antics, and nonsensical profiteering by those at the top payscales.

[Rog49Thomas]

Maybe yes and maybe no.

Last November the RP presidential ticket received about 60 million votes for subpar candidates and with the legacy of an unpopular war and a great depression on the horizon.

I'm guessing that since the rich are demographically a rather small group those weren't all poor people.

No class has any innate permanent wisdom.

And, as Lewis Cheskin proved with margarine, the American consumer can be persuaded to buy a product based on packaging and presentation rather than primarily on the intrinsic quality of the product.

Flag lapel pins anyone?

[TrooAmerican]

its not about a larger class of people having innately higher wisdom.

My point, possibly unclear is more that its about removing those that actually have bad intentions.

And no, there is not a justifiable humantarian excuse to be had for wildly increasing your wealth at the expense of people of lower means and in some cases almost no means.

What many people dont seem to get is that the cost of living in this country has risen to around 30k for singles and 40-50k for any family 4 or more.
thats without luxury without any spoiling of kids, thats just to have a decent home, not extravagent, utilities, basics like television internet, phones, insurance, food, furnishings, and clothing.

The number of people in this country on assistance, working two jobs, receiving help from charities, getting help from parents, siblings, friends churches etc is astronomical.
Its upwards of 50 million americans and that runs the span from children, to working adults to the elderly and veterans of wars.

When people calculate how many places are "pennying" them to death, it becomes more like "Dollaring" them to death.
Car payments, Car insurance, Health coverage, copays, OTC meds, buying clothes at goodwill, yardsales, walmart, buying cheap food, gasoline, electric, natural gas all skyrocketing, home owners insurance, mortgage rates, rental rates, its no wonder so many working americans are living off credit cards and receiving rent assistance, charitable food banks, homeless, missions, soup kitchens, shelters for battered women/children, catholic services, etc.