The Collapse of the Middle Class, Letters from Vermont and America

The official unemployment rate in the United States surged to 5.5 percent last month, the Labor Department announced this morning. The biggest increase in more than two decades will be on the front pages of the Saturday newspapers. Statistics are one thing. Real life is another.

As gas and oil prices soared and as the nation slipped into recession, I made a request to Vermonters on my e-mail list. I asked them to tell me what was going on in their lives economically. That was it. Frankly, I expected a few dozen replies. I was amazed, therefore, when my office received more than 700 responses from all across the state, as well as some from other states.

A Vermont mother wrote, "We have at times had to choose between baby food and heating fuel." A 55-year-old man from rural Pennsylvania said, "I am just tired, the harder that I work the harder it gets." A retired couple in Vermont asked, "Does anybody in Washington care?"

It is one thing to read dry economic statistics which describe the collapse of the American middle class. Since George W. Bush has been in office 5 million Americans have slipped into poverty, 8 million have lost their health insurance and 3 million have lost their pensions. In the last seven years median household income for working-age Americans has declined by $2,500. Our country, for the first time since the Great Depression, now has a zero personal savings rate and, all across the nation, emergency food shelves are being flooded with working families whose inadequate wages prevent them from feeding their families.

It is another thing to understand, in flesh-and-blood terms, what that means in the lives of ordinary Americans. The responses that I received describe the decline of the American middle class from the perspective of those people who are living that decline. They speak about families who, not long ago, thought they were economically secure, but now find themselves sinking into desperation and hopelessness.

These e-mails tell the stories of working families unable to keep their homes warm in the winter; workers worried about whether they'll be able to fill their gas tank to get to their jobs; and seniors, who spent their entire lives working, now wondering how they'll survive in old age. They describe the pain and disappointments that parents feel as they are unable to save money for their kids' college education, and the dread of people who live without health insurance.

In order to try and break through the complacency and isolation inside the Washington Beltway, I have read some of these stories on the floor of the Senate. I also assembled some of them in a booklet that I have distributed to every other senator because it is imperative that Congress and the corporate media understand the painful reality facing the middle class today so that we can develop the appropriate public policy to address this crisis.

The letters are not easy to read.

"We only eat two meals a day to conserve," one e-mail said. "My husband and I are very nervous about what will happen to us when we are old," wrote a woman from Vermont. "The pennies have all but dried up....Today I am sad, broken, and very discouraged," lamented another. "Some nights we eat cereal and toast for dinner because that's all I have." One man summed it up this way: "My mortgage is behind, we are at risk for foreclosure, and I can't keep up with my car payments."

Many of the e-mails have been about gasoline prices. "How devastating it has been for folks who travel great distances to get to their cancer treatment," one wrote. "I don't go to church many Sundays, because the gasoline is too expensive to drive there," said another. One man put it this way: "It costs me so much money in gas that my wife and I live on $6 per day to eat."

In straightforward, plan language, the e-mails tell a truth that all the economic statistics sanitize. "We are barely staying afloat," is how one writer summed it up.

More of the letters from Vermont and America are posted on his Web site here.

Comments

[VivaZapata]

Trusting a politician to keep his/her word is a foolish thing to do, but Bernie is a rarity: mench first; politician second. He's one of the few legislators who does not let the dank and putrid air of the District wend its corrupting ways. Keep up the good work, senator!

[gala1]

Most of this stems from profiteering in an essential commodity during wartime..

Under every administration since the Civil War, EXCEPT the Bush administration, this has been illegal and punishable with jail time.
And now we know why that is, don't we.

I don't need to hear sad stories from constituents
I need to know what my government is doing to correct this.

It's illegal. it's immoral . It's infinitely destructive of our future.
Unless you are running an Oil Company or running a Member of Congress, that is.

_gala1

[Bettysdad]

I have long maintained that the American people are too stupid to understand what is being done to them, and to understand why those of us on the left are the only solution. Things have to get really bad before Americans demand REAL change. It's what gave us FDR. Cut your expenses and hoard cash. "Buckle your seatbelt. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

[booksnmore4you]

Have to say this is precisely my concern, too.

However, it is more that the American people are kept merely surviving so much they have no time to be aware of things in depth. That plus the fact that higher education is so expense - it keeps people wither uneducated or so busy working a second job to pay the slavish school debt.

[watchingthings]

If you want to hoard.....­make it silver or gold. Cash will not be worth the paper it is printed on in hyperinflation. Study what Mugaby did in Zimbabwae and you will understand. From a net exporter of food they went on to starvation. That is how America's economy is being handled and the Republican Party seems to think all's fine.

[watchingthings]

....and even though the middle class in Zimbabwe was White....b­y getting rid of the middle class, Mugabe has bankrupted the country and the people now are starving.

[DesertDivine]

I have maintained for some time now that if it were not for credit, we would be seeing soup and bread lines in the streets. It would for sure be the 1930's all over again. We have had preditory lending and banking practices with no oversite for far too long. Greed is the name of the game. What I can't figure out is why so many people can still say that they are conservative (and believe this administration is!!), Bush/Cheney loving Republicans after what has happened in this country during their tenure. Unemployment at it's highest point since the 70's, one in ten houses in foreclosure, a never ending war based on lies ran by corporations for huge profits, health care costs out of control, basic human rights violated daily, corporations running our country. And the middle class, the backbone of what made this country great, decimated. This is only the tip of the iceberg. We are in big trouble, folks.

[zlohcuc]

With all due respect to the Senator ,Mc Clellan et Al...the time to speak up about these issues is when you may be able to make a dynamic difference -when the ramifications are not yet clear. It's called vision and it is often accompanied by a trait called courage.Th­e game is rigged against the middle class as sure as any modern day Ponzi scheme, which for good reasons are illegal.Ch­eer up though, soon America will have the most educated food and domestic service workers the world has ever known.

[Billie]

When my successful, driven and loving dad died young, my mom shook off her depression, got a job and gave us four kids quality educations, weddings and kept the wolf from the door when things got scary. When she was scared as the crickets chirped a lonely refrain, she bought a bottle of wine, shrimp cocktail, candle tapers and made a party so we'd not feeel descended from the middle class. She'd plant flowers in gardens give us beauty there as well. My mother was a lover of beauty and a survivor and kept us afloat. In 2000, on her death bed she made me swear I'd pay for health insurance. As a bohemian-type artist, she wanted me to be safe. I loved her wisdom and made my payments. Even as they soared to $1600 every three months. I took on many clients and worked around the clock to absorb the health insurance. Many times i thought america is a bad place for artists and other spiritual types. AFter my mom's stroke, I saw her soul for the first time in my life. Around 2006, my rates shot up. This was after I saw how my mom had "great" health insurance and after 30 years of paying her premiums on time, they tried every trick in the book to find a clause to out her when she had a stroke. It was horrible dealing with the pain of a loved one while fighting the vultures of the corrupt

[Livvy]

As I have passed through the local grocery store lately I always wonder how many of us are going hungry or living off of Kraft Macaroni and cheese and toast?

I work in education and have a modest income. It becomes increasingly hard for me to feed my family. I don't know what families are doing who are just above the poverty line. There is no safety net for them and they are not making enough to keep up with rent and utilities and food.

In the last year we have tossed over everything we can at our house; I drive an older car and walk most places; we dumped cable tv and most any "luxury" but its not enough. Whenever I begin to panic I think of how many people are in even worse shape and must be scared and suffering.

[mamacita]

Ramen noodles are cheaper than Kraft Macaroni, and don't need added milk and butter.

[therealredstateblues]

"Kraft Macaroni and cheese and toast?"

Indeed - just like in college - ate a lot of that then - and ramen noodles

But all these things are exploding in price too thanks to the commodities speculators Bread has gone up 60% Mac and cheeze (even the store brand stuff) has doubled.

But of course the rapid rise in food costs is ignored in the gov't's manipulated inflation rates

Isn't there an old saying that a country is only 9 meals away from revolution?

[therealredstateblues]

Further comment


we to have dropped most of the luxury stuff like cable some time ago, drive older cars (we just sunk a ton of money in to maintain but still far less than a new car pmt)

The point of elasticity has be reached and passed - people don't have any more areas left we can cut back.

All non essential driving was cut out at 3 bucks a gallon, and cut back on lunch at work to aford the addtional gas costs

[lenski]

HAH! Mac and Cheese is the good stuff! In my time, it was bean soup! :-) :-)

The privilege of real milk, much preferred over the powdered milk.... Oh yeah! That's the life.

This is not snark, this is not irony, it is the fact of my life: I *still* enjoy Mac and Cheese, recalling the days when my family could not afford it.

Too many diligent, hardworking people are discovering the joys of thinking of Mac and Cheese as the good stuff.

[JTyroler]

I remember one of Bush's State of the Union Speeches where he spoke of the number of 1st time home owners being at a national high. At the time, I thought to myself, and after watching the price of houses skyrocketing, how many of those first time home buyers are going to have their homes foreclosed. I never, in my darkest dreams, could have imagined the economic mess we would be in. My fear is that we are heading into the worst economic times in American History - worst than the great Depression. We have had droughts - nothing on the scale of the Dust Bowl years, although parts of the world have been dealing with worse droughts. Crude Oil prices have increased over $100/bbl since the start of the War in Iraq. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been rising and dropping by over 100 points per day this past week.

The largest thing that we have bought on credit is, unfortunately, the War in Iraq. The War that John McCain says we can't afford to lose - although no one knows what a victory requires, and personally, I feel, we can't afford.

[Lefty Larueaux]

I read Barbara Ehrenreich's books, "Bait and Switch" and "Nickel and Dimed". "Bait" chronicled the plight of white collar unemployed. "Nickel" chronicled the plight of the underclass working poor. I have to tell you, I was left stone cold by the "plight" of the white collar unemployed. I hope these wannabes get what they deserve--a tin cup on a grate, or worse yet, a part-time job at Wal-Mart.

[lenski]

Calm down, take a deep breath.

There are lots of people who used to be "white collar" and are now unemployed: electrical, computer, software, etc. engineers working 12 hour days, dedicating themselves to the work and trying to do their part in building something that could generate the marketplace success that seems always to elude middle and upper management.

Six months before being laid off in 2004, I asked the VP if engineering one day (quoting approximately), "considering the current market challenges we are facing, what do you think of letting us all take a cut in pay while we reorganize and rebuild our produc---" His answer preceded the end of the question: NO.

Lots of people used to be white collar Workers (emphasize Work) and are having a difficult time find work of any kind, other than your vaunted Wal-Mart part time work. These people were not money shufflers, not job shufflers, they are real bust-hump-every-day Workers. Building things (to be honest many of those "things" are abstract like software, communication systems, infrastructure, etc.).

I have known too many so-called white collar unemployed people who worked their asses off for the reward of the middle-age layoff.

[therealredstateblues]

HuffPost's Pick

Thats kind of it really. Top management could care less how hard you work or that US workers have the highest productivity in the world.

A good example is the recent closing of the last US refrigerator plant - the workers took cuts in pay and benefits, found new efficiencies, implemented new technologies, and yet senior management didn't care one bit - the plant still got shipped off to mexico.

You read all the time the management comments when a plant is shut down - they admit that the workers were skiled and productive, yet close the places down in favor of cheaper but less productive workers in some third world country - it is always about labor arbitrage

What has happened is thanks to voodoo economics and globalization, the plutocratic class has managed to break the social contract - that if you work hard, got an education and played by the rules you were assured a comnfortable place in the middle class. Not so anymore

[MajorKong]

Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?

[JTyroler]

It does seem like things are freezing over...

[DawnieRotten]

Am I just one of the very FEW who sees whats coming??? C'mon people!! I really think people need to re-educate themselves about The Great Depression. It's right there....t­he writing is on the wall. Yet NO ONE wants to admit it. We WILL be in the SECOND "Great Depression" VERY SOON! The stock market WILL crash and people WILL lose everything. It's time to stop pretending and start PREPARING!!

Many keep asking.... "HOW do we FIX this?". That, too, is written on the wall! It's called the SECOND American Revolution. Do you want to keep YOUR country? Then WE are going to have to TAKE IT BACK. I only see ONE way of doing that.....T­he 2nd American Revolution! "Voting" our corrupt politicians OUT simply will NOT WORK. WHY you ask? Because most (ones that really matter) of our politicians are bought and paid for by The New World Order (Rothschilds, Rockeffelers, Murdoch and the likes); they will not GIVE us ANYTHHING. Our election process is so corrupt that people actually think that their vote COUNTS....­..it does NOT! Most of this country is using electronic voting machines that can and are being easily "rigged" with NO paper trail. These machines are UNCONSTITUTIONAL!! So, simply "voting" politicians out is NOT an option.

Fair warning...­..there are two things Americans need to be preparing for.....
The 2nd coming of The Great Depression and
The 2nd coming of the American Revolution.

And remember..­..DON'T LET THEM TAKE YOUR GUNS!!

[legalgirl]

As soon as possible, steps must be taken to regulate commodities futures trading. Today was a perfect example. Now, because the government finally released unemployment data which is closer to the real thing (although still understated), and because an Israel military leader threatened to bomb Iran with OUR help, the dollar plunged and oil shot up, sending the Dow down almost 400 points. And that's just today.

Unless some action is taken by YOU and your colleagues in the House and Senate NOW to regulate the oil and commodity futures trading industries (I'm from California and got ripped off by Enron, et al., as you know), there will be $10/gal. gas, with no end to the con game in sight -- and this is a con game. You know, it's summer, and prices go up EVERY summer, never to come down. Is it just another summer in America, Sen. Sanders?

[NMdonkey]

I haven't seen the statistics on how many people have filed bankruptcy under Bush, but I'm another statistic. A few years ago I started a job where I had to travel up to a few hundred miles to get to a location where I'd stay for weeks and drive many miles on sales calls-- then the cost of gas went up. I could get mileage deduction at tax time, but it didn't help me immediately when I needed the money. I already had so much debt (in my 30s and 40s I put myself through school and had to borrow every dime), but I had to "supplement" my income (credit cards) when commission was down and to buy gas. By last year I had accumulated so much debt, I had no choice but to file bankruptcy. It was humiliating and degrading, but I was finally rid of the credit card debt I had no hopes of ever paying back (the student loans never go away). Less than 3 months after wiping the slate clean, I had health problems but suffered for weeks before finally seeing a doctor about my condition (no insurance). I ended up needing surgery and now owe $12,000 in medical bills on top of the thousands of dollars in student loans. I'm in my late 40s, trying to start a new career- with no health insurance and nothing saved for retirement.
No one in office seems to care about anyone but corporations and the super wealthy.

[SILVANUS]

Similar story here, pal. Hang in.

[HotATL]

This is the kind of article that I wanted to see when I started looking at blogs on the Internet a couple of months ago. I am one of those 5 million people that have slipped into poverty over the last seven years. Let me tell you my story. I had just completed a two-year technical school after being honorably discharged from the military in 1983. I started off making 15 dollars an hour running a MVS mainframe computer. I was going to start college however after working there for over 7 years I made more that most entry-level college graduates. But after the year 2000 everything started going bad. AT&T bought out the company that I worked for NCR. I didn’t know it at the time but President Ragan had signed a bill to let the GI bill expired 10 years after leaving the service. No else in America used NCR’s mainframe computers. Companies started outsourcing IT jobs, so people like me without a college degree could no longer find a job in IT. I will be 50 years old this year and I can no longer work hard manual labor jobs anymore. I have been unemployed for over 8 months now. I wanted to see if smart people like the ones on this blog had any answers.

[HamletsMill]

Part 1

HotATL,

Here is my advice. First get your military papers in order. Find that DD214. If you can't find it do a web search for a service that can get a copy of yours for you. Go to a VA community outpatient clinic and get the forms to fill out to apply to get into the VA system. Have all this at least ready even if you find a job with medical insurance coverage. This is a must. have all this paperwork in order to get into the VA. They don't tell people jack squat on how to use the system. You have to find out. This is what I learned the hard way when I went through a tough time four years ago. The regional company that I worked for for nine years was bought out in a Wall Street deal that went south run into the ground by Manhatten MBA morons. Twenty three of us IT people and software programmers were laid off. Get this. The company that bought us went under in the business. All of us unemployed reformed and eventually got venture capital funding and in four years have 400 emplpyees and revenues of $56 million from NOTHING! It was scary as hell. 15 hour days throwing on every down but we made it and life is evening out to normalcy!

(continued)

[HotATL]

Thanks HamletsMill, finally some advise other than go get a degree. I already have my DD214. I already talked to the VA (they told me there wasn't any help, other than congress maybe looking at extending the old GI Bill benifits). Just one question, everytime that I look at the requirements for a job they ask for job experience in (what seem like) 20 different languages. How will studing two programming languages help me when I can't get a company to hire me to get some experience?

[HamletsMill]

Part 2

You are an IT guy. What you have to grasp now is to forget formal training. Those days are past. You don't need the GI Bill. That path is too slow now. Yu don't need a degree. You need technical skills. You will have to teach yourself. Learn these two technologies and you can get back into it to making a living to your dying day. These are the NEXT two big things in IT. You can get books and DVD's on Amazon to teach yourself these skills. This is a learning curve for everyone in IT now on these technologies so no one has a hiring advantage yet. Do a Google search on BIRT Reporting software and the Adobe Flex 3 platform. Start to learn these technologies. There will be work. Good luck brother from a fellow veteran and a programmer/software engineer.

[TimeJumper]

A nation cannot fail unless its citizens abandon their ideals and principles. I do not believe our best days are behind us. I do not believe that the cynics and hyperbolic demagogues have won. As long as there are Americans who believe in this great country; as long as there Americans who are not afraid to face the future united, I guarantee you, we as a nation will not fail. Remember, this country was forged from selfless sacrifice; it was founded on adversity and was borne from hardship. This American still tenaciously believes in this country, in its citizens and its future.

[HamletsMill]

Amen. Our country has been put through hell by a cult of mindless idiots. We have to TAKE our country back now. This is it. We have to pull together now. All of us. God bless Arianna Huffington and her investors for putting this site together. We have all this to help each other and give moral support. No one is alone. We just need to pull together now to save our nation for everyone's children.

My God! These last eight years were horrible beyond belief. How did any of us survive it?

But we are now all here. Take heart.

[SILVANUS]

A M E N!!!

[Vermontah]

Dear Sen. Sanders,

Thank you for your wisdom. The Senate oughta be just 50 Bernies and 50 Leahys and we'd be golden.

[DixieMelody]

Don't leave out RON PAUL.

[Zeusthunderbolt]

Dear Fellow Americans

We are steadily marching forward. The dream of republican purists since FDR is about to be realized. Reagan was the first to set in motion the process that will help us achieve the goals of saving America from destruction set in motion by FDR. The only way forward in the long run to reverse the socialistic state created by FDR was determined and end is near. The Enemy : Social programs ie Medicare, Medicaid, social security, Unions. THe Unions are already powerless. American public was never to accept the end of Medicare and social security. THe only solution was to drive the country bankrupt. Spend everything on Defence. When that alone failed, then a war was necessary. If we could just continue the war, it would hasten our road to an empty treasury. And Alas, finally America , the only bastion of true capitalism, would be able to shed the shackles of social programs. No money, no way to pay for Social security . Young people would revolt, old folks , they love the country, they will have to accept, a non inflation indexed check. And in time it will be worthless like the minimum pay. Medicare, also will be unaffordable hence will have to be abandoned. So please people wake up. elect McCaine and let us finish what we started. Spread hate, racial religous, gay , what ever possible so as to prevent Obama from spoiling the Utopia.

Zeusthunderbolt

[HamletsMill]

Good one! LOL!

[therealredstateblues]

Sounds like you are reading right out of the republican playbook LOL

Or the Fed's instruction manual