Democrats speak for the "Middle Class" - who speaks for the "Poor"?

[kentuck]

And we are told that more and more of the middle class are losing ground.

But who speaks for the 40 million people on food stamps? Who speaks for the 10-15 million people who are unemployed? Who speaks for the tens of thousands of homeless people who have nothing? Who speaks for the elderly who live on nothing more than their small Social Security stipend? Who speaks for the poor children that have dropped out of school and live in the shadows? Who speaks for the millions that work at jobs that pay minimum wage or less?

These are our poor. They dream of being in the "middle class". Is the Democratic Party ashamed to admit that we have these folks living amongst us? Do they not count anymore?

[JI7]

1. many "poor" consider themselves to be "middle class"

[Warpy]

3. Most people haven't realized how far down the class ladder they've been shoved

while billionaires Hoover all the money out of the economy.

"Middle class" is now working class, working poor, and even part of the underclass who think their extreme poverty is only temporary. People who are truly middle class are now called "rich," because the unimaginable gap between the 99% and the 1% is never really acknowledged.

We're getting shoved farther down the class ladder every year as our cost of living rises and wages are depressed.

Eventually, people are going to stop blaming themselves for it and then there will be hell to pay.

[JI7]

4. one poll from probably over 10 years ago that always stands out for me

is where a large number of people thought they were in one of the top percentages of wealth when they were nowhere near it.

i still remember arguing with idiots over some some taxes like the estate tax and other things where they think they would be affected when the value is nowhere near the amount where that tax affects them.

and to make it even worse when people who don't consider themselves poor but middle class are struggling they are more likely to attack those who have even less like the homeless.

i see this shit all the time.

[theHandpuppet]

7. Can't disagree with anything you've said

Question is, how did we get to the point where so many think that getting by on so little is the norm?

[JI7]

8. maybe during Reagan administration where wealth is worshipped and people

with wealth are seen as having worked harder than those with less.

so people who are lower than middle class still want to be seen as middle class. if they go through tough times they see themselves as the expection. THEY are still hard working middle class who are just going through tough times. they aren't like those who are lower classes who are there because of their lack of hard work.

[VanillaRhapsody]

27. I think the floor on Inheritance Tax is now up to $5 million....for each sibling

unless it is over that....it isn't subject to that tax. Letting them know that usually causes them to change subjects to other Rightwing Strawmen.

[dawg]

42. Not for each sibling, but ...

that is still a lot of money. (And with proper planning, a married couple could bequeath twice that amount essentially free of estate tax.)

[VanillaRhapsody]

45. NO it IS for each sibling...UNLESS YOU yourself are inheriting 5 million...

you are not subject to that tax. The tax is on the individual inheritance...

I know this because I argued with someone who THOUGHT they knew how to prepare taxes....they finally conceded I was right.

[dawg]

46. I'm a financial professional who does estate planning.

The first spouse to die can leave up to around $5 million to non-spousal heirs. The number of heirs, or how it is divided, does not matter. If she leaves the balance of her estate to her spouse, he can then leave an additional $5 million (in total) to the kids.

The focus of the tax is on the estate and not the inheritor. The inheritor pays no federal tax on what he inherits (except for unpaid income taxes on things like IRA's). If you have enough rich aunts and uncles, they could each leave you $5 million and it would not be taxable to you. The tax is applicable to the estate and not to the heir.

[theHandpuppet]

6. I think that's very true

I'll bet a lot of the working poor would actually consider themselves to be middle class.

[Brigid]

18. I stopped blaming myself years ago.

And if you think I'm angry now, you should have seen me then.

[Warpy]

21. Can you imagine what will happen when it dawns on a critical mass of people

that they're poor because billionaires are so obscenely rich, not because they're failures and that kind of rage happens?

It is not going to be pretty.

[bvar22]

25. That is exactly why thay are....

*Militarizing the Police

*Coordinating Local Police from Washington

*Tearing up the Bill of Rights (especially Habeas and the 4th Amendment

*Installing (Democrats & Republicans) a "Unitary President" with permanent War Time Powers
(Yes you CAN now be "disappeared",
and it will be perfectly legal.)

*Desensitizing Americans to having citizens Gunned Down in the streets by "Law Enforcement".

*Building a Security/Surveillance State like the World has never seen or imagined (except Orwell).

Like you said....It won't be pretty.

[AndyTiedye]

40. They Will Lash Out Randomly at Anyone Who Appears to be a Little Less Poor

The billionaires are very well-protected, if you can even figure out where they are
so what we will see is more of what we are already seeing, more random violence.

[Spider Jerusalem]

24. "Middle class" was always working class.

Calling everyone "middle class" is a bit of linguistic trickery. Socialism doesn't develop in countries without a strong sense of class consciousness and a strong working-class labour movement. And "middle class" doesn't mean "the middle of the income distribution"; it means "degreed professional/managerial/executive", someone in the intermediate social class between the upper classes (or "1%" if you prefer), and the working class, who comprise most of the population.

[Warpy]

43. Not correct

The middle class floated on top of the true working class and consisted of upper managers and professions like doctor, lawyer, architect. They weren't paycheck to paycheck like the working class but could afford things like household help, traveling to hotels instead of tents, putting their offspring through college, and investing for retirement. Working class people relied on pensions, instead, pensions that often died when the worker did, leaving a spouse in poverty.

The New Deal expanded the middle class to include middle management, top unionized earners, and owners of small businesses. Even the better paid working class could at last aspire to owning their own homes, at least, making retirement on a fixed pension a bit easier.

Now we're pretty much working class, working poor, and underclass, no matter what we do for a living, people creating paper profits for the ultra rich the only ones capable of meeting middle class bills, except their usual working life is rather short.

[hollowdweller]

41. Really, there's only a couple paychecks difference.

One job loss or big expense and the middle class ARE poor.

[Dragonfli]

14. And yet still nobody speaks for them, only the comfortable, so at least YOU are considered

At least in the rhetoric, via policy not so much, not even the suburbanites that look down on us poor as much as the Democrats in power. Soon, they will not only look down on us, but actively hate our guts, much like the Republicans our party has emulated on economic policy and trade policy since the nineties.

[Johonny]

32. Pretty much

Politicians speak about the middle class because the majority of Americans believe they are middle class and most poor people that identify as poor aspire to be middle class.

That said clearly most poverty programs come from... democrats. It isn't a mystery to the poor who are much more likely to vote for democrats.

[jtuck004]

36. "Middle Class" now says lower...

Despite recovery, fewer Americans identify as middle class

...
Despite a slowly recovering economy, the proportion of Americans who identify themselves as middle class has dropped sharply in recent years. Today, about as many Americans identify themselves as lower or lower-middle class (40%) as say they are in the middle class (44%), according to a recent Pew Research Center/USA TODAY survey.
...
The findings from the latest survey suggest a significant part of the change in the size of the middle class and lower classes has happened in just the past two years. In a July 2012 Pew Research survey, about half (49%) of the public identified themselves as middle class, five percentage points more than do so today.
...

Here.


They feel that way with good reason.

The bottom 90 percent are poorer today than they were in 1987, , here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=500

The "middle class" has always outvoted those in or near poverty. Now millions of people who used to be middle class voters have found themselves suddenly trying to pay the same bills they used to with far less income. If they feel ignored or used, will they vote, especially now that we know, in writing, it is by design, to keep the assets of those with more than others inflated?

Listen here as voters laugh at Timothy "Killer" Geithner's face when he tries to explain how it was good for us to save the banksters on the backs of the most vulnerable people in our country...

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/extended-interviews/z9b8f1/timothy-geithner-extended-interview

I doubt the "poor" as you call them, think about much except perhaps how to slow down the hunger pains, or how to keep from becoming OUR next meal.

[daredtowork]

2. Word.

The poor aren't big campaign contributors so they don't matter.

The poor need to make their votes felt.

[hifiguy]

5. No one since RFK and LBJ

at least that I can remember.

[bvar22]

26. John Edwards, warts an all, campaigned on helping "The Poor" in 2008.

The last time I heard "The Poor" mentioned as a platform issue for the Democratic Party
was the day Edwards resigned from Campaign 2008.

[hifiguy]

28. You are right and I am wrong.

I purged him from my memory after his self-disgrace. He coulda been a contender.

[bvar22]

31. You're right.

He coulda been a contender.


Cheating on one's wife hadn't previously been a criteria for expulsion from Democratic Politics.
John Edward's wounds are certainly self-inflicted,
but the whole "scandal" reminds me of the Dean Scream.

If we had to purge every Democrat who has cheated on his wife (or vice versa),
we would have few left.
Cheating on the Wife is one sin that is readily forgiven in Washington....
in most circles, it is expected.

[hifiguy]

47. That so many Dems absolutely loved

Elizabeth didn't help him in the least.

[99th_Monkey]

9. I think Pope Francis is about it.

Pope Francis Plans To Build Showers For The Homeless In St. Peter's Square
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/vatican-city-pope-showers-homeless

Even Bernie Sanders doesn't 'go there', which may change but so far he seems to be talking mostly about the middle class.

[hifiguy]

29. If he keeps that up

he'd better have some loyal Swiss Guards and a damn trustworthy food taster. I am sure there are still plenty of Benny the Rat's loyal minions in the Vatican's upper reaches.

And I don't think he is a saint just yet!

[UglyGreed]

10. maybe the poor

need to hire a lobbyist......oh wait never mind.

[NM_Birder]

11. 5.8% unemployment, and 48 months of positive job growth.

Didn't anyone tell the poor they were OK?
huh, .........maybe that's why they didn't vote....... just a thought.

[adirondacker]

13. They should have invested those penny rolls in the stock market!

[Maedhros]

12. I think the general reasoning is that the poor aren't able to take time off

from their multiple minimum-wage jobs to vote, therefore they don't deserve representation.

[Dragonfli]

17. That and of course they are not a source of campaign cash which

is all the party cares about now as evidenced by the emails sent to illustrate that fact. We not only don't count, we are considered a bipartisan source of cuts to help with the vision of the Chicago school of economics ever since Clinton attacked us via welfare deform.

It is now always open season on the growing poor class for both parties to score points on by kicking us for a few pennies off the deficit.

[Maedhros]

19. We must also bear in mind that the middle class has all but been erased.

We're back to where we were at in the good ol' Roaring 20's.

A resurgent labor movement is needed, one that is not beholden to any political party.

[Triana]

15. To the Democrats, the middle class doesn't even count anymore.

The only people they seem to care about anymore are the corporate ones - not unlike those "other" guys.

[blkmusclmachine]

16. And the Clintons were "dead broke."

With a couple hundred thousand overseas. Pure speculation only...

[Louisiana1976]

20. I think socialists would speak for the poor. Look at a socialist paradise such as Denmark which has

all of these advantages: universal health care, free universities and colleges, $20 an hour minimum wage--all of which make life easier for poor people.

[Spider Jerusalem]

22. The American avoidance of the term "working class" is bleakly amusing. (n/t)

[Spitfire of ATJ]

34. Kinda like when spoiled rich kids sing karaoke.

[ut oh]

23. Honestly

I don't think the Dem politicians are even fighting for the middle class anymore.... It seems more to be Party for Wall Street D and Party for Wall Street R

[Thinkingabout]

30. The hell of it is the poor and middle class had an opportunity to speak for themselves and only

One third of eligible voters turn out for the 2014 Election, they don't speak for themselves and expect someone else to speak for them. WTH, the buck stops with the non voters who did not speak, don't ask others to speak for you unless you speak yourself. We know about the low wages, we know how hard it is to maintain ourselves but it cost very little to vote. When you don't vote it tells the winners you are happy with the treatment you are receiving.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. They also count the "middle class" as people who have a stock portfolio.

[mntleo2]

35. Poverty Is an Institution it is NOT a "choice"

What is an institution? It is anything that is embedded within our society that we base our laws and policies upon. Websters Dictionary defines an institution as.”… a well-established and structured pattern of behavior or of relationships that is accepted as a fundamental part of a culture, any established law or custom…” The institution of poverty feeds upon racism, sexism (including LGBTQ), classism, ageism and those with disabilities in order to keep it in place.

In spite of the terrible damage this institution causes, as did the Institution of Slavery and racism has for 100s of years, institutions remain in place because they benefit someone. It will remain in place because those in the upper classes depend on this embedded institute for their own benefit, so eradicating poverty is *not* what any upper class people could accept. Instead they like to pretend that poverty is a ”choice’” rather than accepting that fact they enjoy many benefits because poverty is embedded in our society. They prefer to think they do not benefit from an institution that is like a giant spider’s web ensnaring those in poverty while continuing to benefit those “above” them.

What the middle class does not seem to get while they enjoy their dependence on the poor is that this Poverty Institution uses the poor as “canaries in the mine” for making policy and laws. So if the upper classes ~ especially the middle class ~ ignore these laws and policies because they think it will not affect them, they do not seem to get that those same policies and laws can also be imposed on them ~ or that they can be affected and benefit off the suffocating of others.

I can name some ways that the upper classes depend upon the poor, but it would be long and wonky. Suffice it to say many industries make big money off those in poverty, whether it is because of their dependence on cheap labor, gate keeping positions for those who "serve" the poor, our taxes (the poor make the greatest sacrifice for paying taxes than any other class, paying upwards of 12-17% of their meager incomes), tax breaks for the rich who "contribute" with their donations (when actually they contribute nothing because they use mega-nonprofits as their private Cayman Islands), our prison industry, government fees and penalties, rental housing, the medical industry, the list goes on and on...

So in truth while we pretend the poor depend on the upper classes, the reality is that the upper classes depend upon the poor, the institution of poverty for their own benefit. Nobody is going to speak for the poor because if anybody with a shred of morals recognized their own dependence upon "the least among us" and the suffering that dependence causes, then they would actually have to do something about it.



My (more than) 2 cents
Love, Cat

[onecaliberal]

37. If this is what you call speaking for us

Who the hell needs enemies.

[NorthCarolina]

38. I think the first half of your OP title is being overly generous in some instances. nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

39. Clinton eradicated poverty with NAFTA and Welfare "Reform".

[Comrade Grumpy]

44. The Socialist Workers Party, I suppose.