middle class

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American Psyche Shows Recession Stress Fractures

70% fear family income loss

(Newser) - Depression is up as the US economy proceeds downward, but many of those complaining are not actually facing financial problems—they simply fear they could. “Even if you do everything right, something bad can happen to you,” says a woman whose doctor prescribed therapy. Polls find the economy...

'Hidden Homeless' Turn to Motels

Recession forces middle-income families into uncomfortable new quarters

(Newser) - As the economy leaves people without the income they need to afford a mortgage or monthly rent, more and more families find themselves checking into motels for indefinite stays. While they may be a step above homeless shelters, motels bring with them a unique set of problems as long-term stopgaps,...

American Dream Dies in Our Wallet
 American Dream 
 Dies in Our Wallet 
GLOSSIES
Mar 8, 2009 7:26 AM CDT

American Dream Dies in Our Wallet

Lust for fame and fortune have hijacked the nation's true promise

(Newser) - To the dreary lexical suite that defines our times—greed, foreclosure, stimulus and debt—we must add humility, David Kamp writes in Vanity Fair. Our gluttonous pursuits and ridicule of middle-class life has landed us in the grip of a recession and twisted the shape of the American Dream, he...

Biden to Head Middle-Class Task Force

Obama calls it an 'American moment'

(Newser) - President Obama today announced a new task force on the middle class, to be led by none other than onetime "working class kid from Scranton" Joe Biden, the Chicago Tribune reports. “This is a difficult moment,” Obama said, referring in part to the day’s dire GDP...

Biden's New Role: Help the Middle Class
Biden's New Role: Help the Middle Class
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Dec 21, 2008 10:50 AM CST

Biden's New Role: Help the Middle Class

Cheney blasts VP-elect; Emanuel cleared in Blago scandal

(Newser) - Joe Biden emerged from the shadows today and said he will lead a task force to strengthen the middle class, the AP reports. “We'll look at everything from college affordability to after-school programs,” he said on ABC's This Week. From the get-go, Biden told Barack Obama that he...

Brooks: Bottom Is Falling Out From Under Middle Class

Recession is worst for those who had barely made it

(Newser) - All boom times are alike; each recession is unhappy, however, in its own way, writes David Brooks in the New York Times. This recession will hit hardest “people who achieved middle-class status at the tail end of the long boom, and then lost it.” Even if there’s...

Who Are You Calling a Socialist?
Who Are You Calling a Socialist?
Oct 19, 2008 9:21 AM CDT

Who Are You Calling a Socialist?

McCain: Obama's tax cut plan is 'welfare'; Dem: Mac 'out of touch'

(Newser) - Values and socialism dominated the sharp rhetoric on the campaign trail yesterday, as the presidential candidates exchanged fire over Barack Obama’s plan for middle-class tax cuts, Politico reports. At rallies in North Carolina and Virginia, two traditionally red states where Obama has made inroads, John McCain accused him of...

Working-Class Anger May Boil Over Soon
Working-Class Anger
May Boil Over Soon
GLOSSIES
Oct 15, 2008 7:15 PM CDT

Working-Class Anger May Boil Over Soon

(Newser) - For a while now, the divide between rich and poor has gotten bigger, but it "hasn't sparked an outright political revolt," writes Reihan Salam in the Atlantic. That could change soon. Our fragile, 20-year "consumption compromise"—the era of cheap goods and cheap credit keeping economic...

Not So Fast With Those Numbers, David Brooks
Not So Fast With Those Numbers, David Brooks
ANALYSIS
Jul 2, 2008 7:12 PM CDT

Not So Fast With Those Numbers, David Brooks

Obama's tax rate for the rich no steeper than in the '90s

(Newser) - Despite David Brooks' attempts to “muddy” the mathematical waters, Barack Obama’s tax plan doesn’t hit the wealthy very hard—and it’s the one that helps the middle class, Jared Bernstein writes in Talking Points Memo Café. Brooks wrote in the Times that moneyed Americans would pay...

How the Middle Class Was Systematically Betrayed

Our 'land of equality' is now a 'bankers' utopia'

(Newser) - Thomas Frank tackles the decline of the American middle class in an outraged op ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal. He confesses fascination with "the mechanics of this huge social reconfiguration," which has, over several decades, shunted the nation's wealth into fewer and fewer hands, until the...

Rising Cost of Essentials Slams Poor Families

Prices of "core" items are rising twice as fast as wages

(Newser) - The rising price of essentials and sluggish growth in wages mean that inflation is hitting low- to middle-income families hardest, the Washington Post reports. Americans are paying 9.2% more for staples—groceries, gas, health care, etc.— than they did in 2006, nearly twice the pace of the growth...

Ivy Aid May Hit 2nd-Tier Schools
Ivy Aid May Hit 2nd-Tier Schools
Mar 5, 2008 12:35 PM CST

Ivy Aid May Hit 2nd-Tier Schools

Big scholarships could siphon top students who couldn't afford Harvard

(Newser) - It’s easy to applaud the generosity the Ivy League is lavishing on the middle class, but it could have unintended consequences, Newsweek notes. Second-tier schools and elite public universities rely on the highly talented middle-class kids Harvard and company are targeting. “Schools compete hard for those students,”...

How to Be Middle-Class Rich
How to Be Middle-Class Rich
Feb 21, 2008 10:26 AM CST

How to Be Middle-Class Rich

You don't have to have über-big bucks to spend like you do

(Newser) - Middle-class millionaires are carving out a luxe lifestyle to define their 16.5-million strong group, Forbes reports. And while the $1 million to $10 million stashed in the bank doesn’t make them all that rich, that doesn't put much of a dent in lavish spending habits:
  1. Mega-home improvements, to
...

Silicon Valley Deletes Middle-Income Jobs

Jobs rise in region overall, partly due to international influx

(Newser) - Silicon Valley is bleeding middle-income jobs, the New York Times reports. Clerks, secretaries, service reps and others earning $30,000 to $80,000 a year fell from 52% to 46% of workers from 2002 to 2006, according to a new report. The trend threatens the region's upward-mobility track, one author...

For Blacks, Income Ladder More Like Chute

Middle-class children much less likely to pass parents than whites

(Newser) - Middle-class African Americans are much less likely to surpass their parents’ income than their white counterparts, a new study finds. Overall, two-thirds of American adults earned more than their parents, adjusted for inflation. But among the black middle class, 69% are making less. “Black children and white children do...

Class Reigns Supreme in Britain
Class Reigns Supreme in Britain
Oct 20, 2007 2:58 PM CDT

Class Reigns Supreme in Britain

(Newser) - Britain’s Labour Party says a classless society can be a reality in England, but after 10 years in power, their country still feels deeply divided by class. According to a Guardian survey, 89% of Britons felt they were judged by their class, with almost half saying it counted for...

Middle-Class Squeeze Is No Illusion
Middle-Class Squeeze Is
No Illusion
Oct 16, 2007 6:19 PM CDT

Middle-Class Squeeze Is No Illusion

Don't blame frivolous spending, experts say; expenses really are up

(Newser) - The proliferation of Starbucks and designer jeans is a red herring—today's middle class has less spending money than ever, says a Harvard law professor. People can buy more stuff because prices are down, but that provides a skewed picture. "These are things you don't see at the mall:...

The Filthy Rich Take Over the Small Screen

America's middle class ousted from sitcoms, relegated to reality TV

(Newser) - Sitcoms, once a window into middle-class America, have been invaded by the uberrich. But the bourgeoisie hasn't disappeared from the small screen entirely: They're fighting each other on reality shows for big bucks or their 15 minutes of fame. And, Salon's Heather Havrilesky notes, it's not a healthy trend.

Bush's True Base Isn't the Right, It's the Rich

Business and wealthy have hijacked the GOP, argues new book

(Newser) - Don’t be fooled by the lip service to Christian conservatives: the interests the Bush administration serves are economic, not religious, Jonathan Chait writes in the “The Big Con,” a book that the Washington Monthly’s Kevin Drum calls the best on the long list of recent  Bush-bashers....

Price Cuts Ruin Zimbabwe's Economy
Price Cuts Ruin Zimbabwe's Economy
Aug 2, 2007 10:53 AM CDT

Price Cuts Ruin Zimbabwe's Economy

Mugabe's radical 'solution' to spiraling inflation backfires

(Newser) - A radical attempt to curb Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation by cutting prices up to 50% has backfired on President Robert Mugabe's government, which is now teetering on the brink of collapse, the New York Times reports. Store shelves are empty; bread, sugar, and cornmeal, the staples of Zimbabwean's diet, are depleted.

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