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TPMCafe || The Decline of the American Middle Class is THE Issue:

The Decline of the American Middle Class is THE Issue

By Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

The reality today is that for the vast majority of Americans their standard of living is in decline. Real wages for the bottom 80% of wage earners are stagnating or falling. Our disastrous free trade agreements are stripping this nation of the good paying manufacturing jobs, and increasingly white collar hi tech jobs as well, that provided the basis for an increasing standard of living for middle America. The decline of the American middle class is not just one of the issues out there. It is THE issue in the United States today.

What motivates me politically, and what being a progressive means to me is fighting for the economic well-being of middle and low income Americans -- those people whose needs are too often ignored by a Congress dominated by Big Money and a White House bent on further enriching the very wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

In Vermont, we have shown that when middle income and working people know you are on their side economically, they will support you even if they disagree with you on one or another social and cultural issue. It has been true during my time in the Congress and was true during my eight year tenure as mayor of Burlington.


Jun 21, 2005 -- 12:20:33 PM EST