the battle for middle America

[Faithless]

Is there a bigger voting block than the supposed "middle America"?

It's scary to think that the election will hinge a lot on the voting power of this block of Americans, probably moreso, than any other voting block.

Bush is perceived to have a stronghold on them too with his rhetoric about a "just war" and religious values.

Can Kerry break ground?

There's this -- which seems bad:

Salary squeeze threatens middle America (http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0908/p03s01-usec.html)
By some measures, fewer people are managing to stay in the middle class.

America's "jobless recovery" faded into history a year ago when the economy started to add jobs again after a brief recession. But the middle class is still feeling a squeeze - what Michael Alter calls the "pay less" economy.

He's president of SurePayroll Inc., a firm in Skokie, Ill., that services payrolls for some 13,000 small businesses across the country. His analysis of those payrolls shows businesses are hiring new people - but at lower pay.
...

.
But then there's this -- a loyalty that goes beyond the reality:

To President Bush from a Middle-Class Family (http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcontributors/kmarsala_20040908.html)
As one representative of middle class America I am not saying I've agreed with all the stands you've taken or all the plans you've laid out. What I am saying is, just as children need a sense of constant stability and accountability of honesty, under your leadership there hasn’t been flip-flopping. Mr. President you say what you mean and you mean what you say--unwavering. Something America and the world seem to have forgotten how to do. When words leave your lips-- we as American voters can rest assured you have thought about what you're saying and understand the consequences of what you're espousing. Under your direction honesty has returned to the White House and perhaps those watching could learn a thing or two about the necessity of speaking truths. Wetting ones finger and holding up to see which way the political winds are blowing from moment to moment isn't a good way to forecast weather or our country's direction.

[hooligan]

What I don't get is that, "unwavering" decisions do not determine the validity or the correct decision. people look at bush's headstrong decisions as something positive, but they don't see the effects of these decisions. are people so blinded to believe that if someone simply can make a decision and stand by it, it somehow makes it correct? it's like, yeah, i can say i want to invade iraq. but apparently people want to believe that becuase i made a unilateral, pre-emptive decision and stuck by my opinions, that somehow makes me right?

so, kerry flip-flops, it's not as bad as bush's attitude.

i was listening to KPFK this morning and they had Lou Dobbs from CNN on. he was talking about how this jobless recovery is the result of the out-sourcing that american corporations have done. although the corporations are recovering, making profits, this in no way has benefited the working or middle class. jobs are being outsourced to other countries, yet the people in this country remain poor. the government is all about the corporations. and it fucking sucks.

[Faithless]

I really think there is a difference between "middle America" and "middle class".

Middle America tends to mean to near the geographic center of America, where cultural and social values tend to be moderate to conservative.Middle class America is more an economic term.

But, oh well.

Bush omits middle class in agenda (http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/9645935.htm)
Posted on Sun, Sep. 12, 2004

By John Podesta and David Sirota

Over the last four years, President Bush has been ridiculed for his public speaking errors. He’s been hammered for saying people “misunderestimate” him and mocked for asking “is our children learning?” But it’s his omissions, not his errors, that should concern Americans. Since his inauguration, Bush has delivered more than 1,000 major addresses, news conferences and short public remarks. Yet he has uttered the phrase “middle class” in only 34 of them. Maybe it’s just an oversight, but in such a highly scripted White House, is anything left to chance? Omitting references to America’s most critical demographic is surely no accident – it’s evidence of a tectonic shift in philosophy. No longer part of a bipartisan consensus that government should work to expand opportunity for ordinary Americans, conservatives are instead eliminating those opportunities. Bush’s words – or lack thereof – punctuate the effort.

Consider, for example, decent wages. The gateway to the middle class is considered a salary of about $35,000 a year. Yet the Bush administration has refused to support a serious increase in the minimum wage, which at $5.15 an hour provides a salary of less than $12,000 a year. The White House has worked to strip workers of federal overtime pay protections and has tried to cut billions from job training.

Access to adequate health care is another marker of middle-class status. And yet the White House is making it harder to get that care. The president’s health savings accounts, which would put money into the consumers’ hands, also would allow employers to contribute less to workers’ coverage. And then there’s last year’s Medicare reform. According to The Wall Street Journal, the administration included a little-noticed provision that allows companies to continue receiving tax breaks even if they severely reduce workers’ health-care coverage.

On prescription drugs, it’s a similar story. As prices skyrocket, the president’s Medicare bill all but ensured hundreds of billions in profits for the pharmaceutical industry without providing comprehensive drug coverage to seniors.

In 2001, Bush’s tax policy was supposed to help “families struggling to enter the middle class.” In fact, the White House has given more than half of all its new tax cuts to those making an average of $1 million a year.

Instead of squeezing the demographic group that defines the American dream, Bush and his band of conservatives should be working to expand it. One of their own icons got it right many years ago. “Upper classes are a nation’s past,” wrote Ayn Rand, “the middle class is the future.”

Unfortunately, Bush and his Republican Party disagree.

[deez nuts]

so, kerry flip-flops, it's not as bad as bush's attitude.


like flip flopping on issues is also such a desirable character trait in a president. i don't even like when my primary care physician flip flops let alone a presidential candidate.

neither of these two candidates are exactly the cream of the crop here.

though to kerry's credit, he's not coming across that much as a spineless sycophant as much as gore was in 2000.

[kitty]

someone who's occasionally right is better than someone who's always wrong.

[Mr.Lum]

someone who's occasionally right is better than someone who's always wrong.

I agree. I think Bush just makes Kerry look evil as opposed to himself, which is stupid, and wrong.

http://www.brendoman.com/hippydave/archives/jesusbush.jpg

[yoMAMA]

LOL....that's great.

:tongue:

[hooligan]

bahahaha, they should run something against buddha and allah as well.