Thank you Rasmussen. Now, please tell us how tax cuts on the rich will fix everything.

Frugality used to be a central middle-class theme. What happened to it?

The very rich spending about a trillion dollars on advertisements and pushing artificial mores and traditions exalting credit spending and living beyond your means as a form of expression of personal worth (as opposed to wealth)? Is that the answer? I think that's the answer.

So middle class Americans are to blame for their stagnating wages?

To be fair, and lot of them did vote Republican.

What a weird article. There are some valid points (mortgaging themselves far beyond what was prudent, for example), but then this gem is dropped in the middle:

Girls from the middle class -- or from what once was -- now scamper through the mall baring cleavage, and wearing thick eyeliner and outrageous heels. Their intellectual interests seem nil, and their apparent need to push their sexual availability on boys depresses the feminist soul.

WTF?

St_Francis_P: What a weird article. There are some valid points (mortgaging themselves far beyond what was prudent, for example), but then this gem is dropped in the middle:

Girls from the middle class -- or from what once was -- now scamper through the mall baring cleavage, and wearing thick eyeliner and outrageous heels. Their intellectual interests seem nil, and their apparent need to push their sexual availability on boys depresses the feminist soul.

WTF?

[afraidofmice.com image 265x199]

Uh, really? He's complaining about mall rats and stupid sluts? Mall rats have been around for like 30 years, and sluts predate HUMAN LANGUAGE.

kingoomieiii: Uh, really? He's complaining about mall rats and stupid sluts? Mall rats have been around for like 30 years, and sluts predate HUMAN LANGUAGE.

And have little to do with the economic fortunes of the middle class, unless sluttiness is costing us all money somehow.

St_Francis_P: What a weird article. There are some valid points (mortgaging themselves far beyond what was prudent, for example), but then this gem is dropped in the middle:

Girls from the middle class -- or from what once was -- now scamper through the mall baring cleavage, and wearing thick eyeliner and outrageous heels. Their intellectual interests seem nil, and their apparent need to push their sexual availability on boys depresses the feminist soul.

WTF?

[afraidofmice.com image 265x199]

Um, pretty much all people's intellectual interests are close to nil as teenagers, except the nerds. It's called biology.

It's not like the masses haven't been encouraged to do the 'right' thing and spend. Economic growth has increasingly relied on this over-spending for years. The only people this has actually helped are the 1%'rs.
But lets blame the middle class, they'll all be gone soon anyway.

and yea the line about the mall trollops belongs in it's own rambling manifesto against the middle class.

make me some tea: St_Francis_P: What a weird article. There are some valid points (mortgaging themselves far beyond what was prudent, for example), but then this gem is dropped in the middle:

Girls from the middle class -- or from what once was -- now scamper through the mall baring cleavage, and wearing thick eyeliner and outrageous heels. Their intellectual interests seem nil, and their apparent need to push their sexual availability on boys depresses the feminist soul.

WTF?

[afraidofmice.com image 265x199]

Um, pretty much all people's intellectual interests are close to nil as teenagers, except the nerds. It's called biology.

It's depressing the feminist soul, though. So there is that.

blah blah blah blaming the victim blah blah

When Ross Perot told us this would happen, scoffers scoffed and heckled him for it. Yet years later, we are seeing the effects of NAFTA and GATT.

Is it any wonder that our economy collapsed? Shoppers drive across town to buy shiat from WalMart to save a nickel. Investors sell stocks if the projections fail by a nickel. So CEOs are forced to move plants out of the country. This, in turn, forces us to try to save more money by buying shiat from Walmart - who imports most of their stuff from China now.

/remembers when WalMart proudly boasted that their products were made in the USA.

EnviroDude: When Ross Perot told us this would happen, scoffers scoffed and heckled him for it. Yet years later, we are seeing the effects of NAFTA and GATT.

Is it any wonder that our economy collapsed? Shoppers drive across town to buy shiat from WalMart to save a nickel. Investors sell stocks if the projections fail by a nickel. So CEOs are forced to move plants out of the country. This, in turn, forces us to try to save more money by buying shiat from Walmart - who imports most of their stuff from China now.

/remembers when WalMart proudly boasted that their products were made in the USA.

We still have some of the most highly regarded mall sluts, though.

Marcus Aurelius: So middle class Americans are to blame for their stagnating wages?

To be fair, and lot of them did vote Republican.

This is where I agree. It's also the one point where I'm really for a "weaker" federal government, because I'd rather the blue states (with our superior wages, education, physical health, and economies) be less tied to the red states that seem hellbent on self destruction.

Why not?

For thirty years they've continuously voted for politicians who flat out said they were going to rob them blind and pursue policies that would screw this country in order to secure a few point increase on a stock ticker or some other marginal short term benefit while ignoring the catastrophic future losses.

Marcus Aurelius: To be fair, and lot of them did vote Republican.

QFT

EnviroDude: When Ross Perot told us this would happen, scoffers scoffed and heckled him for it. Yet years later, we are seeing the effects of NAFTA and GATT.

Is it any wonder that our economy collapsed? Shoppers drive across town to buy shiat from WalMart to save a nickel. Investors sell stocks if the projections fail by a nickel. So CEOs are forced to move plants out of the country. This, in turn, forces us to try to save more money by buying shiat from Walmart - who imports most of their stuff from China now.

/remembers when WalMart proudly boasted that their products were made in the USA.

And if you liberal commie dirve-by-msm-media latte drinking homo atheists would simply allow us to roll back all worker protections and social support, maybe Wal Mart could afford to make its products here again! USA USA USA

You Barakka Huessein Pol Pot Fartbama Hitler Pontius Pilate Desegregation supporters make me sick.

kingoomieiii: Frugality used to be a central middle-class theme. What happened to it?

The very rich spending about a trillion dollars on advertisements and pushing artificial mores and traditions exalting credit spending and living beyond your means as a form of expression of personal worth (as opposed to wealth)? Is that the answer? I think that's the answer.

Washing machines are a perfect example of what went wrong with the middle class.
I have a set that is white, not expensive and does the job just fine.
When you go to the store, you find those red jobs on a pedestal that sell for $1200 for each piece and some people feel that they have to have one. The same goes for overpriced refrigerators, granite counter tops and a whole lot of other stuff that everyone can live without.
If you watch that house hunting show on HGTV, you see a whole lot of people who just cannot seem to live with an outdated kitchen, carpeting instead of wood floors or a bathroom that is more than ten years old. Those people make me want to tear my hair out. It seems spoiled and unrealistic.
There are some things that you cannot afford on a middle class salary and the things that you can afford on a middle class salary work great and look just fine.

Your right wing non sequitur blog sucks.

Girls from the middle class -- or from what once was -- now scamper through the mall baring cleavage, and wearing thick eyeliner and outrageous heels. Their intellectual interests seem nil, and their apparent need to push their sexual availability on boys depresses the feminist soul

Farking WHORES! I knew it was all their fault!

cehlen: If you watch that house hunting show on HGTV, you see a whole lot of people who just cannot seem to live with an outdated kitchen,

Thats cuz it's a TV show with advertisers that sell building materials and appliances. If the country was really filled with people like that my hubby and I would never be out of work.

Hey who wants to buy a Lexus?

Wikipedia has this harridan listed as a "liberal" columnist. She may be "liberal," she is certainly not progressive. Frankly, anyone who has the nerve to describe the 50's based upon television programs created in the 2000's lacks any credibility whatsoever. I am five years younger than this woman. The fifties weren't all that great. I remember being, well, poor.

Froma Harrop

Article lost me there.

MorrisBird: Wikipedia has this harridan listed as a "liberal" columnist.

Note this line from her Wikipedia entry:

She is also a blogger for RealClearPolitics.

I think someone is pulling our collective legs here.

They are to blame. For thinking they were running with the big dogs and laughing at the poor when in reality they were only less poor.

I thought that when you normalize the statistical quirks, the middle class is actually rich.

jaylectricity: They are to blame. For thinking they were running with the big dogs and laughing at the poor when in reality they were only less poor.

Exactly. There are a lot of people who THINK they're insiders. Unfortunately, when they find it it's their money the insiders are divvying up, they blame the people who have been trying to warn them.

Back in the mists of time, there was a rule about setting aside six months of salary to cover a possible job loss.

There is no doubt that this is a solid financial plan for future setbacks. Too bad that it takes the average worker about ten years to save up six months of salary while receiving those heart-warming 1% raises each year while the cost of living skyrockets at 4%. Not to mention the fact that it takes 2 years to find another job, making it take 40 years to save up for typical unemployment.

There certainly is some blame to go around, but none more obvious than that of the parasites at the top who have been siphoning money from the economy since Reagan gave them the green light.

kingoomieiii: Frugality used to be a central middle-class theme. What happened to it?

The very rich spending about a trillion dollars on advertisements and pushing artificial mores and traditions exalting credit spending and living beyond your means as a form of expression of personal worth (as opposed to wealth)? Is that the answer? I think that's the answer.

cehlen: kingoomieiii: Frugality used to be a central middle-class theme. What happened to it?

The very rich spending about a trillion dollars on advertisements and pushing artificial mores and traditions exalting credit spending and living beyond your means as a form of expression of personal worth (as opposed to wealth)? Is that the answer? I think that's the answer.

Washing machines are a perfect example of what went wrong with the middle class.
I have a set that is white, not expensive and does the job just fine.
When you go to the store, you find those red jobs on a pedestal that sell for $1200 for each piece and some people feel that they have to have one. The same goes for overpriced refrigerators, granite counter tops and a whole lot of other stuff that everyone can live without.
If you watch that house hunting show on HGTV, you see a whole lot of people who just cannot seem to live with an outdated kitchen, carpeting instead of wood floors or a bathroom that is more than ten years old. Those people make me want to tear my hair out. It seems spoiled and unrealistic.
There are some things that you cannot afford on a middle class salary and the things that you can afford on a middle class salary work great and look just fine.

I used to get a little bit of crap from a former friend because I make a pretty decent living, yet I still buy used and refurbished stuff. She was the classic "living beyond her means" at the time, and had filed for bankruptcy after her second divorce. She got a credit card as soon as she could after the bankruptcy and "treated" herself to a nice $80 salon appointment.

She didn't understand why I wouldn't buy a brand new fridge (on credit of course) when I bought a home instead of the one I got at the used appliance store that is only 2 years old but has a ding in it that no one will see unless they are looking for it. It sold for 1/4 the cost of new and worked perfectly, that's why!!!

//I picked up a nice desk over the holidays from St Vinnies for $22, and the thing is made of actual wood and not MDF. New ones made of that crappy fiber board with veneer over the top are $100-$200, and they wobble!