The Two Americas

MANIFESTO

As much of a bastard as John Edwards turned out to be, at least he got one thing right.

“Today ... there are two Americas, not one: One America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward. One America that pays the taxes, another America that gets the tax breaks. One America that will do anything to leave its children a better life, another America that never has to do a thing because its children are already set for life. One America -- middle-class America - whose needs Washington has long forgotten, another America - narrow-interest America - whose every wish is Washington's command. One America that is struggling to get by, another America that can buy anything it wants, even a Congress and a President.”

And now we see this phenomenon continuing as

Earlier this week, Gallup released a poll showing that six in ten Americans said they oppose plans to roll back collective bargaining rights for public unions in their own states. As Greg Sargent noted today, only one income bracket within that poll -- those making more than $90,000 per year -- favors that idea.

In fact, the more money people make, the more likely they are to support eliminating collective bargaining, according to the poll.

At least there's been a reaction to this disparity, and I'm pleased that the middle class has finally woken up to realize how it's being screwed. God knows it slept through the first eight years of the century while the foundation was being laid for the anti-labor, anti-middle class sentiment we're currently seeing from elected leaders.