The US Needs A Middle Class!

The United States needs the middle class.  I am part of the middle class and lucky to be that.  I never mastered the rich, I am not a millionaire.  Many of the rich inherited the money, have multi-generational wealth.  I, on the other hand, grew up in a lower middle class family.  We had 6 children, and my dad did not have a high school diploma because he grew up on a farm, and went into the military at 17 for WWII.  Then he was shot down in Germany, missing in action for 6 months, and then spent time in a POW camp in Poland.  I believe he was traumatized from that.  And lack of education was a detriment.  And my mother never worked outside the home because of all of the children. I believe one of the only ways my father could support our family was because he was lucky enough to get in a union. He worked very hard in construction, which was hard on his back, hurt when parachuting out of a plane. But he continued.  It gave him a solid living so he could have healthcare for us, I remember getting dental care was a big deal, and life was easier and less stressful with enough money to pay the bills and live on.  So I'm a proponent of unions.  I also believe that they help bring up the wages and benefits of non-union employees, because of some pressure on employees to do so.  Now, this gets twisted into a BAD thing - that people get a "living wage" - and this comes from the wealthy business owners.  Who are they to say that 99% of us do not deserve a living wage.  We can say jobs are out there, but if that job is 20 hours in retail, we cannot live on that.  No benefits, no breaks even, and $8.00 an hour.  That will not pay for housing and transportation, let alone food.  God forbid you have kids.  So, we could work in these jobs and still qualify for welfare, food stamps, and medicaid.  Hmmm.
When these republican Governors have gone into these states and stripped union rights, my comment for some time is that they want us all making $8.00 an hour.  But how much are "they" making.  Just look at who is supporting these characters.  Remember the Wis. Governor Scott Walker/Koch Brother audio tape?  Enough said.  One option is to go check out this site and they are a supportive group helping us succeed.
The Empower Network. So let's fight to keep the Middle Class. The US needs the middle class. We as a country were founded by hard working, ingenious people who came to the US for various reasons - leaving a country that was oppressive, and creating a New World of Diversity.