The middle class in America is under constant assault and until the middle class is educated about how they are helping to destroy their own class, this trend will continue. I want to start a grassroots organization that will educate and mobilize the middle class and teach them that progressive policies are what created the middle class in the first place. Middle Class America needs to understand that voting based on social issues almost always results in a weakening of the middle class.
Todays Republican majority is an unholy alliance between Christian Conservatives and large multi national firms. If you look at the voting records of these so called conservatives you will see a dangerous trend away from protections for the middle class and towards a pro business environment that only helps the upper class of society. The goals of my organization would be:
Election Reform - Only unhackable machines that provide a paper trail would be acceptable. The standards should be national and if Congress would not pass laws that do this then you can use the ballot initiative in each state to get a national standard without a national law.
Campaign Finance Reform - Calling for the Public Funding Of all campaigns. Ballot initiatives in each state could also accomplish this if Congress refuses to act.
Minimum Wage Increase - The minimum wage should be raised from 5.15 per hour enough to make up for the lost buying power due to inflation. The new wage should also adjust yearly and be tied to the rate of inflation.
Health care reform - There should be a plan that insures all Americans. Health care is not a privilege it is a right and our current system is near collapse. An expansion of the Medicare system could be looked at to cover all people and this could be covered by an employer tax since employers would no longer need to cover their employees health care. This could actually save companies money and make American companies more competitive in the global economy
Social Security Reform - Start taxing all income after 150,000. 90000 to 150000 would still be exempt so this would not hurt a majority of middle class people and could solve the issue of social security solvency. Also the surplus of the fund needs to be protected from congressional spending by statute.
Pension Reform - The pensions of working people need to be protected. All too often companies are dumping their pension plans on the PBGC and the result is severely reduced benefits for participants. The pensions must be fully funded and those funds should be completely protected from any bankrupcy proceedings. A statute should be passed that does not allow company bonuses to executives unless the pension plan is fully funded.
Tax & Budget Reform - Repeal the Bush tax cuts and impose a 1% surcharge on all income over 500,000.00. The surcharge should go specifically to pay down the national debt. We can no longer mortgage the future of this country.
These are just a few of the ideas that I have in mind. I would like comments and suggestions. I could also use some help in web design. I have already registered the domain name as www.savethemiddleclass.org. I would also like suggestions on a tax status for the organization. I would appreciate anyone that would recommend this diary so that it can be viewed by more people and hopefully get me more comments and suggestions.