Yes, it is the economy. And education, and taxes, and what ever else anyone cares to include. Everyone has at least one special interest. Some of these special interests are broad and far reaching, some are truly basic pocket book issues. Mine are the environment, health care, education. My special interests result from my desire to raise my kids in a happy, healthy environment, and provide for them an education to assist them in becoming contributors to their community. But mine may not be the same as my neighbors, or for that matter, the rest of the 75% of the people that make up the middle class. I started thinking about this after reading an article about Chuck Schumer in the Atlantic.
We saw the wrong way to create a permanent majority in the guise of Karl Rove and the Bush administration. They tried to do it by force and corruption. How can the democratic party create and extend their majority?
The current two parties are deeply entrenched in a “class warfare” discussion and what each party deems important to the middle class. Both are wrong.
The Democratic party continues to talk about crumbling schools, millions of people without health care, etc etc. These are important things, just not particular to the middle class.
The Republican party continues to talk about small government and tax cuts (for the rich).
Talking to the middle class about taxes is not about giving corporations a tax cut, it is about how you ensure that the dollars we pay are used effectively for the things government should be providing. I am more concerned about the pot holes in the roads and the safety of the bridges I cross. I am concerned about high prices of gas, and oil, but more concerned about poor gas mileage in cars I am looking to buy.
I am concerned about the cost of cereal, the cost of milk, the cost of bread. I am more concerned about throwing away peanut butter crackers, and getting a decent pot roast or chicken for dinner. I want government to do its job.
A 10% tax cut for me would total less than $400 per year. This is not a significant change for me, less than $10 a week. I don’t pay much in capital gains taxes, why should I care about that?
Talking to the middle class about schools is not generally about crumbling schools, it is about paying for college and ensuring my kids is taught to there full potential.
Neither party is talking to the middle class at a basic level.
Most middle class neighborhoods have reasonably decent school buildings. The teachers are reasonably well trained, and do a pretty good job of teaching the kids in spite of constraints put on by all the various educational special interests out there. Sure, there are many more exceptions to this than anyone would want, but for the most part, middle class neighborhoods do a pretty good job. The education issue for me, and what I think will resonate with the middle class is funding better school programs for before and after school, as well as providing a curriculum that broadens education, rather than shrinks it. Most people do not realize, or understand that as often as not, the local school district is one of the largest employers in the town. In my area, the grade school district has a budget that is $5 million more than the town. Ensuring that school districts function at a high level is an important investment into any communities future.
Funding before and after school programs assists two parent households by helping care for kids when parents can’t be there, reducing the need for after school care. It also provides additional educational opportunities for kids beyond traditional school. No child left behind is notorious for what it has done to the curriculum. To survive, schools have to teach to the test. This narrows the curriculum, and assumes that all kids learn the same way. There is lots of criticism on NCLB, so I won’t go much further there.
Providing significant college funding for state colleges and universities would greatly increase the ability of many middle class kids to get a degree. Investing in education at a higher level, not only at the university level, but also trade schools, would provide more skilled workers. From a middle class perspective, this would mean that I would not have to spend near as much to send my kids to college. I would be able to save more of my money for that.
Let’s talk about funding for a moment. I live in the suburbs of Chicago. In the past 7 years, my property taxes have gone up faster than my salary. Many people in these suburbs are getting taxed out of their houses. There has to be a better way to fund schools than a preponderance of money coming from property taxes. However, this is a sticky issue. Reduce my property taxes, will you take money away from my district? Provide more funding to poorer schools, reduce funding for mine? I don’t know what the solution is but I won’t be able to stay in my house if the property taxes continue to go up.
Health care. There are lots of ideas around health care. I personally believe the it is the responsibility of a society to provide health care. Oh, sure there are lots of problems to sort out to make it work effectively, and over time, that will happen. There are several things I believe the middle class needs, and would help the middle class in terms of health care. First, catastrophic health care assistance. People should not have to go bankrupt because they get cancer, or have a horrific debilitating accident. Second, good solid preventative medicine. Things like universal prenatal care, universal mammograms, would go a long way to create a culture of health. The third thing would be to provide inexpensive immediate care clinics across the country to avoid people going to the emergency room when they have a fever. These three things would change the face of health care in a significant way.
But let’s talk about tax cuts for a moment. As I mentioned above, an income tax cut for me would not mean much. Capital gains tax cut for me is nearly meaningless. However, if you want to the way change capital gains taxes are calculated, allow me to trade in an investment account, buy and sell, without paying capital gains, until I take the cash out of the account. Don’t make me pay capital gains taxes on mutual fund trades, until I cash out of the mutual fund. This would encourage saving, investing, but still not ding me for wanting to do better in my account.
There a few more things that would speak to the middle class. I have a mortgage. As part of that mortgage, I pay into an escrow account, so property taxes and insurance are paid. This protects the mortgager by ensuring I don’t do something stupid to loose the house. OK, fine, pay interest on the escrow account. The bank requires me to keep a minimum balance. If the bank paid interest – at least at a money market rate, or CD rate, or equal to the interest rate on my mortgage, I wouldn’t feel like I am getting ripped off as much. It is my money, the bank should have to pay interest on it.