In 2012
49 Million in Poverty – Many were in the Middle Class
13.1 Million Unemployed - Many were in the Middle Class
46 Million on Food Stamps - Many were in the Middle Class
$1 Trillion in Student Loan Debt - Many are in the Middle Class
53 Million Don’t Have Health Insurance - Many are in the Middle Class
5 Million Homeowners Face Foreclosure Today – Most are in the Middle Class
Over 50,000 Factories Closed in the US in Past Decade – Taking With Them
Millions of Middle Class Jobs
America's Corporate Elite Do Not Care
About your American Dream
And They are Paying Congress to Not Care Either
It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.
If you feel that the American Dream today is rigged against you, you're absolutely right. And you have no further to look to see the results than the money that is thrown at Congressional politicians to create loopholes in our US Tax Code. Transnational Corporate Elites have lobbied/paid Congress to give them tax breaks and other financial advantages over everyone else and now they basically own our government and have irrevocably corrupted many of our Congressional politicians. If you hear a politician repeat the lie that the rich are the "job creators" you can be sure that is a politician in the pocket of America's Corporate Elite. (see Who are the Job Creators?)
It's true that the Corporate Elite have the money and we'll never be able to fight them in a dollar for dollar contest and they know this. But we have something that they need more than money and that's our VOTES. Unfortunately, many Americans believe the ideological myths of one political party or the other (Republicans are strong on defense and for small government and Democrats are for worker's rights and entitlement programs). They vote for these myths rather than the reality that their particular representatives, regardless of party, may be more interested in their campaign contributors than our citizens, particularly the Middle Class. (see Who is the Middle Class?)
The result is voters in the Middle Class routinely vote against their own best fiscal interests in every election. The reality is – Corporate interests have occupied Washington for decades and now there are about 24 lobbyists to each Congressional legislator. The Middle Class Political Accountability Research Center wants to change that.
To be successful, a democracy must be a restraint on greed and the dark side of human nature. It can't be a proponent of greed and facilitate it at the expense of the Middle Class. Because of the extraordinary influence that Wall Street bankers wield over Congress, we're in the throes of finding out if our American democracy will continue to be successful.Corporate Elites have been playing hardball with America politics since the days of the Founding Fathers. For example, the iconic Boston Tea Party protests were directed towards the British government, but it was the corporate lobbying of the East India Tea Company to reduce its tariffs into America and monopolize the tea trade that actually caused British politicians to make their historically-bad decisions. We’re afraid that corporate lobbying continues to this day to cause American politicians to make new historically-bad decisions.
It's nothing new that in a democracy, "special interests" try to influence decision makers. What is new in America today is the level of influence that has evolved, in particular, over the past 30 years. Today, every decision, and we mean EVERY DECISION in Washington that affects fiscal matters in some way has Congressional politicians and their staffs trying to mold legislation to specifically benefit a particular "special interests" that happens also to be a campaign contributor. Simply put, those "special interests" have paid our national politicians to work for them and push for favorable legislation.
Of course the corollary to politicians giving preferential treatment to "special interests" is that other American interests (such as the Middle Class) are not receiving the same level of preferential treatment and, in fact, they are being harmed by the legislation enacted to benefit others. If "special interests" get a tax break, then the Middle Class has to contribute more or their benefits must be reduced or America goes into debt. Nothing's free. Nothing.
This has to stop or at least be countered if the Middle Class is ever going to be taken seriously by Congressional politicians.
That is the essence of the Middle Class Accountability Research Center and through this organization, we plan to change American politics specifically to help the Middle Class.
And if we help the Middle Class, we help America. It’s as simple as that!
In the Past 30 Years, America has gone
From the World’s Largest Creditor Nation
To the World’s Largest Debtor Nation
From the World’s Largest Exporter of Manufactured Products
To the World’s Largest Importer of Manufactured Products
From the World’s Largest Importer of Raw Materials
To the World’s Largest Exporter of Raw Materials
These are the characteristics of a Third World Country
and most of this decline is because our Congressional politicians
did not protect America’s manufacturing base and its Middle Class.