Sunday, February 17, 2013

Middle Class America

The most common reason given by politicians in the US for doing things, but more often for not doing things is the "Middle Class" and the impact on them. The irony is that the middle class in most cases does not have an opinion on these issues. And the reason is simple. They are too busy trying to earn a living and making ends meet.


It would be reasonable to therefore assume that all the laws that are passed or the majority that are not passed would positively impact the middle class or the majority of the American people. The fact is that in most cases there is zero to very little impact on their lives and on the rare occasion that they are impacted, more often than not, its a negative impact.


Lets take a few examples. The first is the fiscal cliff in January 2013. After major posturing by both parties, there was a marginal hike in the taxes for people earning over 400,000. An it wasn't really a hike. It was ending of the temporary tax deductions given by President Bush. The payroll taxes that impact most working Americans too went up. Whilst there is major hype about how most of the taxes are paid for by the rich, what's not obvious or discussed is the fact that in most cases by the use of innovative tax planning and hiring expensive accountants, most of the rich pay significantly less than most of the middles class in percentage terms. Yes, the middle class pays a larger percentage of their earnings than the rich.


What neither party is willing to look at is the various loopholes in the tax code. And the only ones who are able to use these effectively are the wealthy who have accountants saving them as many dollars as they can. No prizes for guessing which is the only group of tax payers who are able to benefit from these rules.

What is it that makes the middle class the most talked about, yet the least influential group. And what can they do to influence politicians to take them more seriously. Not just talk about them but influence decisions that impact them. The simple answer is "Vote".

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