The Decline and Fall of the Middle Class

by John Wayne Tucker, www.theboldpursuit.com/jwts-journal

Since the beginning of recorded history, the vast majority of people have lived lives of desperate subsistence survival. All of the wealth of empires and eventual nations went to the powers that ran those empires. The massive wealth was always for the emperors, czars, kings and queens, dictators or whatever the leaders may have been called. In a few cases of empire, the citizens of the conquering peoples fared much better than everyone else in the known world, but still had significant limitations on wealth and property.

Most people have lived by making money for the owners of the land. The result for the worker was, hopefully, to make enough to eat at relatively regular intervals, to have some sort of minimal dwelling place, and to have the most rudimentary clothes.

Most people could truly expect to come into this world with nothing and leave with nothing.

Even at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the fate of people was the same. They lived in worse conditions than their poor predecessors because they hovelled together in cities where they lived in ghetto-like conditions that were much more prone to the spread of disease and plagues than any who had come before them. This was true, not only of the British portion of the Industrial Revolution, but of the American portion as well.

Children had worked on the farms beside their parents and so it was not considered to be any different to send them off to a factory where they worked long hard hours, not for their parents, but for some unknown task master who expected them to work with very dangerous machinery or inside coal mines where the only education they ever got was to know the difference between coal and slag.

If you are a religious person, I suggest that you thank God that you were born in this time and not in any of those times. This is a unique time in history; the only time that a middle class society has developed in the true sense of the word. For the past hundred years, a growing middle class has pushed forward an economy and existence that supersedes the life-style of any of our forefathers.

During the past century, you could expect to have the opportunity to rise to a level of wealth that would allow you to own property, a home, personal property, conveniences, cars, an excess of food and even afford a somewhat leisurely life. Yes, life has never been better for the average person. We can get an education (even an advanced education is expected today), rise to middle management positions or even upper level management. We can afford to travel, play and enjoy the fruits of life.

In a way, it was the Industrialization process that made this possible. An Industrial America developed the need for managers and eventually a stable and happy work force. The ability of the work force to purchase the items they made led to an accelerating economy. Not only did we have markets abroad, but we had them at home as well. Thanks to factories and the assembly line approach to manufacturing, any person could qualify for a job if they wanted one. Things got better as time went along. Houses got bigger, cars got better, and wages continued to increase. There was actually money left over to save for the future. Retirement funds developed and the future was secured for everyone.

Sadly, we now are seeing the decline of the middle class.

During my lifetime, many of us have found that staying in the middle class has been something of a struggle. I would say that I have stayed there by “the skin of my teeth.” What has happened to bring us to the state of a shrinking middle class?

That is not a difficult question to answer. But there are many factors. Increasing inflation has been a significant factor and you can expect that problem to get much worse in the near future as trillion dollar debts come due. I like to use the example of a typical car to illustrate the inflation problem. All of the time that I have been living, the typical car cost about half a year’s salary but now with escalating prices (cars now costing on the average $30,000 and up) and declining salaries, it is common to see a car cost more than a year’s salary. Home prices escalated to amounts that the typical person could not even catch. Before I bought my present home, I tried to buy several other homes, but I could not get there fast enough to buy. Each time I tried, the cost had gone up another $30,000. Of course, we all know what a disaster that created.

But the single most destructive force behind the decline of the middle class to this point has been the loss of manufacturing jobs in America. We do not produce anything anymore. What we did produce has been outsourced all over the world to countries with cheap labor. While that may be good for the bottom line of a company in the short run, in the long run, it leaves a devastated home economy. If we cannot purchase the goods because we do not have jobs because we don’t make anything, how will the company’s profit?

Without jobs, the government assumes a more powerful role because now, they are expected to come in and fix the problem. But they attempt to fix the problem by throwing money at it. They want to assume control of your health care, your money (welfare) and eventually every aspect of life. But that sounds like the existence of all those people that lived before us; all of those people who came into this world with nothing and left with nothing.

Yes, it does, doesn’t it?

John Wayne Tucker
http://johnwaynetucker.com/congress

Bruce Brown, Candidate For U.S. Congress, Faces Maxine Waters On November 2nd

by Bruce Brown, candidate for U.S. Congress, CA

America will not be free until the people force their will on our government - just voting is not enough!

Stopping Maxine Waters is the place to start and EVERYONE must participate - it will take the will of the people.

Two independent research reports state Maxine Waters plundered as much as $17 million from the poor people of Haiti at the same time she says she was "helping" them in her public persona. The reports go on to say that she used OneUnited Bank to launder the funds, the same bank she says in response to her current ethics charges she has no relationship with, again "just helping minorities get on." For follow up, go to http://tinyurl.com/2498n38

But, the corruption is not my campaign, it is just why you need to help - our campaign is delivering the American Dream to the inner city and it is working at 70% conversion - that is right - minority Democrats are following me when they hear. And this is critical because until the RNCC understands that Democrats can be converted, they will keep playing political games instead of fighting for our freedom. My win will be "our win" for all America.

Maxine looks invincible because she has scarred off every serious opponent she has ever had for 20 years until now - but after two years volunteering in gang intervention, she did not scare me off but she scares the heck out of me with what she is doing to our country.

Please do everything you can to squeeze out one more donation. Thank you.

Bruce Brown

310 651 1816

www.bbrownforcongress.com

PO Box 5306

Playa Del Rey, CA 90293

Opt for Integrity in Alaska... Joe Miller, U.S. Senate

"Ronald Reagan once said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you've got.”  We have little time to restore constitutional limits on federal power.  I will be a catalyst to move those in Congress to make the tough, principled decisions needed to bring Washington back to the limited role anticipated by our Founders.  We must act now." Joe Miller, candidate for U.S. Senate, Alaska


http://joemiller.us/index2.php

John Wayne Tucker, Candidate for US Congress, Missouri

Why Aren’t Republican’s Talking About This?

by John Wayne Tucker, Patriotic Perspectives guest blogger and candidate for U.S. Congress, Missouri (03)
 
Your taxes are going up and they are going up big time. For some strange reason, no Republican candidate is talking about this pending disaster to the American people. And, of course, the Democratic Party is not going to be talking about the increases after Obama’s promise that no person making less than $250,000 would see any increase in taxes. But it is certain that you and everyone else will be raging angry in about six months when the 2001 and 2003 Republican tax cuts sunset on January 1st. This will be one of the biggest tax increases we have seen and it will be virtually across the board. Your income is going to be melting away. And all of this will come during the massively depressed economy and jobless rate that we already have. In case no one has noticed, small businesses are closing in record numbers and this tax increase will hurt those remaining small business directly and indirectly.

First, every income tax bracket will increase significantly. Even the 10% bracket will increase to 15%. And every other bracket will increase by similar amounts. That is 5%, not $5.00. This is a huge amount of increase for anyone’s income bracket. Counting on being married to help out? Well, there will be an increase in taxes for married people (the so called “marriage penalty”), a reduction of child tax credits by half and no more doubling of the child standard deduction for married couples. Counting on an inheritance? Sorry, the “Death Tax” will return. There will be as much as 55% on estates of One Million Dollars or more (and don’t think there are not a whole lot more of those than there have ever been). Work hard, be successful, save up something to leave your kids and give it to the government. Of course if you are going to be in a nursing home and use Medicaid, the government can just tear up your deed and make one with their name on it anyway. Getting an inheritance in America is practically impossible. So, you have been saving and investing your money. Sorry, Capital Gains tax is going up from 15 to 20%. Perhaps we would be better off to just enjoy our money when we get it. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011, and another 3.8 percent in 2013. And don’t forget that Obamacare is not free. There are over twenty new taxes associated with that program that will also go into effect on Jan. 1, 2011.

The final wave of taxes slated for this coming January includes the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes. According to the Tax Policy Center, failure to index the AMT will cause the number of families forced to pay at a higher rate to increase from 4 million to 28.5 million families. The ability of small businesses to expense rather than depreciate equipment will reduce from $250,000 to $25,000. Large businesses can expense half of their equipment, but in January, 2011, no expensing will be allowed at all. Everything will have to be depreciated. In addition, there will be a large host of other business taxes that will increase. This along with the sagging economy will lead to lost jobs and a more depressed economy.

Furthermore, deductions for tuition will be eliminated, teachers will not be able to deduct personal moneys spent for classroom purposes, employers will be limited in the educational assistance they can provide (one of the best benefits provided by employers these days) and student loan interest will not be deductible. And finally, charitable donations will not be allowed by retired people from their IRA.

All of this means that the economy will get worse, personal wealth will decline, jobs will be lost and the economy will continue to sink. So why is no politician talking about this? I have no idea. But this non-politician says, “I will work to extend these tax cuts until we can find a way to improve the tax system so that the government does not make it impossible for us to enjoy the benefits of our hard work.” I have signed many pledges, including the No Death Tax pledge, but the most important pledge I have signed is the one that I created for myself. You can find it on my web site http://johnwaynetucker.com/pledge.html. No politician would sign such a pledge, but then, I am not a politician. Not only do I recognize the dangers inherent in the tax increases, but I am committed to prevent that disaster. Nobody else is even talking about it. I am promising to work to fix it.

But to do that, I need you to select John Wayne Tucker in the primary on August 3rd. Please donate, spread the word and most importantly vote on August 3rd.

John Wayne Tucker

http://johnwaynetucker.com

John Wayne Tucker John Wayne Tucker Candidate for United States Congress Committee to Elect John Wayne Tucker 1243 Water Tower Place, Suite 320 Arnold, MO 63010 john@johnwaynetucker.com electjwt@johnwaynetucker.com http://www.johnwaynetucker.com

Always have my latest info Want a signature like this?

 
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Why do American Politicians Have Such a Fascination With Amnesty?

Patriotic Perspectives presents a blog by John Wayne Tucker, He is currently running for the United States Congress in Missouri's 3rd Congressional District.

By now, everyone knows that there is a United States Congressman who fears that an additional 5,000 American troops in Guam would capsize the small island. As funny as that is, it scares the pants off me to think that the leaders of our country can be that stupid. Perhaps the Congressman is lying awake worrying now about H.R. 4321 which is an amnesty bill. Perhaps the Congressman is worried that America might capsize or just sink into the ocean because of all the illegals we will allow to come into the country and stay.

As stupid as that is, is it any less stupid of our Congress to consider an amnesty bill that by its own description would allow 11 million illegal immigrants to stay here with virtually free legal status? Especially when by most accounts, the number is closer to 40 or 50 million people. This bill includes portions of two other amnesty bills that have already been vetoed by the American people; not just once, but twice. Now, they hope to include those two bills wrapped up in a new package with even more ridiculous legislation hoping that Americans will be fooled.

In a time period when our own economy is faltering badly and jobs are more scarce than they have ever been in my lifetime, why would a government that cares about its people propose to basically absorb another country that is more economically depressed than our own? They have told us that illegals do the jobs that Americans don’t want to do. But just a week or two ago, there was a major protest at UPS because they were requiring people to verify that they were here legally. There were many who had worked there for a long time and would not be able to provide the evidence. I think a UPS jobs is something that a lot of Americans would like to have right now. Several illegals were caught right here in Missouri doing construction and the police were required to let them go. I think construction jobs are something a lot of people in Missouri would like to do. Who knows what jobs illegals may be doing that take food from the tables of American workers who cannot find jobs?

Let’s look at some of the provisions of this bill that Congress thinks is good for America:

1. First, the proponents argue it is not amnesty because there is a penalty. If you are caught here illegally, you must pay a $500 fine. Of course, if you cannot afford to do that, there are ways around it. That seems sufficient penalty for people costing us $10,000 per year per person, don’t you think?
2. By the way, there is no enforcement in place to take care of the fines and there is no provision to protect the border. That fence at the border. We won’t be needing that.
3. Border patrol would undergo special training so as not to scare children.

4. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could still pick you up, but don’t worry. There are provisions to help you out with that.

1. If you have medical or mental health needs? You are free to go.
2. Pregnant, nursing or have children? You are free to go.
3. Supporting children or others or 65 years old? You are free to go.
4. Victim of a crime, abuse, or violence? You are free to go.

5. And enforcement by the Immigration and Customs officials may not occur in the vicinity of:

1. Any place of worship
2. School Day Care Center
3. Legal service provider
4. Hospital or health care clinic
5. Funeral home or cemetery
6. College, University or junior college
7. A day care center, head start center or school bus stop
8. Recreation center or community center
9. A mental health facility


So, am I the bad guy for thinking this is ridiculous? Let me be clear that I have as much compassion as anyone for human suffering and need. The United States has a historical background of giving until it hurts to help the people of the world. Look at these statistics from 1980 to 2007 from the Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/foreign_commerce_aid/foreign_aid.html

It can never be said that America does not care. But we cannot just give away our country. I know that I have much to thank God for. I was born here and am thankful for it. But there are countries all over the world who struggle with this same issue every day and they have chosen to protect their borders. I have no problem with legal immigration. But there is a significant and well thought out process for that system. How is it remotely fair to tell the rest of the people in the world that they must wait and pay money and get health checks, etc. in order to come here legally, and then let 40 or 50 million people sneak in the back door?

When I am in Congress, there will be no sneaking by ridiculous amnesty bills without an outcry from me. My goal is to protect our borders, our Sovereignty, and our economic prosperity. No Amnesty, No Socialism, No Fascism, No Communism.


John Wayne Tucker
http://www.johnwaynetucker.com/

The 2010 Statistical Abstract: Foreign Aid

www.census.gov

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My pledge to the Third District and to the People of America

I, John Wayne Tucker, candidate for U. S. Congress in Missouri’s 3rd District pledge to the people of the 3rd Congressional District and to the people of America that I will:


1. Make the Constitution of The United States the basis for all legislation and decisions that I make as a U.S. Congressman. Honor and support to the fullest extent The Bill-of-Rights of the Constitution of The United States.

2. Fully and completely support the Rights of the States to govern themselves as Sovereign States within the scope of the Constitution of The United States.

3. Work to physically reduce the size of federal government and make it less intrusive on our lives.

4. Read the bills on which I vote.

5. Work tirelessly toward a balanced budget for the Federal Government and work to reduce wasteful spending whenever and wherever possible, including in my own offices in hopes of returning part of my operating budget each year.

6. Support Pro-Life issues including the unborn, no embryonic stem cell research and no euthanasia.

7. Work tirelessly to return the St. Louis Metropolitan Area to the greatness that it once knew where jobs are plentiful and growth is assured.

8. Work tirelessly to bring jobs back to America for the benefit of the entire country.

9. Work to end the assault on our borders by protecting us from the illegal alien invasion, building the wall, requiring all employers to verify the legal status of employees and returning all illegals back to their homeland.

10. Fight against all Socialist agendas.


11. Work to repeal the Federal Health Care Bill and find better solutions to our health care problems.

12. Provide honest, upfront, representation for the people of the district. I will be available, approachable and much easier to contact and receive a response from than any of my predecessors.

13. Not sell my values or beliefs to anyone for money or political favors.

14. Work to make English the recognized national language.

15. Work to make it possible for heterosexual marriage and family to survive without federal laws working against marriage and family.

16. Donate half my Congressional salary to the people of the district every year that I hold office. Money to be donated to a not for profit organization of my creation and administered by community leaders who will distribute the money to worthy and needy district projects or programs.

17. Resign my office if it is impossible to keep these promises and tell you clearly the reason that it is not possible to keep these promises regardless of the reason.


This is my sacred pledge for the entirety of my tenure in public office. I will work very hard to present representation to you that will bear no resemblance to the current “good ole boy” politics as usual system that you have become used to. I will work to leave a legacy as a Statesman and not that of a politician.

John Wayne Tucker


http://johnwaynetucker.com/pledge.html

*Patriotic Perspectives provides the following link as a service to our blog readers. We assume no liability or responsibility for any transactions or interactions with any third party links on this blog.

In Loving Memory

by John Wayne Tucker

This article is in loving memory of those who gave themselves for us and our freedoms. Not all died in wars, but all came back different people than they were when they left. In some measure each man and woman that served our country in military service gave a small or great piece of themselves in providing that service and we should always be grateful for their sacrifices. Some have said of those that died in Europe in WWII that “They gave up all of their tomorrows for your today”. Young men just barely out of high school and in some cases like my father, taken directly from high school fought a common enemy to the world and they won that battle. They defeated Hitler’s Nazis and some did not return. They are buried there on the beaches where they fought and died, some perhaps not fully understanding why, but they did it nevertheless. As Abraham Lincoln said of the soldiers of the Civil War, “They have given the last full measure of devotion”.

My father landed at Omaha and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. There were few battles in history that equaled the size and importance of those two battles. I am proud to say he served, but sad to know that it was such a bad experience for him and those brave young men that served with him in that horrible war. Many have fought in many wars and in many battles. Some of them historically great and some historically of little memory, but to all of us they should hold equal dearness in our hearts as each of them cost the lives and futures of so many who gave for the cause of country.

While this is not intended to be a political message, it is with sadness that we all become aware that our President and Commander-in-Chief has chosen to go on vacation instead of attending the memorial services at Arlington National Cemetery.  The American people have come to depend on their President to show his gratitude on behalf of the nation at this event and it is sad to know that they will not get that gratitude. But is not our right to allow the President to do our mourning for us even if it helps us to see it. It is our duty to mourn these losses ourselves and I know that the vast majority of Americans truly do mourn their losses. It is also our duty to honor those who serve now. We do not ever have to like or even defend the wars that our brave men and women serve in, but we do not have the option to salute their brave devotion to country and their sacrifice on behalf of what we used to call a “grateful nation”. I believe that We The People are grateful, but I now wonder about our leaders gratefulness. But let us not destroy the importance of this day with thoughts of what is not being done. Rather let us rejoice the day that we can set aside to honor our loved ones who have served us.

May God comfort all of your losses and sacrifices as family members.

John Wayne Tucker

http://johnwaynetucker.com

John Wayne Tucker, a Baptist Minister and former teacher/professor. He is currently running for the United States Congress in Missouri's 3rd Congressional District

*The Bold Pursuit presents “Patriotic Perspectives” as a forum for candidates and others to express their views and positions on local and/or national affairs. Publication in Patriotic Perspectives is a public service, not an endorsement. We urge our readers to thoroughly review the candidates and issues and cast their votes accordingly.

John Wayne Tucker: a Baptist Minister and former teacher/professor. He is currently running for the United States Congress in Missouri's 3rd Congressional District


The Patriot's Platform presents a blog by John Wayne Tucker:


Marriage and Family – More Value Than You Imagined

We all know that marriage and family have been a part of the life of every culture since the beginning of recorded history. In fact, the family has been the most consistent entity in existence since the beginning. However, we all know that in our current society, marriage faces the biggest assault it has ever faced since the beginning of time. Divorce has permeated our culture for decades now and the anticipated results of “marriage-absence” have arrived along with it. And the cost to the country is significantly greater than you might think.

If you thought this was a strictly personal issue, you need to analyze the cost from some new thinking perspectives. First, let’s try to analyze the reason for “marriage-absence”. Some propose the reason for this problem is based with the government having created laws beginning back in the Kennedy/Johnson era that make it easier for people to survive alone without the benefit of marriage. This would be the reason for the huge social welfare system that we now have. Others would suggest that the upheavals of society that occurred in the 1960’s led to a decline in the perceived value of marriage in our society. Such social upheaval as drugs, “free love”, the feminist movement and resulting gender wars, the push for women to take a different role in society, the development of more reliable birth control and the general changes that occurred in the social mores’ of society led to the decline of marriage and the reaction of the government that led to the massive welfare system was the reaction of the government to a changing society.

Whatever you believe the reason for the decline of marriage to be, the cost to American Society is huge. We have already indicated the financial cost of the social welfare system which is an enormous and growing part of our budget. Of course there are many other costs which are not generally considered. The cost of having inadequate parental supervision of children at home has led to a large number of ills in our society that both decrease the overall quality of our life, but create other enormous expenses. A child not properly supervised by absent parents is a child who will tend to gravitate toward lower educational skills, drugs, criminal activity, disrespect of adults and society, gangs, teen pregnancy, jail or juvenile detention, etc. All of these activities take us down a fiscally expensive path also. There is lost potential from lack of education; more attempts at abortion or children raising children alone (hence an increase in the welfare rolls); drug rehabilitation or the cost of criminal activity associated with drugs and on and on. This crisis has led to significant cost to women and children who now live in poverty, unsafe neighborhoods. Women have to work more and there just isn’t time to get everything done. Of course we cannot even begin to measure the emotional loss and feeling of safety for everyone involved.


Social Science, psychology, and history tell us that the tendency of society has always been toward monogamous, heterosexual marriage. This has been the norm for all of history. Whether you believe this is a religious, genetic, or otherwise innate behavior, it is certainly a behavior that is desirable from many standpoints. People benefit from and actually prefer marriage to “marriage-absence”. It is good for society; good for people; good for the economy and generally produces a happier existence for all involved. The problem we face today is that there are now generations of people that have no real or genuine role models or experiences that teach them how to be married and how to be effective parents since "marriage-absence" has existed for such a long period of time now. Therefore, people will have to be retrained in how to do these things.

In light of all these issues, I am introducing a new plan for my campaign. I suppose that I assumed that people would understand automatically that I am a strong supporter of marriage and family due to my background. However, since I have never stated it, I am stating that now. In fact, I intend to be very proactive in this issue on the basis that whether the laws of the government created this dilemma or whether they perpetuate the dilemma, there is a significant fiscal savings to be had by making it easier for people to return to traditional heterosexual marriage and family. While the vast majority of details regarding marriage and family are conducted and controlled by the states, there are certainly some aspects which are presently controlled by the federal government.

Since I am a strong states’ rights advocate, I leave the power over marriage and family with the states. However, where there is federal intervention, I intend to work diligently to make the “marriage absence” issue a priority. And I pledge to work as closely with the states as possible to help them be able to reorganize their circumstances so as to bring about the enormous fiscal savings that can be achieved by embracing this issue also. It is proposed that there could be a cost savings to the state of Missouri alone in the area of $250 million per year by correcting the problem of “marriage-absence”. These are figures that cannot be ignored, and the other benefits and cost factors just increase the benefit to all of us. We cannot just stand by while the cost of this crisis is passed along to taxpayers and businesses.

I am asking that you please stand with me as we seek to reverse one of the largest expenses to our budget (A budget item that can be massively reduced while bringing back a happier and healthier America). Please support me now and at the polls on August 3rd.


John Wayne Tucker

http://www.johnwaynetucker.com



*The Bold Pursuit presents “Patriot’s Platform: Your Candidates, Their Words…” for city, state and national candidates for office. The Patriot’s Platform is a forum for the candidates to express their views and positions on the issues. Publication in the Patriot’s Platform is a public service, not an endorsement. We urge our readers to thoroughly review the candidates and cast their votes accordingly.