Middle-Class Politics

This is a note to all the working and middle class individuals out there who work to pay taxes and barely keep your heads above water because it is the "right" thing to do. The economically adverse times have effected you the most. You now watch in disgust as the poor keep getting more benefits and programs while your health insurance increases and annual Cost of Living increases (COLA's) , well, decrease.

You realize now the rich who keep getting richer are your fellow politicians at work for you. The rich have connections from generations of past and well into the future to ensure their livelihood. The poor are equally provided for as long as they understand how the "system" works and adhere to the rewarding benefits it can provide. We literally have a system in which, at a certain point, there is no benefit to work or work up to the next level. The rich have each other and the poor have the system.

The rich abuse their power and various systems that exist and are maintained by power and the poor also abuse systems, but ones such as welfare and other benefit programs. Perhaps the government overlooks welfare and unemployment benefits abuse because they also abuse the system in their favor as well. For working and middle class, they are the ones being abused- paying figuratively and literally for all this abuse.

Life is good for the rich and poor.

Some statistics and information will have you convinced that welfare is not so great; about 74% of what those above poverty are making. However, those statistics are separated out into benefit categories like food stamps, housing, etc. When you add all of them up, the poor are doing substantially better than many working and middle class families. I had a roommate on food stamps and it was a luxury. To say, they only pay a fraction of what someone above poverty line would spend on food, is nonsense. They pay good and my roommate often made dinner for me and paid for a lot of our groceries combined.

To be honest, many welfare recipients are mothers receiving child support and immigrants receiving state/federal incentives with free health care and schooling available to both of these groups as well. We put a lot into programs for interpreters to help immigrants receive benefits. Another addition to welfare and benefit recipients are the newly unemployed, those that have discovered a taste of poverty, where they've never been before. They might wonder why they were working so hard above the poverty line. The best place to be is right below, skimming off and reaping great benefits.

California boasts the most generous welfare system and we wonder why their economy is failing drastically. Life on welfare includes:

• schooling benefits
• housing assistance
• monthly bills/utilities assistance
• food stamps
• free child care
• health benefits
• assistance with school loans
• special payments to pregnant women or young mothers

Yes, I do agree with the notion that all these benefits, sometimes even unemployment as well, do not entice a person to find work or reach the other side of the poverty line. The system is set up in a way that unless you can reach far above the other side of the poverty line, you are simply better off staying right below it to take advantage of the benefits. The same mentality can be applies to unemployment; you have to find work at a job that pays equal to or more than your last position.

I was on unemployment at the beginning of the economy's doom and I have to say, it wasn't all that bad. More time with my family and hobbies (that's when I got started on hubpages- lol) is priceless! It was worth taking a small pay cut from my regular salary to unemployment wages.

Recently, a friend of mine and myself went through similar medical issues. She receives welfare benefits and this included free health care. Her medical procedure took one day, mine has taken several procedures because I have insurance and for some reason they do things differently, which is a longer process and even comes with more potential risks. SAME medical issue, but more lengthy procedures for me. My theory is that hers is being paid for by state so why not do it more efficiently whereas I have insurance so why not put me through more to have me pay more.

Working class and middle class are the most effected by the current state of our nation. We keep hoping someone in power (rich politicians) will recognize us and the poor keep hoping we don't encroach on their benefits.

Minimum wage doesn't support a family, but welfare does. That just isn't right.

Life in the middle has amounted to:

• increased retirement age for benefits
• annual increases on health insurance
• job insecurity
• high school loans
• other loans, and more loans = debt
• no cost of living increases (COLA's) yet cost of living IS increasing
• more people applying for disability so it's harder to get disability benefits even if you truly need them
• most effected by housing market and nationwide economical issues
• no transportation, food, child care, or housing assistance
• taking care of grown children and elderly parents
• Must find ways to supplement income because one income isn't enough.

The working class and middle class do not have a representative; no programs offer assistance or incentives for working and middle class to keep on going, not sinking, but barely treading water. No politician as of late has put action into anything for the middle class. It seems politicians speak a lot about us, but nothing comes to fruition.

For years, I felt punished for having to pay every excruciating dollar of my college tuition while my friends with kids skated by and paid nothing. Basically, I was responsible enough to realize I couldn't afford a kid, but no programs rewarded me for that. The irresponsible got rewarded instead.

Working and middle class are moving toward the middle of the nation's issues and politics; the middle of the proverbial left and right political fence. I hope there will be more recognition of the middle because the rich and the poor feed each other; their system seems to work while those in the middle are forgotten.

Things like gas prices, taxes, schooling costs, health care, and the economy in general all effect the middle class the most. Poor often have assistance with all of those things and the rich can afford the luxury to not be concerned about those trivial things. They can afford the best doctors the best schools. All these things have the working and middle class hanging onto the edge of their seat for some relief someday.

If you think about it, the working and middle class have the most to lose concerning political and economical decisions yet they are the most under represented.