Middle Class Jobs, Income Quickly Disappearing (with some depressingly eye-popping charts)
from huffpost:
Middle Class Jobs, Income Quickly Disappearing (INFOGRAPHIC)
Posted: 06/06/2013 9:31 am EDT
As President Obama continues his “Middle Class Jobs and Opportunities Tour" in Mooresville, N.C., on Thursday, middle-class Americans continue to experience historic losses of jobs and opportunities. The recession eliminated many mid-wage jobs, leaving moderately educated workers to take low-wage jobs if they can find work at all.
While the Obama administration has trumpeted job growth in recent months, the middle class is taking home a shrinking portion of the country's income. Deep job losses in occupations such as construction, information technology, manufacturing and insurance are not likely to recover. Middle-class families also saw nearly 30 percent of their wealth disappear over the past decade, while the cost of goods and services they rely upon steadily climbed.
The swift contraction of the middle class has left most Americans fearful they may be unable to maintain their standard of living.
.......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/06/middle-class-jobs-income-_n_3386157.html?ir=Politics&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
= new reply since forum marked as read
I guess my (half-joking) plan to max out on my own credit for self-protection won't work then.
My identity was badly stolen 7 years ago. By badly, I mean the thieves stole a Fidelity Investments laptop with former Digital Equipment Corp. employee pension information on it...from the wife of a former colleague of mine. Between the husband and wife, after de-encrypting the laptop, they got our legal names, SSNs, addresses, phones, pins, whatever other private details were included in our pension files. Her husband simultaneously contacted me about some potential project work, so I sent him my resume, after which he blew me off. So in my case, they also got my employment and education history, along with email at the time.
The FTC rep I spoke to, once I connected the dots, told me I'd essentially solved the crime. Not that either HP or the FBI cared. And those 2 rat bastards are still gainfully employed. 
Anyway, my 7-year fraud alert expires on 12/31/2013. I decided yesterday that I will lock down my credit files this fall.
Like a chronic disease that could flare up at any time, especially during high stress times, it is a lifetime PIA. 
in their cruel game, as much as is possible anyway.
I understand what you are saying, and I'm sure Citibank and others considered me a deadbeat. Although once everything really headed south, they sure developed appreciation and came clamoring after my business 
My Credit Union has been fabulous. Last year, when a vendor stole my checkbook while I was distracted (my elderly horse was dying), I thought I'd have to pay to stop payment on an entire block of a dozen or so checks. Instead, the rep got permission to waive the fees because I'd been with them for a long time.
Last month, when my asshole postal worker, Lance, returned my replacement credit card for being "improperly addressed" (it had the street address after the PO Box), the CU rep that took my call got permission to move me up to the next level of card (platinum) immediately, so my new checkbooks will be free. So instead of losing $15 to have a new card fedexed, I saved $15 on the new checkbook I was ordering while calling about my credit card and will save more the next time I order.
I love my credit union. They are not part of the 1%. We keep at least 1 engineer, preferably more, on the BOD whenever voting season comes. We've been doing that since a scandal 25 years ago, and I expect we'll do that till we're all dead, lol.
Ditched PNC in 2000, iirc, when my .free" checking account started costing me $26 per month for not being able to keep a $500 balance. Yeah, I got spare money everywhere to do that. 
So glad your mess worked out. My account was hacked twice a few years ago. Didn't cost me a penny!
is not on our side because the people with power and money wrote the laws for their own benefit... no tinfoil hat needed to see what is happening...
I remember OMC too.
when these charts clearly demonstrates the facts... will still vote Republican, thinking they'll maintain their living standards
, even though the Repugs wants to take it all away! Remember how they did with the recall of Wisconsin Governor Walker... some said they didn't think it was fair to recall someone elected to office, regardless of what ever the reason for a recall--truly voting against one's self-interest.
