Disconnect between Wall Street gains and Main Street struggles impacts election...

[DeepModem Mom]

but many in the middle-class still support GOP.

NYT/Reuters: Middle - Income Group Feels Squeeze in Election
By REUTERS
Published: November 1, 2006

....The plight of the middle class is especially stark given that the stock market is at a record high, corporate profits are up and top executive pay continues to rise.

"After 10 months of thousands of conversations with middle-class families, I can tell you that everything that's been said about the disconnect between Wall Street gains and Main Street struggles is true,'' said Irma Esparza, executive director of Communities United to Strengthen America, an advocacy group. "Middle-class families are paying attention to this election and they're tired of being squeezed.''

According to the Pew Research Center, among those with incomes of $30,000 to $49,999, 48 percent are supporting Democratic candidates and 40 percent are likely to vote for Republicans. That's a reversal from 46 percent supporting Republicans and 43 percent behind Democrats in the 2002 race.

But the switch has been less marked among middle-income voters than among those at higher incomes, the Pew center said....

***

According to a recent study by (the Center for American Progress, a think tank headed by John Podesta, a former aide to the Clinton White House), the typical double-income family in the United States is worse off than ever. Middle-class families are struggling to pay for a home, health insurance, transportation and their children's college with wages that have not kept pace with higher prices....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-elections-middleclass.html

[Lucky Luciano]

1. Don't want to sign up to the NYT site

What was the sentence after this:
"But the switch has been less marked among middle-income voters than among those at higher incomes, the Pew center said...."

Just curious...I actually work on Wall St as a trader...lots of us here despise the evil corrupt vicious villain who is trying to destroy America ASAFP....was just curious if the article would agree with my take.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Actually, nothing more was written on that.

....President George W. Bush has said repeatedly that tax cuts enacted during his presidency, offering, among other things, capital gains tax relief and child tax credits, have helped buoy the economy and given U.S. families a lift.

``The tax cuts we passed have left more than a trillion dollars in the hands of American workers, families and small businesses and you have used that money to fuel a strong and growing economy,'' he said in his weekly radio address on October 28.

The president's top economist, Edward Lazear, said tax cuts have helped raise the value of stocks, which many Americans hold in their retirement savings accounts.

However, many analysts -- and many members of the nation's vast middle class -- contend average wage earners have seen little benefit from the Bush tax breaks.

For example, the government's latest data shows that less than half of the U.S. population own stocks, either directly or through retirement savings plans, meaning most of them have received no direct benefit from rising stock prices....

[Craftsman]

3. The economy stupid is still a winning plan for us

We just need to use it. And by that come out with a concrete down to earth plan that meets teh needs of people in the middle and working class.