Middle Class under attack

Bernie Sanders has referred to the Pew Report on Income Inequality as a factor that must be addressed in the deficit reduction argument.  He observed that the Middle Class in the US is disappearing due to the lack of middle class jobs, thus depriving the bottom 93% of any of the economic progress made since 2008.  All of the progress has gone to the top 7% at the expense of everybody else.  He observed that the Walton family (WalMart founders) own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans.  Tax policy that doesn't recognize that poverty is growing amidst a rising economy (and a much richer Walton Family) gives lie to the notion that a rising tide lifts all boats.  Spending reductions at the expense of the 93% will only make the problem worse.

Pier Carlo Padoan, Chief Economist and Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD says,

The situation is grave. According to current consolidation plans, most governments aim to improve the budget primarily via restraining spending. Social security transfers are planned to decline in cyclically-adjusted terms in about half of all OECD countries, while adjusted household income taxes will increase in most of these countries. The net redistributive effect of all measures combined is likely to be negative. This has to be avoided.

In other words, austerity at the expense of the 93% is class warfare and will result in increased poverty and resentment.

To clarify, Bernie Sanders and Pier Carlo Padoan did not mention Class Warfare directly, in fact they studiously tiptoe around the term, it is my conclusion and I believe it is recognized but unspoken on their part.

See my previous comment on the Pew Report.