American Mullahs and the Middle Class

Here's the Columbus Dispatch quoting Ohio Senate candidate Paul Hackett (D):

"The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world."

Paul Hackett has refused to apologize for this remark, and he's right not to. This is more than partisan rhetoric. It is a valid point that isn't discussed enough in this country. If Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and their ilk had their way, America would be indistinguishable from Saudi Arabia. And not just in terms of the stranglehold the Saudi religious right-wing has on the vast number of poor Saudis. Our economy would also be structured very much like Saudi Arabia's. Specifically, there would be an incredibly wealthy elite class that consists of a small fraction of the population. The middle class would disappear and literally everyone else would be poor.

To some degree, this is already taking place albeit on a smaller scale. The single most destructive problem this country faces is the decline of the Middle Class. This problem, more than any other, is the one that, if not curbed, will lead to this country's downfall. Study after study is showing that prices are rising and wages are falling. Corporations, having been given hands-off approach from the Bush Administration they've always wanted, are doing what they will always do -- seek profit. Anyone who has ever taken an Intro to Economics class will tell you that the easiest and most profitable cut a company can make is to its labor force (both wages and number of employees).

The downfall of the American Middle Class will have catastrophic repurcusions. What's left of American manufacturing will disappear since the only goods we'd be able to purchase would be Chinese or Korean. There will be no investor class outside of the elites reaping the windfall profits that come from laying off thousands of workers or slashing wages and benefits. Healthcare in this country will become virtually non-existent since almost no one will be able to afford it and government subsidies are disintegrating. The consequences are endless, devastating, and untenable.

The solution: 1) Taxes - The highest tax bracket in this country must be raised to at least Clinton-era levels, if not higher. The shortfalls in government revenue are devastating New Deal era social programs that have done a world of good for millions of Americans. 2) Unions - companies of every size must be pressured to return the wages and health benefits they've been stealing from the American worker. Employers need to be reminded about the fact that they simply would not exist if it weren't for the people doing the actual working. 3) An increase in the minimum wage - it's been too long since we've had one and, while inflation hasn't been rabid, wages simply aren't keeping pace.

These three things alone would contribute a great deal towards bolstering the lower and middle classes on which this country relies. But more can be done and more must be done. If it's not we face a future where American kids are strapping bombs to themselves in Shanghai or flying planes into Beijing's office towers because Jesus says its okay to kill our oppressors.