Like the great philosopher once said "What difference does it make?"

If that's true, why post at all?

I get it. sorry The photo or cartoon is not that important. I asked myself that same question. Why post at all? I don't really have a very good answer.

It is a way to keep the fingers nimble, sight to hand coordination and a chance to practice almost forgotten vocabulary. It is self-edification at the least and mind exercise if nothing else. I also learn a little of current events that some find interesting, so that I can scan the vast library of the Internet for minute details of political controversy. YES...........a total waste of time, but better that wasting it on the idiot box, aka boob-tube.

thank-you--That's just it. Everything you said. I can't see myself solving crossword puzzles or Sudoku. We are lucky we have the Internet.

By the end of [Roosevelt's] presidency, Goodwin wrote, "The society of a few haves and a multitude of have-nots had been transformed. Because of the greatest – indeed, the only – redistribution of income downward in the nation's history, a middle-class country had emerged. Half of the American people – those at the lower end of the compensation scale – had doubled their income while those in the top 20 percent had risen by little more than 50 percent. Those in the bottom half of earners had seen their share of the country's income increase by 16 percent while those at the top had lost 6 percent."

This reduced social and economic inequalities during the Roosevelt era, but these problems have recently begun to intensify again. The middle class actually got smaller between 2000 and 2013, according to a Pew Foundation study. Median income declined in most states, even though the national average for the unemployment rate dropped from 10 percent in 2009 to 5.5 percent currently. But millions of Americans are underemployed, making substantially less than they used to, or are so discouraged that they are no longer actively seeking work, which means they are not counted. Also, most Americans haven't benefited much or at all from the booming stock market.

FDR offers lessons for President Obama and the candidates who want to succeed him in 2016. "People have to trust you," Dallek says. "There's got to be credibility in what you say. Trust is absolutely essential. People have to feel you are on their side. There has to be a personal connection to you as president."

Do you feel a personal connection with any of the candidates?

Thank FDR, the socialist for what we had--mom and pop stores downtown, stay at home moms, the middle class, low tuition, unions, 40 hr work week, FDIC

the other half of the photo shows fat people outside of walmart

Sorry but socialism is anti-American. All it does is stagnate a country. We have the worlds best model and socialists want to make it different/worst because socialists are lazy and think they deserve more than they work for.

The democratic socialists are often honest about this. The current "anti-socialist" supporters of Social Security, on the other hand, are kidding themselves. And, of course, the same is true of Medicare, where claims of "paying in" are all the more absurd since Medicare recipients nowadays are likely to receive much more in benefits than they "paid in."

In America, though, where "socialism" is a bad word, this sort of thing isn't socialism, we're told. It's "compassionate conservatism" or some other term manufactured by campaign spin doctors.

sorry

Yes, the liberal mantra...."socialism is good, social security is real security. SS is good...medicare is good....socialism is good" and more hogwash.

Why did the middle class disappear? What's your theory? Try not to deflect or insult.

The middle class was making too much money, unions had gotten things so good, business couldn't afford US workers. So, they shipped the jobs overseas where they pay 1/10. Even with shipping from China, it's still cheaper to move production overseas. Americans priced themselves out of the market and corporation are greedy, that's what happened to the middle class. That and inflation. Inflation caused prices to rise so much that two incomes were needed where one used to be good enough. That's my guess...

That is an easy one.

Obama!

And prior to Obama it is directly related to the millions of manufacturing jobs taken off shore.

The hundreds of thousands of companies that no longer exist as a result.

Add to the above the unfair advantage other countries have over US goods....they pay no tax or fee to ravish the American market while not allowing American products into their country or there is a major tarriff.

The USA has literally given away American manufacturing capacity for the sake of corporate profits and political BS with countries like China, Japan and too many others.

There is no mystery where the middle class went....t=their employment went off shore. It has been going on for years.

There is no politician capable of fixing it until the priority of the people is raised above corporations and foreign BS politics.

And back to the subject of the thread..........

Liberals complain about high tuition rates and the unfortunate American children can't get a fair shake at affordable college. And then they advocate filling seats with illegal aliens. Seats that American citizens could have had. Tax paying citizens of the future, not outlaws. Way to go liberals. Way to hose up America just a little bit more. And you wonder where the middle class has gone? You screwed them over and they are having to stand in lines behind "unfortunate" criminals. I hope it is your children that have to stand in that line behind some illegal alien, waiting for an opening in the class so that they can complete their education.

One of the problems now is with robots manufacturing changed. With robots even warehousing has changed as well as farming. So you pay workers the minimum or you automate. And if moving to Mexico is an option for a business all you need to do is drive across the border, no long distance shipping and plenty of cheap labor. They just need to fix up the roads going to the existing fence or new wall.

What can take the place of manufacturing? I don't know.
What pays a middle income salary outside of the services and health industries?
It's very frustrating and depressing to think about.