Help the Middle Class Now!

Politicians have been discussing how to stimulate the economy to get us out of the current economic mess. It has been recently reported that Vice President Biden is now heading up a new "Middle Class Task Force." Now, I appreciate anything that will help the current economy, but I have noticed is that no one on this task force is middle class. Many have not been part of the middle class, ever, so what do they know of our daily challenges?

As member of the middle class, I have decided that these issues need to be addressed by someone who is middle class. Since, I am not someone to complain without providing a solution; I have put together a short list of ideas that will help ease the burden for the average American.

Stop NAFTA - Make it harder for businesses to out source our jobs. NAFTA stands for the North American Free Trade Agreement. It has been in effect for the last decade and in that time, it has certainly helped our South and North American neighbors get jobs, but I have not seen how this agreement has helped the average U.S. citizen. I have even looked for statistical data to disprove my belief that NAFTA has helped major corporations easily move to other countries, marginalize Unions and to lower the wages of the average U.S. worker.

I found nothing to disprove what I believed. NAFTA has weakened our unions and many corporations have left this country for lower labor costs. Out sourcing has become so commonplace that you cannot call a customer service desk and find an U.S. citizen helping you on the other end. If you do not believe me, try it yourself. We have outsourced ourselves out of jobs!

It is time we stopped worrying about other countries and start taking care of our own. Let's get out of NAFTA and make it harder for corporations to get tax breaks and bailouts without having a REAL interest in the welfare of this country. They need to reinvest in the USA and not just Wall Street.

Allow a tax deduction on the interest from unsecured loans - Help the Middle Class get some credit debt relief though tax rebates while making them more aware of what they are paying in interest. In addition, it might encourage people to buy things again if they know that the interest, on credit cards and car loans, is tax deductable.

Loosen up home and small business tax regulations - Allow home businesses to write off mortgages, phone, and utilities more easily. Right now, the IRS has made it so difficult to take these deductions that many small business owners don't bother. Remember today's small business can be tomorrow's large corporation.

Remove the IRS restrictions on medical expense tax deductions - It will take a while for the healthcare issue to be resolved. While the middle class is waiting for healthcare reform, give us a real medical deduction. Right now, the average taxpayer cannot use this deduction unless their medical bills total 7% of their gross salary. That means a family who makes 40 thousand a year can only take a medical deduction if the total medical costs (this does not include what you pay for health insurance) are over $2800.00. Give us a straight deduction with no restrictions.

Provide free college tuition for people willing to volunteer for a certain number of years to government programs. - Think of it as a modern WPA. Established in 1935, The Works Progress Administration (WPA) offered work by spending money on things such as highway and building construction, slum clearance, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation. Getting excellent doctors, teachers, and lawyers economically depressed areas would greatly benefit our country.

Fix our infrastructure - When bridges collapse and our civil engineers are rating our infrastructure a D- , it is time to invest in our infrastructure. Appoint an engineer to oversee a nation wide project with the governors appointing in state engineers to evaluate and oversee the state projects. Let the Engineers, not the politicians, decide what needs to repairing.

Give our President the ability for a Line Item Veto - We can get rid of the special interest spending (PORK) that is regularly beginning put into bills by Congress. This is a part of government that needs to be put on a PORK free diet. Congress need to remember even one dollar has value and a trillion dollars is out of control spending.

Fix our Bankruptcy Laws - The Bankruptcy Laws were changed two year ago to make it harder for people to claim hardship. Repeal these laws, claiming Bankruptcy is a painful decision and these new laws were designed to make the process as difficult as possible.

Now if you see these ideas as something you would like to have implemented, I suggest you send email with a link to this article to your friends, to the White House, and Congress. Encourage them to do something real for the Middle Class without adding PORK. If we have to tighten our belts in this economy so should Government. Let them know that you have an interest in the future.A number of politicians have been discussing how to stimulate the economy and help the middle class. Vice President Biden is now heading up a new Middle Class task force. I appreciate anything that will help this economy, but I've noticed is that no one on this task force is of the middle class. Many haven't been part of the middle ever, so how do they know of our daily challenges?

As someone from the middle class, I've decided that this issue needs to be addressed by the middle class themselves. I've put together a short list of ideas that I believe will help the average American.

Stop NAFTA - Make it harder for businesses to out source our jobs. For those of you who don't know what NAFTA stands for it's called the North American Free Trade Agreement. It's been in effect for the last decade and in that time, it has certainly helped our South and North American neighbors get jobs, but I haven't seen how this agreement has helped the average American. I have even looked for statistical data to disprove my theory that

NAFTA helped major corporations move to other countries, marginalize Unions and to lower the wages of the average worker. To my dismay, I found nothing to disprove what I believed to be true. NAFTA has weakened our unions and corporations have left this country in droves for lower labor costs. Out sourcing has become so commonplace that you can't call a customer service desk and find an American helping you on the other end. If you don't believe me try it. It's time we stopped worrying about other countries and start taking care of our own.

Let's get out of NAFTA and make it harder for corporations to get tax breaks and bailouts without having a REAL interest in the welfare of this country. They need to reinvest in the US and I am not talking about just Wall Street.

Allow people making to write off unsecured interest. This will help middle class Americans pay off some credit card debt through tax rebates while making them more aware of what their paying on interest per year. In addition, it might promote people to buy that new car if they know that the interest their paying on that loan is tax deductable.

Loosen up home and small business tax regulations - Allow home businesses to write off mortgages, phone, and utilities more easily. Right now the IRS has made it so difficult to take these write offs that small business owners don't bother. Remember today's small business can be tomorrow's large corporation.

Remove the IRS restrictions to writing off medical expenses - It will take a while for the healthcare issue to be resolved. While the middle class is waiting for reform give us a real medical right off. Right now, the average taxpayer cannot use this write off unless their medical bills total 7% of gross salary. That means a family who makes 40 thousand a year can only take a medical write off if their total, medical costs (this doesn't include what you pay for health insurance) are $2800.00. Give us a straight right off with no restrictions.

Provide free college tuition - We can provide free tuition for teachers, doctors, and nurses who are willing to work for four years in low income areas.

Fix our infrastructure - When bridges collapse, and our civil engineers are rating our infrastructure a D- , it is time to invest in redoing our infrastructure. Appoint a real engineer to oversee a nation wide project with the governors appointing in state engineers to evaluate and oversee the state projects. Let the Engineer, not the politicians, decide what needs to be repaired.

Give our President the ability for a Line Item Veto - We can get rid of the fat that is regularly beginning put into bills by houses of Congress. Congress needs to be put on a diet especially when you hear Congressman say, "When you're talking Trillions you're talking about real money". Well Congress need to remember a dollar is real money and Trillions is out of control spending.

Now if like these ideas as something you would like to have implemented, I suggest you send email, letter, or a link of this article to your friends, and to Congress, and the White House. Encourage them to do something real for the Middle Class without the added PORK. We have to tighten our belts in this economy so should congress. Let them know that you have an interest in the future.