Redefining Middle Class

Haha! In our euphemistic and self-esteem dominated world, we don't want to hurt people's feelings by leaving them out of the middle class if they want to be in the middle class. So middle class is really an idea and a perception more than an objective category or description based on any set of facts.

Labor union members will also be thrilled to hear that though their numbers shrink year after year and they become increasingly irrelevant, going from 20% of workers in 1983 to 12% of workers in 2008, we now know from the president that the key to a strong middle class is strong labor unions!

Quoted in the LA Times on 30 January 9:17am PST "Obama launches task force on middle class:"

"When I talk about the middle class, I am talking about folks who are currently in the middle class, but also folks who are aspiring to be in the middle class," the president said. "You cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor union."

Maybe he feels the labor unions are so important because he is a government worker, where a whopping 42% of employees are unionized, versus the private sector where only 7% belong to unions.