Middle class squeeze - perception or reality?

Republicans can talk all they want about how the economy grew in recent years, which is documented and true. However, this completely misses the point that for middle class Americans, the growth has been nonexistent. Growth has been for the select few such as Wall Street traders, corporate executives and the richest Americans. For everyone else, purchasing power is in decline. Paychecks have actually declined when inflation is taken into consideration and with high energy prices, that's not going to change overnight.

Workers in the 1970s had much more purchasing power compared to workers today. They also had better benefits such as health care, corporate pension plans not to mention much greater job security. (Baby Boomers who so often criticize young workers ought to think about this the next time they attack the work attitudes of this group. Asking for new employee-employer dynamics is a good thing.) With all of this in decline, it's no wonder there is so much anxiety and stress. Americans watch the CEO high fliers strut around like kings despite evidence that shows they incompetent failures, but even when they fall, they fall with millions of dollars in their pockets. How else is the middle class supposed to feel watching this on the nightly news? Perception is reality in this case.