Today, one in five Americans is unemployed, underemployed or just plain out of work. One in nine families can't make the minimum payment on their credit cards. One in eight mortgages is in default or foreclosure. One in eight Americans is on food stamps. More than 120,000 families are filing for bankruptcy every month. The economic crisis has wiped more than $5 trillion from pensions and savings, has left family balance sheets upside down, and threatens to put ten million homeowners out on the street.
The truth hurts - and the truth is the last two "booms" actually weakened the American middle class, setting it up for further slippage during down-turns. The right decries "class warfare"but we'll have it if the wealth gap continues to grow. Why? Because we're an aspirational society at heart, at the very core, and without realistic aspirations the modern American society is dead in the water. Elizabeth Warren, an important voice, makes great sense.
