For most Americans, a middle class life looks like this: Home ownership; a yearly vacation; college for your kids; a secure, debt free retirement.
That’s what’s been spun as the “American Dream.” And, according to the political rhetoric, trying to achieve it is a nightmare.
The Pew Research Center recently reported the share of middle class households have dropped in 9 out of 10 metropolitan areas. Some of that erosion is due to income growth. But more of the drop can be attributed to income declines.
Presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are offering both reasons and remedies for the middle class slippage. But can a manufacturing jobs plan, or an investment or middle class tax cut close the fissures that seem to be splintering American society?
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America’s Middle Class Battlelines
Trump’s Economic Blueprint
Donald Trump tried to turn the page on a week of political controversies with a speech outlining his economic policies.
In Monday’s address to the Detroit Economic Club, Trump embraced tax rates that congressional Republicans have proposed, which includes a large cut for the wealthiest Americans. He also proposed a reduction in the corporate tax rate from from 35 percent to 15 percent. Trump said he favors tax deductions and credits for child care, eliminating the inheritance tax and a freeze on regulations that Republicans say stifle economic growth.
At least for a day, Trump seemed to be in step with most in the party he represents.