7 day forecast
Consider history
Share with others:
If you are in the category of undecided middle-class voters, simply take a walk down history lane. It will help you decide.
I have taken that walk and found that the greatest contributors to the welfare of middle-class Americans have been Democratic presidents.
President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, supported worker's compensation, the 40-hour work week and the constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt said: "The test of progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." And it was he who instituted unemployment compensation, Social Security and the elimination of child labor.
President Harry Truman instituted fair employment practices.
President Lyndon Johnson instituted welfare, food stamps, Medicaid for the poor, Medicare for the elderly and civil rights for all Americans.
President Bill Clinton gave middle-class Americans the greatest economic prosperity ever, a balanced budget and no wars.
A walk through history of Republican presidents has left me highly disappointed. Barack Obama has my vote.
I sincerely feel that Mitt Romney's astronomical income impairs any affinity he could have with the middle class. His income of $20 million (per disclosure of his 2010 income tax) breaks down to $54,794 of income per day, and besides, we will never know how much more income he derives from secret accounts he holds in foreign banks. The disparity in income between the classes is ludicrous.
It is evident that much of the American Dream has been usurped by the wealthy and what is left of it is blushing in shame.
BRUNO DEL SIGNORE
Whitehall
First Published September 21, 2012 12:00 am
