From 2001 to now, how has the economy performed and how has the economy affected the middle-class?

Question

Try to be as fair and impartial with your answers as possible.

Answer 1

Based on personal experience,

In 2001 it took me three weeks pay to meet my monthly bills,

Now it takes four and some overtime to meet the same bills.

Answer 2

In 2001 I was in elementary school.

Answer 3

It was really good up until the democrats got the majority in Congress then it all started going down hill fast.  We had the lowest unemployment in 20 years and the highest income then Congress had to throw a wrench into the works.  They spent all their time fighting Bush instead of working with him so they got almost nothing done.

Answer 4

Well lets see, we have gotten a huge tax break being a middle class tax payer.  When those tax breaks expire, you will definitely find out exactly HOW MUCH OF A BREAK YOU ACTUALLY RECEIVED.

Answer 5

The economy has performed fairly well  with a sharp downward spiral created by the Bush tax cut....heres how the Middle class has been effected.

The Bush Tax cuts gutted out and  and created a false economy that makes it hard for experts to guage and predict wether its doing good or bad. The tax cuts for the rich and big business's was a stupid *** idea because Bush attempted to fix or alter something that was running like a fine tuned locomotive...go figure. Not only was it stupid, but the the middle class was severely damaged because Bush offered no penalty's to big business leaving and going over seas or across the borders. why would you allow big business's to leave the country, taking good paying jobs for the middle class with them and benefiting from tax cuts as well. Those business's should have been penalized for leaving the country when the tax cut was created for them to stay. By providing big business's with so much loot, those same big business's that stayed stateside, simply  took the profits and added on thousands and thousands of 7 to 9 dollar a hour paying jobs which created a huge economic vacuum in the middle class and a extended lower class that did not get payed enough to invest in business's, expensive cars,homes and investments. The boom in low income paying jobs made it impossible for the economy to turn over and yeild dividends that could keep the entire country affloat.

Bottom line is, The U.S  economy  is a false economy  based on the fact that the middle class is the backbone of any strong democratic government but the breaks have been given to the rich. Rich people simply take money and invest in more  money  while the middle class buys consumer goods and that spurns and turns the economy.

Answer 6

$10 trillion debt

oil crisis ($4.30 is crazy)

housing market

I say we need to be the change we seek instead of waiting for someone to be a hero.