The American Middle Class: Preparing for Another Squeeze

As the loom of a government closure is behind us, where does this leave our solution for our national debt? Or more importantly, how will government's budget agreement effect the majority of Americans? Well, with budget cuts totaling $38 billion dollars for this year alone, some Americans will suffer as a result of government agencies receiving less funding. Health care funding like, Medicaid and Medicare will most likely fall into these cuts, as well as Defense cuts. The budget plan is supposed to decrease our national debt by $4 trillion over the next decade but to What or Who's expense?  The American middle class will be pushed further towards the "working poor" and the wealthy will still get richer.  The middle class drives our economy and with less money to spend and more taxes to pay, we will likely be pushed back into a downward spiral of economic chaos. Me, personally, am seeing a flip flop on the Obama Administration's tactics for helping the American public recover to a new tactic of concentrating on the national deficit. Not entirely a bad thing, however, the past has shown that less government spending slows down the national economy.  Possibly, this change is due to Obama's announcement for the 2012 presidential elections or from the constant friction between a divided Congress.  I am leaning more towards the latter, since the Republicans in the House have been putting the "cholk hold" on the President about reducing the deficit. Our nation's debt has reached it's limit. According to the Department of Treasury, if this debt limit is not increased by the middle of this year, we will destroy all efforts in restoring our economy.  By raising the limit, this will allow government to borrow funds and not increase the costs of doing so. But, Republicans are standing their ground in efforts to not raise the debt ceiling until the White House shows signs in a decrease of the national debt. That sounds fair in theory, but to who? The deficit cuts will never work unless someone foots the bill.  The middle class. Though the Republicans say that tax increases will not be tolerated, I think their interests on this only applies to the rich.  To be fair, I also believe the Democrats need to spend, may not be beneficial to reducing our debt without increasing taxes on Americans at the expense of the middle class. In my opinion, something has to give, not someone.
 


Resources
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/budget-cuts-kill-the-midd_b_844807.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42566545/ns/politics-more_politics
  
*****UPDATE APRIL 14, 2011******
This update is in response to President Obama's most recent speech to the American people.  After viewing, it would appear that the President's plan is to not tax the middle class, but instead tax the rich.  However, this speech seemed, in my opinion, like an opportunity to rally support for the 2012 presidential election.  Only time will tell.  But, I still think the middle class should be prepared otherwise