What is your opinion on the condition of the middle class (read)?

Question

With regards to illegal immigration.

I have read many questions and answers from people who not only think that illegal immigration is not hurting the middle class but it is somehow helping it?

Every report or article that I have read states that the middle class is shrinking and hurting from outsourcing, increasing tax burden, NAFTA and illegal immigration.

The tax burden to the middle class increases while wages remain the same or lower in some cases.

What is your opinion on the topic?

Thomas M, the middle class is responsible for the tax burden. I would like to point out that education and health care, the two most expensive aspects to illegal immigration are paid directly from the pockets of the middle class.

As for the taking of jobs from the working class, it is our duty and responsibility as a country to protect all of our "classes" not just the wealthy or the middle class.

Answer 1

The middle class pays all of the bills in this country.

Answer 2

Any salary increase I have received in the last 5 years has been eaten up by increases in insurance rates. We only get an increase every 1 1/2 years instead of every year. It has been difficult to maintain the level of business we previously had due to the prices of oil based chemicals which have tripled in the last 3 years. Although productivity has increased, employees have not enjoyed the increased benefit of their labor.

I think overall, the government and corporations are driving down the costs of labor to be more competitive globally and are using any means at their disposal to do so whether it be illegal immigrants, lower wages, H1B, free trade agreements, outsourcing, etc.

The inflation figures do not include the most inflationary items such as food, housing, and fuel. Taxes within my state have become oppressive and the county taxes may be going up as well. Property tax has also become burdensome to the point that people are actually holding protests in the streets and I live in a very conservative state. I believe the federal tax cuts have decreased the share that the states used to receive.

So, in answer to your question, I have no idea if we can blame illegal immigration for all our woes. If I got a tax cut, it wasn't an amount that I noticed. My employer has never knowingly hired illegal immigrants.

Answer 3

It depends a bit on your definition of "middle class." Almost everyone except the super rich and dirt poor of the world consider the middle class to be people who are not much richer or poorer than themselves, but how about judging the size of the middle class by the fraction of American homes which are owner-occupied? This number is 69%, and it has risen by about 5 percentage points since NAFTA was passed. It's been higher for the last three years than it ever was since 1960, when we first started keeping records.

I agree that outsourcing and illegal immigration can reduce some people's wages. However, illegal immigrants are not doing middle-class jobs - they are doing jobs that pay wages far below what most of us would call middle class wages.

NAFTA is a mixed bag. It's killed some industries in America due to competition from Canada and Mexico, but it's caused some other industries to grow a lot because of better access to the markets in Canada and Mexico. On the other hand, outsourcing, NAFTA and illegal immigration have led to lower prices for all sorts of goods and services. This helps middle class people. The thing is, when someone loses his job because his company moved it overseas, it's obvious that he was hurt by free trade. When someone else gets a new job that was created by products or services being exported, it's harder to realize what actually happened. And when someone else saves hundreds or even thousand of dollars a year on goods because they are cheap imports, he often fails to realize that his standard of living has been improved because of free trade.

Answer 4

There is a common misconception that the designation "middle class" depends on the amount of money a person makes.
Perhaps middle income fits better but middle class depends on how a person makes their money not how much money they make.
An entrepreneuer is middle class, a union worker making $25 Plus an hour is middle income.
The media teaches America it's political science terms and the media doesn't know a thing about the subject, especially Lou Dobbs.
Take for instance the terms Liberal and Conservative, the media has those terms all screwed up too. In reality, the Republicans are Liberal and the Democrats are Neo-Marxists. The Taliban are Conservative.
The primary reason we have such difficulties right now with illegal immigration is our Farm Subsidies. It is cheaper for Mexico, and most countries to import our agricultural products than it is to grow their own, so, lots of unemployed people have to do something to survive, so they come here. If we end our farm subsidies, they will all go home and grow their food.

Answer 5

Because of illegal immigration, the standard of living is going down the toilet. Look at the current housing market. This is just the beginning of the real effects. We're heading for a deep depression which is largely attributible to illegals taking jobs away from Americans and big business sending our jobs to other countries for cheap labor.

When the illegals have destroyed the US too, will they return to their own countries? They won't be able to make a living in the US either.

When Bill Clinton started NAFTA, he started the destruction of the USA - it's been a downward spiral since that day.

The very least every US Citizen can do is ask if the product is made in the USA before they make a purchase. That would be a start. I just bought new tires for my car. The dealer started to sell me some off brand before I requested tires made in the USA only please. Then I made my selection.

Hopefully ICE will continue the raids on factories so we can put real Americans back to work before it's too late.

To the poster below, the housing market is affected by people's wages and job loss. People don't just stop buying houses because they want to continue paying rent. They stop buying houses because they can no longer afford to buy a house. Those that bought houses in a fair market are now struggling to keep their house because of reduced wages and job losses from illegals and outsourcing.

Property and income tax keeps going up to pay for foreign worker benefits who do not contribute to the government. They only take from it. It is impossible for them to pay income tax on a stolen Id and false documentation.
http://www.numbersusa.com/index
http://immigrationshumancost.org/text/job.html

I prefer US citizens forming a better government instead of big business controlling our lives. It's your choice in the next election.

Answer 6

to the poster above...what does illegal immigration have to do with people being irresponsible and taking out mortgages they cant afford? It has absolutely nothing to do with illegal immigration not even a correlation. If it wasnt for those workers the houses would cost 2 or 3 times as much.

Answer 7

Globalization, of which turning a blind eye to mass immigration intended to drive down domestic wages is a part, is bad for the middle and working class.

Answer 8

Americans have been brain washed that capitalism is the answer to everything.