Middle Class - Page 6

Victor Davis Hanson: California’s War on the Working Class

In an interview on Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Daily, historian Victor Davis Hanson spoke about the decline of his native California and increasing distance between the Democrat and Republican elites and average, middle-class Americans. Hanson is a columnist, former classics professor, scholar of ancient warfare, and the author of numerous books on history and politics, including his newest The Decline and Fall of California: From Decadence to Destruction.

in Firebaugh, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Middle-Class Despair, and Life Without Pain

“Pain is part of life” is not what the culture of 2015 wants to hear, and it’s bound to raise sarcastic chuckles as the impromptu slogan of Bush’s presidential campaign… but he’s right, and the quest to avoid pain has gone far beyond the point of diminishing returns. This is true of every form of discomfort – from physical and emotional pain, to economic anxiety and the “trigger words” culture of hyper-sensitivity on campus.

The prescription medicine OxyContin is displayed August 21, 2001 at a Walgreens drugstore

Club for Growth and Populist Taxes

Donald Trump is currently involved in a vicious argument with the Club for Growth over tax policy. The Club for Growth is running ads against Trump in Iowa accusing him of several offenses against growth-oriented conservatism, including a proposal to raise taxes. They added a bare-knuckle punch proclaiming Trump to be more liberal than Hillary Clinton, or even Bernie Sanders, and called him “the worst kind of politician.”

Donald Trump

Bay Area’s Lower Regulation Helps It Beat L.A.

The Center for Jobs & the Economy has published a study entitled, “Economic Tale of Two Regions: Los Angeles County vs. Bay Area.” Their research, which compiles data to track jobs created in the past 24 years, reveals that the two regions have been at opposite ends of the wage spectrum. The Bay Area experienced high-wage growth that lifted the middle-class, while Los Angeles slumped toward a two-tier economy as higher-wage jobs shriveled and were somewhat replaced by lower-wage jobs.

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge (Associated Press)

Apple Earnings Powered by Rise of China’s Middle Class

Apple’s earnings vaulted by 27.5% for the first three months of 2015 compared to the same period last year, on the phenomenal Chinese sales driving profit margins for the iPhone 6. The virtuous smartphone tailwind and buzz about the Apple Watch spiked store traffic that also goosed Mac sales. With an operating margin of over 30 percent and $194 billion in the bank, Apple deserves to be the world’s most valuable company.

Fake Apple watches in China take a bite out of latest technology

‘Middle-Class Economics’ vs. Bread-Bag America

America is not made great by its government. Passive “hope for change” is worth nothing compared to active effort. Our true recovery will not be a matter of pouring another $60 billion into the leaky administrative bucket of public education. Recovery will be delivered by people who want an education so badly that they’ll go to school on rainy days with bread bags over their shoes to keep them dry.

Obama Limo file

Middle Class Hits 50 Year Low on President Obama’s Watch

President Barack Obama in his State of the Union speech said, “The verdict is clear, middle class economics works.” Obama said lots of words about how the U.S. economy has improved, but he avoided the “numbers” regarding how or if that improvement had reached the middle class. If the president had used the “numbers,” he would have to explain why real middle class paychecks hit a 50 year low on his watch.

AP Photo/Gregory Bull