To paraphrase Mark Twain’s weather observation, everyone talks about the middle class but no one seems to be able to do anything about them.
The U.S. Census Bureau released a report yesterday on income inequality and health insurance, both intrinsically entwined in household budgets. It shows that the top 20 percent earners made gains last year, led by the top 5 percent, while those in poverty levels at least remained stagnant, the first time the numbers haven’t increased in four years. It’s a small blessing for those struggling as budgets were cut and the economic recovery we’ve all been waiting for continued to falter.
But it’s the income and political sweet spot – the middle class – where the biggest hits continue to be felt. According to the Census figures, the median household income for the typical American family after inflation fell to $50,054, 8 percent below what they earned in 2007, the year before the Great Recession began. The Wall Street Journal report on the income data notes that the level is the lowest for the middle class since 1995. MassINC’s researchers have been seeing ominous data about the decline for some time.
The Atlantic, declaring “The End of the Middle Class Century,” notes that incomes have been stagnant because all the gains have been channeled to the very top and gives a graphic presentation of how “the 1 percent won the last 30 years.”
Adding insult to injury, another new study reinforces what many people know when they look into their future: Debt is preventing many from saving what they need for retirement. It’s an issue CommonWealth looked at in our special American Dream issue last fall.
“You’re really struck by the unevenness of the recovery,” Lawrence Katz, an economics professor at Harvard, told the New York Times. “The top end took a whack in the recession, but they’ve gotten back on their feet. Everyone else is still down for the count.”
The numbers aren’t doing any favors for President Obama, who’s holding himself out as the best hope for the middle class but the results are saying he’s not as effective as he claims. But can those in the middle of the income pack turn their hope over to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, who have been continually rapped with offering solutions that favor those who already are benefitting?
The Census report also notes that health insurance coverage is down, much of that attributed to the rise in the number of younger adults that are insured until they are 26 years old under their parents’ plan because of changes in the Affordable Care Act. But that also is having an impact on family budgets because the premiums are usually paid by parents because the kids can’t find jobs or the jobs they have don’t come with insurance or don’t pay enough to buy individual coverage.
Income inequality is at the center of economic policy debates and is the main reason why politicians on both sides try to grab the mantle of protector of the middle class. Both Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Scott Brown are touting their middle class roots and take every opportunity to declare their fealty to the middle class as they both work the middle for the key support.
CommonWealth explored the issue in depth last fall and MassINC and CommonWealth are sponsoring a debate later this month in the Sixth Congressional District focused solely on the American Dream and the middle class. It is our core mission.
–JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
Secretary of State William Galvin expects a possible record turnout of more than 70 percent on November. 6, the State House News Service (via Eagle-Tribune) reports.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Some Lawrence officials call for Mayor William Lantigua to resign after two of his political allies are indicted, and the state GOP tries to link US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren to the controversial mayor, the Eagle-Tribune reports Lantigua issues a statement indicating he won’t step down, NECN reports. Lantigua’s former chief of staff, Leonard Degnan, and Deputy Police Chief Melix Bonilla were arraigned and released on their own personal recognizance.
Hingham officials are in a dispute with state officials over whether the town has reached the 10 percent affordable housing mark that would exempt the community from Chapter 40B regulations. The battle is coming as a developer seeks to build a 177-unit complex near a residential neighborhood off Route 3.
Fall River city councilors are upset that the administration unilaterally added a $100 fine to the tax affidavit for landlords the council passed.
Hanover police have created a unit to track down some 500 people with outstanding warrants.
Newburyport unveils waterfront development plans.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
The Globe is reporting that a Winchester native and former Navy SEAL was one of the four people killed in the attack on the US embassy in Libya.
North Dakota has the most local governments per capita of any state in the nation, Governing reports.
ELECTION 2012
Mitt Romney’s most recent attempt to look presidential and calm fears over the GOP ticket’s lack of foreign policy experience in the wake of the attacks in Egypt and Libya is not going over real well among Democrats, Republicans, pundits — well, nearly everyone. Time offers a good rundown of what happened and the criticism leveled at Romney. Talking Points Memo has a timeline of events leading up to and through the Libyan riot going back to the release of the film clip on YouTube in June, while the New York Times offers its tick-tock from the release of the US Embassy’s statement in Cairo through the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya. Romney takes hits from his fellow Republicans, the Washington Post reports. A small cohort of Republicans are backing him up. Paul Ryan sounds “presidential” by contrast, says the Post’s Dana Milbank. The Fix unpacks the politics of the Libya attack and concludes that it leaves Obama in an even stronger position. Gail Collins wonders whether Republicans really did choose the most stable candidate, since the only things Romney had on his side after his Libya comments were “a totally disgraced former secretary of defense, a person named Reince Priebus, and a new Republican rape comment.” Time’s Joe Klein writes that Romney is making a fool of himself. The Daily Beast’s Michael Tomasky says Romney’s comments were appalling and signal the end of the Republican Party’s decades-long political advantage on foreign policy. The Republican argues that politics has to stop “at the water’s edge.” According to David Bernstein, the water’s edge is also where Romney’s dispassionate, reasoned, data-driven approach to governing ends.
The Obama campaign is growing more reliant on big-money bundlers.
US Rep. John Tierney launches his first TV ad of the campaign linking Republican rival Richard Tisei to the tea party, the Associated Press reports (via Lowell Sun). WBUR interviews its pollster, Steve Koczela of the MassINC Polling Group, about the station’s poll showing Tierney up 7 points.
The New York Times profiles the campaign of Joe Kennedy III, a candidate with charisma enough to make a Needham storefront full of dogs lose all control.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Barry Bluestone, director of the Dukakis Center of Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, says his research indicates Lynn is well-positioned for economic growth and development, the Item reports.
Methuen plans to give Century Box $190,000 in tax incentives to smooth a $4.5 million expansion that will create 89 new jobs over the next decade, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
The new iPhone is here! The new iPhone is here!
EDUCATION
Mayor Tom Menino and Boston Teachers Union leaders are trumpeting the new contract agreement they reached. However, City Councilor John Connolly, who chairs the council’s education committee, calls it “a half step forward” at best. Boston Foundation president Paul Grogan agrees, saying the agreement shows that “fastening our hopes for dramatic changes on the collective bargaining process is a vain pursuit.”
The 2013 US News & World Report college rankings are out and Harvard remains tied for the top spot with Princeton for the best national university. Williams College and Amherst College in western Massachusetts rank 1st and 2nd, respectively, among liberal arts colleges.
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is expecting to see $286 million for new and renovated buildings on campus under a $3.1 billion capital bond university trustees are scheduled to consider next week.
Jack Calareso, the president of Anna Maria College in Paxton, sees no problem with rising tuition costs because higher tuition typically funds more financial aid. “If Mr. Obama believes that taxing the wealthy to protect those less fortunate is a noble idea and a moral imperative,then why doesn’t he understand that tuition increases most often serve the same values and goals?” he asks in a Telegram & Gazette op-ed piece.
Charter schools aren’t on the table in the Chicago teachers strike, but the issue hangs heavy.
HEALTH CARE
WBUR reports that patients are confused and angry about health plans that force them to compare prices and quality before selecting where to get care.
With new federal health standards eliminating some of the old school lunchroom staples, a black market has developed for things like chocolate syrup, for which some New Bedford students pay 50 cents for a squirt to add flavor to their white milk.
TRANSPORTATION
Tom Glynn, a veteran public sector and nonprofit manager, will be the new chief executive officer of Massport, the Globe reports.
A Texas woman is poised to become the first person in the US to receive a double arm transplant above the elbow, the Globe reports. Doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have received the go-ahead from hospital officials to perform the procedure.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
A new invasive insect, the emerald ash borer, is threatening trees in the Bay State.
MEDIA
The New York Times rejects a State Department request to remove a picture of the dying Libyan ambassador from its website, but decides not to use it in its print editions.
NBC apologizes for the Today show’s failure to observe a moment of silence on September 11 and instead continue an interview with Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardashian clan, who was discussing her breast augmentation, the New York Times reports.
Facebook tells cities and towns the proper way to select page names to avoid confusion, Governing reports.