America's Middle Class - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

August 26,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, According to Rep Scott Garrett (NJ CD5) ,”Washington just can’t stop spending your money”. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report this week that confirms our national debt is spiraling out of control even faster than previously thought. This new projection paints a bleak picture of the United States’ finances as the CBO estimates that deficits will grow for the next ten years, starting with an additional $56 billion in 2016 alone.

Rep. Scott Garrett lays the blame for slow economic growth and slipping standards of living that are hurting the middle class on deficits, “Lack of economic growth and ever-growing deficits are yet more indications that Washington-first policies are not working. Every year the government spends more money than it takes in, adding more money to our national debt and increasing the threat of a fiscal crisis. We already feel the effects of a sputtering economy in towns across New Jersey’s Fifth District as families struggle to get ahead and create a better life.”

Democrats argue that we need tax increases to balance the budget. In reality, hardworking Americans shouldn’t shell out another penny while Washington continues to spend with no regard for the future of our country. Garrett reminds us ,”The problem isn’t that Americans don’t send enough money to Washington; the problem is Washington spends too much. ”

Garret goes on , “I support balancing the budget like every family has to. To start paying down the debt, we need to cut wasteful spending and hold the government accountable. As a senior member of the House Budget Committee, one of my biggest priorities in Congress is making sure the government lives within its means. My amendment to the Republican Budget calling for sensible spending reforms was the only amendment to gain the support of the full Budget Committee.”

Rep. Garrett summarized , “Spending more money than we have is dangerously short-sighted and continues to stifle the economic future of our country. I will continue fighting to rein-in Washington’s out-of-control spending so our children and grandchildren can have an opportunity to achieve their own American Dream.”

America’s Middle Class Is Unlucky

President Obama’s tax plan is Piketty-lite, aimed at reversing years of economic rot among America’s poorest 50 percent

Derek Thompson Jan 19 2015, 1:51 PM ET

At this stage in Obama’s presidency, ambitious tax proposals to soak the rich are the political equivalent of desert rain dances—sometimes impressive, often well-meaning, always doomed, and essentially ceremonial. The administration’s latest tax-modification ritual would raise taxes on wealthy estates and large banks to pay for larger tax breaks for middle-class households, particularly those with two working parents and kids. The plan is Piketty-lite, skimming the wealth of the 1 percent to redistribute among the incomes of poorer workers.

Why should America’s richest families have to withstand yet another tax increase to benefit poorer Americans? The short answer is that the United States has, since the turn of the century, cemented its status as the best place in the world to be among the working rich, while poorer workers have suffered compared to other advanced countries. Here’s the longer answer…

Twenty-five years ago, the United States was the richest country in the world, for richer and for poorer, for both the 10th percentile and the 99th. Although America’s richest 50 percent is still the richest top half of any country, our distinction as the land of opportunity is eroding from the bottom up, as the Upshot elegantly showed. American superiority is rotting from the bottom up.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/01/americas-other-half-problem/384588/