Victor Thorn
American Free Press

Over the course of this three part series, the American Free Press takes a hard look at who the middle class is and what it would mean should the heart and soul of America be sacrificed for the benefit of globalism and the moneyed elite.

What is the Middle Class?

With so many analysts and commentators proclaiming the death of America’s middle class, it’s worth asking the question: Who exactly makes up the middle class in 2012?

On May 3, this writer interviewed one of the most often-cited writers today, Michael Snyder of the popular website The Economic Collapse.

When queried as to how he’d define the middle class, Snyder said: “If you asked 10 different economists, you’d get 10 different answers. When growing up, my way of thinking was that somebody would be middle class if they were working to make payments on a home, had one or two vehicles and could afford the basic things of life.”

Snyder added: “Being middle class meant pursuing the American dream that arose after WWII from the 1950s to 1970s. During that era, people didn’t live in poverty, but they weren’t tremendously wealthy either. Most importantly, people were independent and not reliant on the government.”

However, as Snyder wrote in a Dec. 30, 2011 article, “Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most vibrant middle class that the world had ever seen. Unfortunately, that is rapidly changing before our eyes.”

Snyder told AFP: “It’s different today. To live the American dream, a lot of people have to work two jobs. Plus, globalization has forced those in the U.S. to compete with workers all over the world, especially ones earning ‘slave labor’ wages.”

Outsourcing has proven to be a major factor in eroding the American middle class, as Snyder so adroitly conveyed.

“Big corporations setting up operations in the U.S. pay $15-20 an hour, plus benefits,” he said. “On the other side of the world, there are fewer regulations and benefits, in addition to no minimum wage or environmental concerns. If you only pay workers $1 an hour, all the rest is profit. Many huge corporations only care about the bottom line and don’t hold any personal feelings for employees, so they increasingly view workers as a liability. We need to face facts. Big business doesn’t have to hire U.S. workers anymore. The power structure has changed, and labor has been devalued. Therefore, incomes aren’t rising for middle-class families, and they’re being forced to move toward lower-wage jobs.”

If that weren’t bad enough, technology is making humans expendable, if not obsolete.

“Nothing can alter that reality,” Snyder stressed. “In the olden days, factories were labor intensive. But with robotics, computers and automation, the labor market is decreasing.”

It doesn’t stop there.

Snyder continued, “If an American company moves their factory or office overseas, Wall Street rewards them because stock prices shoot up. It’s a bad deal for American workers, particularly when U.S. politicians keep piling on more regulations, red tape, paperwork and taxes. U.S. workers are at a tremendous disadvantage. Unless we fundamentally change our policies, it will never again work out for the U.S. middle class.”

This symbiotic relationship between big government and big business has created a situation where both forces benefit, creating what is known today as the one percenters.

In addition, a strange phenomenon has occurred today wherein propagandists working for big business utilize a divide-and-conquer strategy among the left and the right that perpetually fuels partisan animosity.

Stated differently, whereas liberal Democrats mostly blame greedy Wall Street bankers for America’s problems, conservative Republicans point to bloated government and unions as the source of our woes. So, while Republicans and Democrats tear each other apart, the elite one-percent in Washington and New York City continue to get wealthier.

What the mainstream media refuses to illustrate is that both of these seemingly disparate factions work together. They’re on the same team. They belong to the same club.

It’s like the joke says: A corporate executive, a tea party member and a union worker are all sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in 11 of the cookies. When the other two look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. “You better watch him,” the executive says with a nod toward the union worker. “He wants a piece of your cookie.”

Throw in politicians who are funded by Wall Street and big business, and it makes for even more trouble for Main Street America.

Snyder agrees: “Government and Wall Street feed off each other. Businesses make donations to politicians, who in turn write laws that benefit corporations. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”

Snyder said that our country, at its inception, frowned upon such government enablers.

“Our Founding Fathers were suspicious of anyone trying to concentrate power,” he said. “Not only did they place limits on central government, there were also strict limits on corporations. The biggest danger to the middle class today is any form of concentrated power. I don’t think it’s surprising that the three counties surrounding Washington, D.C. are the three wealthiest counties in America.”

Whereas Barack Obama symbolizes massive government and Mitt Romney symbolizes big business, neither one of them has any incentive to alter the status quo. Why should they? It benefits their supporters, who epitomize the one percent. In this regard, Obama socialists and Romney capitalists are more than content to let the middle class founder as long as they remain in the upper tier.

Or, as Snyder said: “There’s more wealth and power in the hands of a few. The only way to alleviate this situation and allow small businesses to thrive once again is to break up the size of both government and corporations.”

For more no-nonsense, uncensored, and independent news like this, visit American Free Press online.

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Steve Sanchez
GCN Live.com

When you look around at our world many times you may feel like a character in a Superman comic named Bizarro.

Is the grass always greener on the other side?

It seems that what made sense at one time absolutely makes no sense today. We have same sex marriage issues, 51-year-old celebrities marrying 16-year-old girls. We have Facebook where young people vent their hostilities and post racy pictures without any regard to the embarrassment of their parents yet alone themselves. Marijuana is now legal in many states and well you get the picture.

If that isn’t bad enough, we have a sitting President who claims that Mitt Romney is so rich he is out of touch with the people to be President, but a recent financial disclosure which was released to the public has shown the President himself being worth over 10 million dollars, yet again he states Romney is too rich to be in touch???

One area that I find to be very bizarre – where the math just does not add up – is with a group called the seasoned citizen; aka the elderly. Living in one of the Mecca capitals of the country for this group, I can say some of my observations come from studying this group for many, many years. This is the only group of people that can get invitations daily to a financial seminar and literally have their breakfast, lunch and dinner provided for every day of the week just by attending one of these events. AND TRUST ME, MANY OF THEM DO! The danger in this is that many of these seasoned members of our community get more than just the meal they originally were there to have. What I have seen is that many of the Wall Street Bookies that conduct these financial cattle calls can actually and have actually hurt many unsuspecting people with lies and pie in the sky promises. They are the master illusionists taking a chapter out of David Copperfield book of magic tricks.

After 20 years being a Business and Financial Consultant, I have seen first hand the trickery that has been perpetrated from people calling into my Radio Show or visiting my office sharing the horror stories of the victimization that has occurred. Many times, the trickery was almost a lesson deserved because of the greed that comes into the psyche of people chasing down the too good to be true scenario. Yes, this sounds harsh but many of these so-called victims have created the mess at their own hand.

Not too long ago, I spoke with a friend who is actively in the financial business. He shared with me a story regarding this very situation. He shared that he had worked with a client for more than 10 years and had a very good business relationship with them as well a friendship. He went on to say that they had called his office and wanted to review their holdings which he had thought strange since they had just did this not more than two months earlier. He goes on to say that, being very important clients as well as friends, he setup a luncheon at a very affluent eatery. He said that they had a wonderful visit and reviewed thoroughly the portfolio, talked about family and had a fabulous lunch. He shared with me that there were no signs of any issues or concerns just pretty cut and dry. He said they had close to a two hour lunch like they’ve had many times before. He then tells me that one month later he receives a call from his home office stating that this client had requested a new financial advisor to handle their portfolio. He said the shock of the news lasted for what seemed an hour. He said once he composed himself he called his long time clients and friends to no avail. He emailed, sent a letter and never heard a thing. Once the shock wore off the anger set in and he stated to me that they ordered the most expensive meal on the menu, Norwegian Salmon and knew that they were making plans to leave me. He said Steve, these people have never lost a penny with me and knew my family. We had a friendship as much as a business relationship, they were so happy. What went wrong Steve? My answer was pretty simple, I told him they probably went to one of these free dinner seminars and got convinced that the grass was greener on the other side.

Less than two weeks later my friend called me and said, “Steve, you were exactly right.” He went on to say that a local wall street bookie convinced his client to move over one million dollars to his control and placed them with a substandard company that gave them a large bonus to sign on and just one percent more per year in earnings. He said the worse part of it is that this client would have their money tied up for 20 years and knew there was nothing he could do about it because what was done was done. He said, “Steve, $128 for lunch and a smile a hug and a handshake, but what they were really doing is placing a knife in my back.” I shared this wisdom with my friend and told him that the Bible is clear about we reap what we sow, and that honest people like himself will still stand another day and we do not allow the depravity of ones heart to make us bitter, angry or non-trusting. But we move in life with grace and mercy as much as that sometimes does not make sense. Yes, as I told my friend, we FORGIVE even when we don’t feel like it and when it doesn’t make sense.

So I ask you America, does 2+2 still = 4?

Steve Sanchez is the host of the Steve Sanchez Show, which airs on GCN Saturdays 9:00a-11:00a Central Time. Listen to the show On Demand.

The above article is merely opinion and Steve Sanchez is not offering investment advice and suggests you seek counsel from the proper professionals with the correct licenses that can help you determine your goals and objectives.

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Ethan Bearman
Smoke-Filled World

The Wall Street weasels are at it again.

First, they nearly caused another Great Depression with the credit crisis of 2008. Now, they are showing us they haven’t learned their lesson. And, they could be in for another spanking from the government.

JPMorgan Chase just announced they placed a $100 billion (that’s ‘billion’ with a ‘B’) hedge bet and as a result, lost at least $2 billion and maybe as much as $5 billion.

A hedge bet is like a bet against an investment. For example, investment banks have been known to bundle and sell a bunch of mortgages in a portfolio, claiming the mortgages are excellent investments. Secretly, the same investment bank hedged and bet that the mortgages would fail. This is one of the most egregious examples of how hedge bets helped fuel the credit crisis.

During the aftermath of the credit crisis, there was an outcry for better regulation to save banks from themselves and, thus, save us from the banks. Lying to investors while betting against them seems unfair by design.

A couple years ago, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank bill, adding new mandates on Wall Street. The bill failed to address hedge bets and a number of other issues that led to the credit crisis in the first place.

What is wrong with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and the board? How can they allow this to happen on their watch?

We found out just now that the head person Ina Drew along with two of her lieutenants, the aptly named Achilles Macris and Javier Martin-Artajo, will resign. The traders who actually committed these sins still have their jobs.

Doesn’t resigning mean they get to keep whatever compensation and severance packages they have in their employment contracts?

Shamefully, it does.

Shareholders should be screaming from the rooftops for all parties involved to be summarily dismissed. It is time for shareholder activists to rise up and demand change, to demand reform from within, and to demand the banks behave responsibly to ensure long-term financial stability and success.

It is time for Dimon and the board to think hard about how to prevent this from ever happening again. Or, they and the rest of the industry better brace for more government regulation, such as the Volcker Rule (legislation that separates investment banking, private equity and hedge fund sections of financial institutions from their consumer-lending arms).

Maybe that’s exactly what they need.

Ethan Bearman is the host of Ethan Bearman’s Smoke-Filled World, a weekly radio talk show that focuses on current events and features a variety of guests. He is a successful technology entrepreneur with more than two decades experience.

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Steven Birn
Steven Birn Speaks

The media wants to talk about any issue other than the economy these days.

President Obama is thrilled that the media continues to report what his administration and campaign feed it. Make no mistake, the focus on everything but the economy comes directly from the White House. In the current economic climate, Obama stands little chance of re-election. Of course, if Rasmussen is to be believed the President’s flip flop return to his 1996 position on homosexual marriage isn’t helping him either, he’s now down 7 to Romney among likely voters. It’s the economy that matters though, even if the media doesn’t want to discuss it.

Everyone knows the 8.1% unemployment number is a sham. LD Jackson discussed it yesterday. The only way for the government to have the unemployment rate drop when only 115,000 jobs are created is to declare that hundreds of thousands of Americans are no longer in the work force. Some of these people have no doubt given up working, others are simply removed from the pool to make the government look better. The real unemployment rate is 14.5%. This government statistic measures those who are unemployed as well as those who have given up looking for work and those working part time who would like full time employment but cannot find it. This number may be artificially low as Gallup reports the underemployment rate (which measures the same people) is 18.3%.

Gallup reports that one in three young workers (ages 18-29) are underemployed. This fits right in with reports that recent college graduates are having a difficult time finding work. This is a group that Obama not only win but convince to come out to the polls in droves if he wants to win re-election. It begs the question why young people would want to vote for Obama when young underemployment hasn’t been higher in several generations and college graduates cannot find jobs. If you cannot find a job it really doesn’t matter what the government sets the student loan interest rate at because student loan debtors cannot pay either way.

Consumer confidence dropped in March and remained steady in April. In short, consumer confidence in the economy is not getting any better. The jobs market isn’t getting any better. Gas prices are down but they’re still over $3.50 a gallon. Real inflation is above 6%. Inflation is something the media never talks about anymore. The government inflation rate is based on big ticket items and goods that rarely change in price. When you include more volatile goods like food and gas the inflation rate goes up and government looks bad. Anyone who has been to the grocery can tell you when inflation is hitting because the price of meat, dairy and produce increases.

The economy is in a sad state right now. It’s something that needs to be discussed not just by media but by individual Americans sitting around their dinner table or talking to their friends in the front yard. Obama’s policies haven’t made the economy any better. He’s given us $5 trillion in new debt, massive new regulations, a meaningless Wall Street regulation package that couldn’t stop JP Morgan from losing $2 billion in risky investments (I don’t care if JP Morgan loses its money but Obama’s regulations were supposed to prevent this sort of thing thus they’re clearly a failure) and we won’t even discuss Obamacare which has been the single biggest drain on business since it was passed. The economy is a mess, the economy is Obama’s. No wonder he and the media don’t want to talk about it.

Steven Birn is an attorney and conservative political junkie and blogger. For more news and commentary visit Steven Birn Speaks.

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Steve Sanchez
GCN Live.com

After spending the better part of 20 years in the financial business you learn a few things about people, companies and life.

I do find a large sense of satisfaction being able to help so many families plan and ultimately achieve thier financial goals and objectives. With that said, working with people I have found that they come with one of two mindsets. One, they are loyal. Two, they are loyal until thier depravity gets the best of them and then the horns pop out and you become merely a tool that has been used to satisfy the greed that permeates inside them!

I obviously speak these words of wisdom from experience. Just recently I was sitting in my office working on material for my weekend radio show when my assistant Lisa dropped the morning mail on my desk. After tossing most of the junk mail I did have a letter from a long time client of 10 years. Of course being that my birthday was merely a week away I assumed it was a beautiful letter that they write me once per year sharing how much our business relationship and friendship means to them. Unfortunatley to my surprise it was a letter terminating our business relationship. After the initial shock I read through the letter again and in short, they had decided to trade me in for a newer model. My reaction was first anger, sadness and then utter disgust! I literally, had helped these people safeguard thier assets with safe money planning from the downside in the markets most notably the financial collapse of 2008. Thier reasoning is that they believed the market was the right place for them to be in again. That was it, no thank you, no explanation, just heres my decision goodbye and good luck .

The worst part of this is that the huckster (the new model) they decided to go with is nothing more than a bookie in the Wall Street casino . Now I’m well aware that a client can make decisions for their money as they see fit because, after all, it is thier money. The problem I have is that if a financial professional like myself dropped a client with no explanation I would be accused of financial negligence or not seeing out my fiduciary responsibility. So I ask you the American public…. WHO IS THE VILLIAN.?

I can answer it…. MANY TIMES YOU!!! Greed seems to be the root of most investors problem. If a scam is perpetrated many times the investor is also at fault because they were chasing the greed aspect of the offer. We’ve all heard this but how true is it….” If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is”. Unfortunatley our liberal government has made it easy for those in the professional industry to be the fall guy. Look, I know many times they should be and the companies that continue to bilk the public should also be held to the highest of standards. But I ask you, how about you the client? Where’s your responsibility? We didn’t blame you for buying too much house and then walking away, instead government programs were set up for you and the companies and loan officers were perpetrated to be the VILLIAN but again I ask you, who’s the real VILLIAN? Even lawyers are advertising to take your case if you lost money in the stock market . Can you believe this…. The STOCK MARKET! Any bozo should know that the stock market is a RISK! Yet, lawyers and you Joe public have found a way to put the sole responsibility on someone other than yourself. I mean why shouldn’t you, the federal government has been the ultimate role model in this behavior.

So in closing, I ask you… Who is the VILLIAN? In terms of my former client, without a shadow of a doubt they are. No maybe they are not the VILLIAN in the traditional sense of the word, but thier lack of respect and integrity and sheer gratitude warrants some form of rebuke. Many of you can ask yourself the same question, who is the real VILLIAN when you look at those in your life either in business, family or socially .

Remember the oldest wisest book says it best, Galatians 6:7-10; don’t be misled, you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy thier own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity we should do good to everyone especially to those in the family of faith.

America we just need to humble ourselves and pray and be willing to take responsibility for our decisions and actions. Yes, there are many times when its the other guys fault but as a people we cannot cry foul because theres a system in place that allows us to without any regard for anyone else. My atheist friends call it karma, I call it sowing and reaping. Regardless of what you call it, we cannot deny that this you owe me mentality coupled with I’m going to frivolously sue is slowly destroying the fiber of America not to mention the souls of humanity.

Steve Sanchez is the host of the Steve Sanchez Show, which airs on GCN Saturdays 9:00a-11:00a Central Time. Listen to the show On Demand.

The above article is merely opinion and Steve Sanchez is not offering investment advice and suggests you seek counsel from the proper professionals with the correct licenses that can help you determine your goals and objectives.

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