You have got to ASK any Legislative Representative that is asking for your vote in November: How does your plan affect the middle class? You have to be leery of Fox News talking points coming back at you. Steer clear of spin and name calling, and religion, especially Bible quotations taken out of context. Don’t accept Beckisms, Palinisms or Rushisms, you have heard them all before. Watch for eyes that shift to the left, eyes that can’t meet yours, sweaty palms, watch for the shysters and sharks. Fine tune your ears for truth, and you will know when you hear it.

How will giving tax-cuts to the wealthy 1% improve 99% of middle class and lower-income households? What possible promise could induce a middle class worker to support a millionaire in the style in which they are accustomed?  Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/26/BU7T1FIKPE.DTL#ixzz10eFYpAp8

“Increasing marginal tax rates should take greater account the fact that the more people have, the more they are willing to pay to maintain the status quo. In our country now, the super-wealthy do not pay in taxes what they would be willing to pay because it is cheaper for them to finance a propaganda machine that manipulates voters into thinking that high marginal tax rates are socialism/communism/government waste/detrimental to the overall economy/anti-American. They manipulate us into voting against our own economic self-interest. If we did not allow ourselves to be manipulated and asserted our power, you can bet the rich would pony up a lot more for the privilege of being super wealthy in this country.”   –a64burns  Shared on 9/25/2010 from Comments, in response to Business Report/The Chronicle with Bloomberg article Top 1% of earners get 20% of the money by Tom Abate, published by San Francisco Chronicle, found on page D-1.  

How will “trickle-down economics” trickle into middle class wallets? Ask for real-life examples: CEOs, companies, actual dollar amounts realized, the fiscal year the event actually happened, as well as the profession and name of the individual that benefited. 

Affordable health care boosts every health dollar spent by the middle class due to not having to carry uninsured, under-insured, dropped and chronic-care users. Is it wrong to ask that health care “family plans” actually insure children including those with preexisting conditions? Is insurance only supposed to benefit the stock holders? 

Besides helping the planet, low energy sources are directly felt in a middle class family’s budget whether their needs include transportation costs, heating fuel, or running household appliances. Why must the middle class continue to support wealthy owners, CEOs and stockholders of wasteful high energy consuming and producing corporations?

And … since when is a corporation an individual? Can a corporation physically vote in an election (other than voting through contributions)? Is this where we are heading? 

If small businesses are the life blood of our great nation then why isn’t our national subsidizing these businesses as they compete against world-wide companies that are nation-subsidized? Why aren’t philanthropists seeking out new public-good ventures to incubate and promote, growing small businesses that in turn help grow their communities and the nation? Why are philanthropists sitting on their funds waiting for government to fail before they invest in our country’s future? 

When is it no longer right to support a Liar’s War and bring our troops home? And when can our compassion and gratitude for service be awarded to injured and dying heroes that gave their all in a time of horror and great turmoil? Ask why our great country turns it’s back on 9/11 first responders in their time of need. Ask where the buck stops. 

I have a good Citizen’s Pledge (and it does not favor the Republican’s old new pledge): I pledge to pay my taxes, to back my own credit, to keep paying into my pension, to reduce my carbon footprint, to reduce my material goods, to reduce my white sugar and floor intake, to give more to local charities, to support local and green businesses, to operate my car responsibly, to actively support my union because any company that has a union deserves a union, to support the arts, the public library, public transportation, public radio, public TV, and public schools. In short, I pledge to be a concerned, compassionate, community-activist, a knowledgeable, hard working, middle class, voting citizen.  Hear ME roar in November.