House Speaker John Boehner went over the top today when he ripped into President Barack Obama during an interview with Fox News Radio.
When talking to Kilmeade & Friends about Obama's speech in Ohio yesterday, Boehner said this:
"Sometimes I have to catch my breath and slow down because the rhetoric in this campaign is just so over the top. And that's because the President's policies have failed. Listen - 93% of Americans believe they're a part of the middle class. That's why you hear the President talk about the middle class every day, because he's talking to 93% of the American people. But the President has never created a job. He's never even had a real job for God's sake. And I can tell you from my dealings with him, he has no idea how the real world, that we actually live in, works."
Boehner also said it's been "months" since he's last interacted with Obama in a meaningful way.
"Eleven months ago, Labor Day last year, the president decided to check out," Boehner said. "And he's been AWOL from the legislative process ever since."
By Steve Frank, Thu Aug 2, 2012 4:06 PM EDT
Source includes an audio of the interview.
On the flip side, a lot of people whose families made like $25k thought they were middle class too :/ It's really fascinating how "middle class" doesn't really mean anything to most people the way it should. If that makes sense. idk I'm at work and trying not to be seen on ONTD_P lol
Edited at 2012-08-03 04:37 pm (UTC)
I don't get how people can make a million dollars and year and still consider themselves average... I guess it;s because everyone around them is the same? So they have no real benchmarks?
And that's sort of an exaggerated example, but still think about things like where people live- if you make hardly anything and struggle to afford a small apartment, or you make a lot and buy a house with a mortgage that takes up a large portion of your income, both people feel like they are "struggling" even though the person in the large house could live in that small apartment and pay that rent without the slightest difficulty. People feel like they are "average" because most folks are always struggling to afford things and associate that with being middle class- because if they were rich they wouldn't struggle to afford things! But it's a matter of what you are struggling to afford- basic necessities? basic necessities plus a little? a lot beyond basic necessities? A new boat?
I recall in 2008 watching President Obama speak at my school and make all of these promises for helping the middle class. It was a typical stump speech that wasn't well-tailored to the audience, but all the students in the crowd went crazy over it. Meanwhile, I was thinking, I'm a poor college student. How on earth is anything that you've focused on in this speech going to help me out? Of course now that Obama's in office, my parents actually are middle class and they're getting squeezed right now. :-/
Edited at 2012-08-03 07:59 pm (UTC)
"Middle class" is a bit posher in the UK but they've stolen the rhetoric from the US and started talking about the "squeezed middle" and all that.
I also fell into the bottom group when I was younger. My mom made $25K year for a family of 4. I thought we were middle class. I even had a teacher who mentioned this- how people often think they are middle class even if they aren't, specifically people who are below middle class. And I thought, "how would someone not know that"- lol.
The misconception amongst those who put $250,000 and $25,000 are somewhat understandable to me. It can depend on where you live, if you have a large family or are a single person, know how to budget or in contrast try to live more extravagantly than you can afford, etc. There's also this issue with denial where it's embarrassing to admit that you are poorer or don't know what it means to actually "struggle."
To be fair, there is a lot of different interpretations on what is considered "middle class," so it can get a little confusing. But each and every one of those would consider anyone making $1-2 million annually wealthy. That is some serious denial and/or shelteredness going on right there.