Middle Class: Where is your money? Who will take your cause? Who will voice your concerns?

About a month ago I was awarded an increase during my annual performance review. Shortly after that, I was told my medical coverage had increased and it won’t start paying until I had incurred three thousand dollars on medical bills. That would be an increase of two thousand dollars in my medical expenses.

So, where did my money go? After working for the same company for 5 years this is the first time my take home income is less than that of the previous year.

Welcome to the middle class experience.

I know I’m not alone on this. But, why isn’t the media covering this? This is a big deal for me!

The fact is that people getting paid a little over the Federal minimum wage are considered "lucky".

We are the Middle Class.

We are The American Dream.

The government repots on the 4.6% of unemployed Americans but fails to offer a status of the working class.

Now, how many of the other 95.4% working Americans are struggling just like me?

How many of the working 95.4% can’t afford medical coverage for their kids? They won’t qualify for state funded medical assistance because they work?

How many of the working 95.4% can’t afford to send their kids to college because they make too much to qualify for Federal Pell Grant financial aid but don’t make enough to cover the high cost of higher learning. (Unless they take in some considerable debt, having to pay more on interest and keeping less of their take-home income).

We are not asking for handouts, we just want to keep a bit more of what we make.

We should pay less in taxes, pay less for energy, pay less or nothing on medical care and higher education.

It would be a good start.

Please, don’t blame us for spending too much or not saving enough. If we can’t take it home then it’s literally "out of our hands".

Please don’t punish us for our loyalty and stability. It takes lots of courage to work in the same company for a long time.

At this rate, I don’t think we will be in the middle class for too long, without turning into a third world country…