The folks over at the Pew Research Center asked self-identified Middle Class Americans who they thought was responsible for the fact that they have has an especially tough go of it over the last decade or so. Here is what they said:
This is interesting, right? I would make the case that is Corporations who are the proximate cause, since they have been the ones slowing down wage growth by ensuring that employees don’t share in the productivity gains achieved by these folks. Politically, blaming Congress would sync up with an “obstructionist” message reminding folks that this Congress didn’t want to do anything to help middle class people hurt by the downturn. The political course might help in the short term, but still does not take care of the fact that Americans do not share in the bounty that their work produces. But the 34% who reported that they thought President Obama was responsible for alot of the last 10 years’ pain is mind-boggling.
They also asked which presidential candidate’s policies would help the middle class, and President Obama was the choice for both middle class and poor groups. Only the wealthy didn’t think much of the President’s policies:
There’s alot more in the report. Let us know what you think in the comments.