Letter: Boost the middle class

How can our economy grow with a declining middle class that can barely keep a roof over their heads?

Republican swamp inhabitants must recognize that we need a middle class that makes enough money to thrive, driving the economic engine toward prosperity.

It’s taken years since the 2008 recession for the middle class to regain some of its losses. The Associated Press story “U.S. middle class gets richer, but wealthy do even better,” about a Federal Reserve survey, said, “The median measures for wealth and income still trail their 2001 levels” (Sept. 28, The Columbian).

“The median net worth of all American families rose 16 percent last year from 2013,” it reported, saying that the median wealth for white families was $171,000 while the median wealth of African-American families was $17,600, with Latino families a bit higher.

It’s time to wake up!

The survey found that, “even as median net worth climbed 16 percent, average net worth rose more quickly, by 26 percent to $692,100. Those differences between the median and average figures mostly reflect the stronger gains at the top of the income scale.”

A thriving middle class would benefit us all, but the swamp inhabitants are only interested in their own yachts, not the American people’s boats.