Who Murdered the Middle Class?

The government…specifically the Obama Administration and a Congress led by Democrats who advocate and vote for big  government and Republicans who advocate  small government while voting for…big government. That is the verdict of Wayne Allen Root in his new book The Murder of the Middle-Class.

Mr. Root lies out his case by examining the economic policies of this administration–from increasing deficit spending to increases in regulations to cap-and-trade to (of course) Obamacare– and shows how these policies are systemically destroying the middle class. Root shows how the expansions of government and the resulting shrinkage of the middle-class is creating a society of an elite upper-class which controls and benefits from the government, and a lower class dependent on crumbs from the welfare state.

Unlike many critics of the administration, Root understands the difference between being “pro-market” and being “pro-business.” Root explains how the so-called “anti-business” President is actually working to empower entrenched corporate interests at the expense of  entrepreneurs, small business owners and employees, workers, and consumers. Mr. Root also explains how the Federal Reserve is also helping to kill the middle-class with is expansionist policies and bailouts of big banks and Wall Street firms.

While the focus of Mr. Root’s criticisms is the Obama Administration, and the Democrats in the House and Senate, he has few good words for the current GOP “leadership”. Root properly identifies the GOP leadership’s unwillingness and/or inability to effectively challenge Obama’s big government as a key reason behind the growth of government. Of course, many in the GOP hierarchy actually support expanding the welfare-warfare-regulatory state; they just want to make sure Republicans are running it.

Root’s explanation of why a member of Congress truly committed to rolling back government would never vote for a debt ceiling increase–and his debunking of the claim that failure to raise the debt ceiling would cause government to “default” leading to an economic collapse-is worth the price of the book.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I do have a few disagreements with Mr. Root. First, Root claims that Obama is consciously trying to destroy the American economy. During my fifteen years on the hill, the last four of which coincided with Obama’s first term, I interacted with a number of “progressives” and the vast majority of them actually believe that there policies are helping the American people.

Secondly, while Root advises the liberty movement to challenge Big Government Republicans, up to and including attempting to replace them in primaries, he advises it to never withhold support from establishment Republicans in a general election. The problem with this strategy is that if the establishment knows they can count on support from grassroots activists, they will continue to support expanding welfare, warfare, regulations, and the surveillance state while raising millions from big business to smear their more pro-liberty primary challengers – safe in the knowledge that the protests of the grassroots are mere “sound and fury” signifying nothing.

(Note–Campaign for Liberty, as a 501(c) (4) organization, does not endorse or oppose candidates. However, we do work to make sure our members know where their candidates stand on liberty issues through our survey program, and we work to keep the heat on all Big Government politicians regardless of party label. Because of our refusal to give Big Government Republicans a pass, we are often accused of giving aid and comfort to Democrats, when, in fact, it is the Big Government Republicans who are comforting the Democrats by giving “bipartisan” cover to statism.)

I also disagree with Mr. Root’s endorsement of a Constitutional Convention. As Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul said in his C-SPAN appearance this week, there simply is not the support for the ides of liberty to ensure that a constitutional convention would not result in a bigger government.

Despite those disagreements, The Murder of the Middle-Class is a useful book for anyone seeking to understand how Obama and his enablers in Congress, on K Street, and at the Fed are murdering the middle-class.