From High Brow Think Tanks - THAT WE ALREADY KNEW!

An article MSN Money points out something obvious to most of us..... and it took our tax dollars to fund a democratic think tank to figure this out?

The middle class today is less prepared for an economic emergency, such as losing a job or visiting an emergency room, than at any time since the late 1970s, concludes a new study from a political think tank in Washington, D.C., that's funded by Democrats.
"Middle Class in Turmoil," produced by the Center for American Progress and the Service Employees International Union, mines data from the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, census records and other sources to paint a picture of increasing peril for those in the middle 60% of income distribution, about $18,000 to $88,000.
Despite a growing economy, a rising stock market and stronger corporate earnings that are helping the rich get richer, the middle class in America is caught in an unprecedented squeeze that makes it increasingly unstable, the study's authors say. The financial declines each year since 2001 have been dramatic, they report:
Income for middle-class families has remained stagnant or flat since 2001.
Prices for big-ticket items -- housing, health care, college education and transportation -- have skyrocketed, leaving families unable to save.
Middle-class families are borrowing record amounts of money to pay their monthly bills.
"Families are being forced to live beyond their means, just to pay for the basics, such as housing and health care," said Christian Weller, a senior economist for the Center for American Progress, which is headed by John Podesta, a former Clinton-administration chief of staff. "They are not only spending their current income but all their future income."

The article goes on the blame not enough government programs to help the middle class, etc etc.....Hey I know what might help us! How about not taking 49% of my paycheck for taxes? How about leaving me with a little more money that I have worked hard to earn?And how about getting people out of the tax-funded government systems that don't belong there........What better way to give us money in our pocket to save or invest back into the economy than to "allow" us to keep more of our self-earned paychecks and profits? Ohhhhh.... but it's not that easy. According to who?Remember this: We fund the economy - we keep the businesses alive, we fund the programs that help the people who aren't in the businesses that we keep alive. And who funds our livelihoods? US. And who is struggling the most and falling farther and farther into "economic peril"? US. And who is having more and more of the earned dollars taken away? US.Stick that in your straw and suck it for a while, Think-Tank.