Week in Review
August 24, 2012
The two major political parties in America geared up for their national
conventions with Republicans gathering in a few days in Florida and Democrats
heading the following week to North Carolina. In the run-up to the conventions,
there was a stark reminder on Wednesday of something that should be at the top
of the agenda for both parties: The American Middle Class is collapsing. A new
Pew study was further evidence of an alarming trend that Sen. Bernie Sanders,
the longest serving independent in congressional history, has warned about for
years.
Middle Class Collapse The middle class is receiving less of America's total income as median wages stagnate and wealth concentrates at the top, according to the new study released on Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. The key findings: In 2011, 51 percent of adult Americans were in the middle class, down from 61 percent in 1971. From 2001-2010, the median income of the middle-class fell 5 percent, but median wealth declined by 28 percent, to $93,150 from $129,582. The median wealth of upper-income Americans was essentially unchanged. It rose by 1 percent to $574,788 from $569,905. Meantime, the wealth of the poorest Americans plunged by 45 percent, to $10,151 from $18,421.
Solar Power Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson on Thursday joined Sanders at a Vermont National Guard solar power installation that is a model for military bases around the country. Brig. Gen. Thomas Drew, the Guard's new adjutant general, hosted the senator and EPA chief on the tour of one of the largest solar projects at any National Guard base in the country.
Smart Grid Smart-grid technology is making Vermont a national leader in developing a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system. "We have only begun to scratch the surface of the benefits this technology has to offer," said David Hallquist, the CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative told a news conference on Monday with Sanders. "The bottom line is that smart grid offers real benefits for consumers and the environment," Sanders said. Vermont received $69 million in federal stimulus funds to modernize its electric transmission system as part of a more than $4 billion national investment in smart grid technology. The digital upgrade to the nation's aging and largely analog electric system already has begun to pay dividends.
