President Biden just gave a speech today, July 7th, where is said that twelve years of education are not enough to have a middle class life. Specifically, he said that fourteen years is the new standard. According to the last census, 55% of Americans do not have the minimum of an associates degree while 35% have a bachelors degree. In short, according to our president, a majority of our working class citizens do not deserve a middle class life.
If was a Republican, I’m getting my speeches ready for my next campaign. “Did you know that if you work as a delivery driver or warehouse worker for Amazon, or a clerk at Walmart, or an assistant produce manager at your local grocery store, Joe Biden does not think you deserve a decent wage!” I’d look at the crowd with their red MAGA hats and ask, “How many of you do not have a high class college degree” and as the crowd roars, I’d follow with “Joe Biden and the Democrats don’t think you should be able to buy a house, raise a family, go to Disney World, or buy a new car! That’s the America they want, where only the liberal elites can afford to live in America!”
Of course, Trump and the Republicans don’t give a rat’s ass about the blue collar working class either, but they don’t say it out loud!
And we wonder why the poor working class continues to vote Republican.
More twisting of words and trolling. He never said anything about who deserves what, but simply pointed out what has been reality for quite some time.
The “reality” is manufactured. The reality is rigged.
In short, you’re lying again. Please stop.
I did not tape it, but he said that a twelve year education no longer means a middle class life and now, we need a fourteen year education.
‘Does anybody think in the 21st century, with changes taking place in technology and across the board, than 12 years of education is enough to be able to live enough middle class life? I don’t think so,’ he noted.
Sounds about right to me. Where I object to your spin is when it comes to deserving.
What message does this send to the majority of Americans now fully employed, many in what have been deemed “essential” whose job does not require 14 years of formal education?
…..and let’s not forget that Democrats were unable to raise the minimum wage.
When was the last time they had that chance? I think most Dems are embarrassed by the current federal minimum, though it’s higher in states they control.
I wish I had your optimism.
I, and I believe most Dems, simultaneously hold the following two positions:
1) All full time work should keep people out of poverty.
2) Greater comfort will likely require post-secondary education.
Therefore, we need to both increase wages for all and reduce/eliminate financial barriers to post-secondary education.
“Out of poverty” and “middle class” are two different classifications. Again, what does the Democratic Party tell the essential workers who in the majority do not require anything more than a high school education? ….”Well, you do not deserve a life where your labor can afford you the ordinary comforts of life (aka Middle Class), but you will not be living under a bridge”…..
Are you looking for 6-figures without a college education? That’s not likely.
I am looking for an economy where anyone graduating from High School who is employed full time, year round, and considered to be an “essential worker” in the economy to be able to fully support themselves and their family in a manner and style that virtually anyone in the USA would view as acceptable for themselves and not “poor” by any measure.
This is only likely if we elect better people in government. We’ve done a lousy job of that for the past 50 years.
Just to play devil’s advocate for a minute, why shouldn’t we just come out and say, yeah, you need at least 14 years at this point? Time was you could probably get by in many aspects of life with just an 8th grade education. Now you are required to stay in school in most states at least until you are 16 and the general expectation, including apparently yours, is that people graduate from high school. While I would not go as far as requiring education beyond age 18 I would not mind setting norms higher than that, though it would mean providing a variety of opportunities which are as free to the individual student as K-12 is now.
Please show a quote where he uses “deserves” or any synonym.
If one can read between the lines, it’s pretty clear. He makes NO effort to raise wages for the majority of American workers, many of whom are now considered essential, to live a middle class life.
What you call “read[ing] between the lines” I call “making stuff up”.
What you’re doing is called “misquoting” and it’s deceptive.
Okay Tom,
I am a high school graduate working at job that does not require anything more than a high school diploma. My job is considered essential and I am working 40 hours a week, fifty weeks a year with two week’s vacation.
Does President Biden think I should have a reasonable opportunity at a middle class life, based on what he just announced?
I thought you were retired on the Cape. Joe Biden isn’t talking about you. Joe Biden is talking about the tens of millions of young adults making choices and facing barriers that will affect them for the rest of their lives.
A huge portion of them want and cannot have the college experience that you had, benefited from, and dismiss as irrelevant. A huge portion of them want and cannot have the privileges that you enjoy as a white male.
Your feelings and personal situation do not make it OK for you to misquote Mr. Biden (and every other Democrat). Such deception is a trademark of the late Rush Limbaugh and his GOP ilk. It demeans you when you do it here.
I am retired and living on the Cape after working the past 50 years at jobs that did not require a college degree and allowed me to support my family. Joe Biden says that’s no longer an expected outcome, and yet all of the jobs I did over those 50 years still exist and many are considered essential.
Is it your opinion, along with President Biden, that the essential work done by those without a college degree are now jobs that still must be done to make your life easy, but the workers who toil each day ought not have hopes of retiring on the Cape? Is the Cape just for the college grads?
Come on, John, you’re just trolling me and I think you know it. Your “questions” have been asked and answered many times here.
You should stop misquoting public figures.
Please limit the personal attacks and if possible, answer the question.
Please stop misquoting public figures.