As good as the economy seemed during some of the Reagan years, it was prosperity built on a lie. It's the same prosperity lie one gets when they max out all of their credit cards, go on vacations, buy expensive cars and electronics and pretend you never have to pay any of it back.

The Democratic prosperity under the Clinton years was a pay as you go prosperity. None of the federal budget shortfalls we are experiencing has anything to do with overspending during a Democratic administration.

During the time our economy was being subject to the Republican prosperity lie, who was getting the most benefit? As with McCain's proposed tax plan, the tax policies of Reagan, Bush I and Bush II benefitted the wealthy. We borrowed on the Federal Government to give tax giveaways to the wealthy. This was class warfare and wealth distribution benefitting only the top 5% of the country.

It's easy to see the truth of this statement. Here is a video from PBS that discusses how the Middle Class has been crushed over the past eight years http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/405/video.html PBS also has a great article on the middle class called "10 Reasons America's Two-Income Families Aren't What You Think" by Harvard Law Professor and Bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/middleclassmyths.html that talks about things like:

Two-income families today make 75% more in inflation-adjusted dollars, but have less money to spend than one-income families did 30 years ago.

Two-income families today spend: 21% less on clothing, 22% less on food, and 44% less on appliances compared to one-income families a generation ago.

Every 15 seconds an American family files for bankruptcy.

This year, more kids will live through their parents' bankruptcy, than through their parents' divorce.

1.6 million families will file for bankruptcy this year, 9 million more are already in credit counseling.

Home mortgage foreclosures are up more than three-fold over the last generation and car foreclosures have hit record levels.

More than 62% of families say that they worry about making ends meet.

The average family spends 69% more in inflation-adjusted dollars on their home mortgage than their parents spent a generation ago.

The average family spends 61% more on health insurance, than their parents spent a generation ago.

Credit card default rates are at a record high.

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