Archive for January 30th, 2009
January 30th, 2009
Today, President Obama announced his middle class task force, chaired by Veep Joe Biden. The task force, according to the stories coming out of Washington Friday afternoon — and according to the White House Web site — will expand opportunities for education and training; improve the work-family balance; restore labor standards, including workplace safety; and protecting retirement security.
It was that last note than caught my immediate attention: protect retirement security. I can only dream that will mean Social Security, 401ks, and, oh, my, pensions. Read more here and here.
But, then, I thought: What’s middle class? I’m pretty sure Warren Buffet isn’t middle class, but is the mayor? A school teacher with 30 years on the job? How about a cop? Firefighter? Me?
I went looking for definitions. Most people I know define themselves as middle class. It’s way more a state of mind than a reflection of the pocketbook. And, that state of mind depends in great measure on where you live. Middle class pocketbooks in New York City are a lot fatter than middle class pocketbooks in Rockford.
So, what does a middle class pocketbook look like? Depends on who’s being quoted. Here are some numbers I found from Reuters.
“Most people tend to think of themselves as middle class unless they’re (billionaire investor) Warren Buffet or really poor,” said J.D. Foster, an economist and senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
He said he defined the upper 20 percent of earners as “upper income,” the lower 20 percent as “lower income” and the 60 percent in the middle as “middle income” or middle class. He cited a Congressional Budget Office report that put that range at $15,900 and below for people in the lower income range and $120,600 or above for those in the upper income tier.”
And, the Reuters story continues: “During his presidential campaign Obama promised “middle class tax cuts” for households earning less than $200,000 a year. That would imply an income cap, above which earners are considered to be making more than middle-class wages.
“U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell recently suggested reducing the 25 percent tax rate “currently applied to the middle class” to 15 percent. The 25 percent rate applies to families whose incomes are between $65,100 and $131,450 annually or to single people with incomes roughly between $32,000 and $79,000.”
Are you middle class? It’s going to be most interesting to see how Obama-Biden define it.
January 30th, 2009
Thursday morning, I sat with the Rockford Register Star’s Editorial Board and watched (via live video streaming at rrstar.com) our former governor, Rod Blagojevich, defend himself before the Illinois’ senate’s impeachment hearings. A couple hours later, he was gone and Pat Quinn was in.
Friday morning the newspaper’s front page headline was “Bye-Bye Blago.”I suspect most Illinoisans have wanted to say that for a long, long time. We are embarrassed by our former governor, we are frustrated and fearful of the damage done over at least three years. We knew he had to go if we were to fix things and move forward.
And, yet …. I sat there watching Blago’s 46-minute-10-second, stream-of-consciousness in which he told of his childhood and wandered onto such as Elizabeth Taylor and John Warner. And, I thought, “what if I were his mother….”
Thursday-Blago was a little boy run amok; a child seriously in need of an adult to take his hand and lead him — even screaming — out of the room. Thursday-Blago was sad and everyone who watched did so waiting for a train wreck. Thursday-Blago embarrasssed himself and no adult did a thing to help.
If I were his mother, I simply could not have sat back and watched him implode. For the sake of the little boy he once was, I would have gotten him away from that podium and taken him to someone who could help.
I am not his mother. Bye-bye Blago.
January 30th, 2009
As of Friday, we’re caught up from what circulation director Scott Daily calls the “tsunami.” No doubt about it, some readers of the Sunday Register Star are fanatical about their TV book. Last Sunday, we announced that we’d be delivering the TV book only to those subscribers who asked for it. Don’t want; don’t ask.
Beginning on Sunday, Feb. 15, only those subscribers who request the TV book will get it. You can opt-in by calling (
(815) 987-1332 or (815) 987-1335), e-mailing (tvbook@rrstar.com) or registering online.
So, how many is a “tsunami”? Does everyone want the TV book, as I was told by a couple of callers? Or is it just a handful?
I dropped in to talk with the circ director several times this week because it’s Scott’s folks who are taking the brunt of the opt-ins. I’ve only gotten six letters and five e-mails, all of them questioning my skill sets and several of them thinking we are killing the tv book completely. I hate ticking off readers no matter what the reason, but a couple dozen angry letters is not the worst I have ever experienced.
How bad was it in circulation? About 7,000 subscribers have opted in since last Sunday. As of Friday, we’re caught up with all the calls, online opt-ins and e-mails, Scott said. He still has to handle the snail mail, but there’s only about 500 of them and they’re included in his 7,000 estimate.
There will be more. Some folks won’t have seen the first announcements. Others will put off opting in until the last minute. Still others will not realize what’s going on until there’s no TV book in their papers on Feb. 15. We will continue to take care of opt-ins no matter when they contact us, although you opt-in after Feb. 12, you’ll have to wait until Feb. 22 to get your book delivered.
Is 7,000 a tsunami? It sure felt like it. That’s a lot of customer contact in five days. And, now, here comes the “but.” We have 46,000 subscriber households eligible to receive the Sunday TV book. To date, just a hair more than 15 percent want the book. A lot of subscribers want the book; more will. But, it’s not everyone, not by a long shot.
