How to Destroy the Middle Class

Let's define the middle class
As people who have steady jobs,
Pay their bills on time, and
Don't depend on government assistance.

That excludes the favored class:
Retirees who own their homes,
Get social security and medicare, and
Have adequate income for living.

First, depreciate the value of money
By an inflation rate currently over two percent,
While wage and salary income remain flat,
Or decline absolutely for new employees.

Next, manipulate the health care system
So that health insurance premiums
Go through the roof, in order to cover
Any calamity which may occur.

Pay for exploding government
By instituting a value-added tax,
Thus hitting the purchase of autos
Or any assets needed for work or living.

Perhaps most insidious, increase the
Taxes paid directly by businesses
Who thereupon pass the cost
In higher prices to consumers.

Add to the regulations that
Well-meaning bureaucrats impose
Upon the players in the private sector,
Thus increasing their administrative costs.

(Full disclosure from the old professor:
My master's thesis was on product costing.
It is an art that belongs to industrial engineers,
Not to accountants, who do it badly.)

Finally, discourage and derogate
Growth and innovation, and those
Who create the opportunities for
Economic advancement by individuals.