Voting is important, just getting out and showing that we still care is a valuable message to send, regardless of who you vote for (just vote)... but regardless of which upper class figurehead wins, the only group that can save the middle class from government aided corporate extinction is, well, the middle class! How? by fighting back, not violently, but rather where they will feel it hardest, their bottom lines... The middle class weapon of choice is your wallet... here are some offensive maneuvers you can participate in to aid the only cause that has your best interests at heart... I will try to include examples where possible...

1. Buy American!  Do your homework... if you are reading this you have a computer with internet access, that is the best research tool known to modern civilization... Example: I finally can afford to replace my mid 80-s electric guitar this year with an upscale professional model... I have always played Ibanez (a good company that makes great guitars, but profits go to Hoshino, inc. a Mexican company ,and the guitars are mostly made in Japanese factories)... I have done feature comparisons and found several great American made alternatives that fit my playing style... surprisingly, they are ALL cheaper than the Jem777 I was going to buy. Another example is the local clothing factory here in town that employs a few hundred American workers, they have an outlet on the premesis, great American made clothing at really great near wholesale prices... gotta walk the walk where possible... even $1 spent on a product made by an American in America will help send the message to the multinational conglomerate corporate swine that we have had enough! If I win the powerball, I will pass up on the exotic imported dreamcars listed earlier in my blog for some serious detroit power (the new corvette is perfection on wheels!)

2. Hold off on big ticket purchases for a few months. Nothing draws national focus back to the bleak domestic financial landscape faster than a sluggish economy, they are trying to make us into a third world labor force (with the same debts, the math just don't work!). to EVERYONE in washington... YOU CANNOT have a global economy without some concessions for local cost of living, each of you have already violated the NAFTA preamble... here's how...

North American Free Trade Agreement

PREAMBLE

The Government of Canada, the Government of the United Mexican States and the Government of the United States of America, resolved to:

STRENGTHEN the special bonds of friendship and cooperation among their nations; (we will send you all the jobs, you send us the money, friends)

CONTRIBUTE to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade and provide a catalyst to broader international cooperation; (unemployment is NOT harmonious, trust me on that one!)

CREATE an expanded and secure market for the goods and services produced in their territories; (with no middle class left to spend on goods and services? are they absolutely braindead?)

REDUCE distortions to trade; (I can't stop laughing... use google to look up our current trade deficit)

ESTABLISH clear and mutually advantageous rules governing their trade; (man, what are the other countries getting in the deal?)

ENSURE a predictable commercial framework for business planning and investment; (destroy the morale of your workforce, lay them off, then force them to work for peanuts... predictable big business, the "trickle on" economic plan)

BUILD on their respective rights and obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and other multilateral and bilateral instruments of cooperation;

ENHANCE the competitiveness of their firms in global markets; (we have more staff but a lower payroll than you, na na na na na na)

FOSTER creativity and innovation, and promote trade in goods and services that are the subject of intellectual property rights; (read this as send all programming jobs to india and pakistan where the average I.T. pro works for 6,000 U.S. dollars a year, has free education and rampant cheating on industry certification tests)

CREATE new employment opportunities and improve working conditions and living standards in their respective territories;  (oops, sorry U.S. Government, you dropped the ball on this one... BIG TIME. The concept of replacing a few jobs paying family sustaining wages with a few jobs paying $7 an hour is preposterous, Ask the Mexicans living in tin/cardboard villiages outside of the plants if they feel conditions are getting better)

UNDERTAKE each of the preceding in a manner consistent with environmental protection and conservation; (you're striking out here georgy boy... the clear skies initiatve is a misleading document seeking to relax EPA standards on factory emissions)

PRESERVE their flexibility to safeguard the public welfare; (by eliminating good jobs with benefits and healthcare, LOL)

PROMOTE sustainable development; (you want fries with that? you could be a manager one day!)

STRENGTHEN the development and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations (not with this administration) ; and

PROTECT, enhance and enforce basic workers' rights; (the right to have and keep a good job must not be basic enough)

The action plan is to save your money for awhile and only buy what you need, and when you do, buy American! (if at all possible). Example: We started cutting out non essential items where possible, and I was quite surprised to see that my very modest bank account has basically DOUBLED in the last 12 months... I set aside statements from september '03 vs. '04. THe biggest slap to corporate America is to LOSE YOUR CREDIT CARDS! We have been saving for items rather than charging them... what you save a year on interest alone is eye-opening.  It also makes you really evaluate if you need something... put the brakes on impulse buying for a few months and watch the economy slow down... let them see what a world without the middle class would really be like. They are so blinded by greed and the bottom line they have forgotten the purchasing power of the American workforce... Fight back with your wallet! it can work.