First, we must recognize and reclaim the government programs that create a middle class:
Return to the American people our ownership of the military, the prison system, and the ballot box.
Fight for free and public education that encourages critical thinking, historical knowledge, and a love of learning in each child. Combat the No Child Left Behind Act and the belief that education is a commodity that can be tested.
Fight for a national single-payer health-care system based on Medicare.
Fight for Social Security -- do not let it be privatized or co-opted.
Fight for progressive taxation: reinstate a rate of 35 percent on corporations and a rate of 70 percent on the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans -- and use the money to pay back the Social Security system and to fund an economic investment program.
Fight for a living wage and for the right of labor to organize.
Fight for a national energy program that puts people and the planet -- not Big Oil -- first.
When America has a strong middle class, democracy will follow. The opposite is also true. To fight back, we must also make use of the ballot box. We can achieve the economic programs that make the middle class possible by using the power of our democracy to vote for those politicians who support the middle class. We've been conned for long enough. It's time to take back America.
Thom Hartmann is an author and nationally syndicated daily talk show host.
