So the working poor should just continue to slide until they are the equivalent of third world countries in your opinion? I have been down that road and I can tell you that when you're working poor you don't have free healthcare or food stamps. There are no homes that will rent to you with your minimal income so you have to rent a small room to get by on. You work 16 to 18 hours every single day with maybe a day off during the week to get by. If this is acceptable to you, then I pity your broken soul for the mean spirit that it has become. If we, as a country want to call ourselves number one in the world, then we have to do better in overall lifestyle rankings like Scandinavians and Europeans. They at least have figured out that the strongest country is the one where the majority are strong middle class with tiny poor and rich classes.