If you believe the rhetoric coming out of the White House, then you will agree that the economy is the best it has been in a very long time. You’ll be impressed by the continuing rise of the GDP and a bull stock market. And, of course, you’ll agree with the president and his fellow Republicans that the new tax reforms which they swept through the Senate and the House are going to bring a slew of corporations back to the U.S., eager to share their reduced tax liabilities in the form of untold numbers of high-wage jobs for Americans.
And while some of this may be true, it only applies to a small percentage of citizens who are in the upper echelons of our country’s classes — rich folks, billionaires and millionaires, perhaps the upper strains of the middle class, to be precise. As for those on the margins, single parent homes, middle class with student loans, credit card debt and mortgages, they as well as the poor and the vast majority of retirees — those who struggle daily, cutting corners in order to survive, the news is not so good. Not now, not yesterday and unless something changes in dramatic fashion, not tomorrow.
Is the District on its way to become like so many other urban dwellings in America where two classes are emerging in quick fashion — the haves and the have-nots? It’s looking that way. We’ve heard the words of more than a few about making America “great again” but for far too many, “great” appears to be little more than a promise sitting on an abandoned shore.