Bernie Sanders: “When the American people were asked by CBS News the question, ``Do you think the economy is getting better, getting…”

“When the American people were asked by CBS News the question, ``Do you think the economy is getting better, getting worse or staying about the same?'' 11 percent of the American people said the economy is getting better, 44 percent thought it was getting worse, and 44 percent thought it was about the same. Then, interestingly, in that same poll, when the American people were asked by CBS the question, ``Over the past 10 years, do you think life for middle class Americans has gotten better or worse?'' 30 percent said life has gotten better, 59 percent, almost a 2-to-1 margin, said life is getting worse, and 7 percent said the same. Technology has exploded in recent years. Our workers are far more productive than used to be the case. Yet by a 2-to-1 margin the American people have said that life for the middle class is getting worse, not better. In terms of the Gallup Poll, the Gallup people, from April 2 to April 5, asked some very interesting questions that we very often do not speak about here on the floor of the Senate. In my view, what we have seen since President Bush has been in office, in a general sense, is the shrinking of the middle class, an increase in poverty, and a growing gap between the rich and the poor--not something we talk about terribly often on the floor of the Senate, not something that is talked about terribly often in the corporate media.”