Hard work isn’t paying off in America anymore

For years, the rich and powerful have been giving us the same old song and dance: if you work hard and pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you can be anything and anyone you want..

But the data shows, America just ain’t buying it anymore.

A new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds that only 25% of people believe they have a good chance of improving their standard of living today – the lowest it’s ever been.

And over 75% do not believe that life will be better for the next generation than it is today.

I know. Breaking news, right?

But there was one part that did shock me: almost 70% said that they no longer believe in the American dream at all.

Not just that the dream is no longer true. Increasingly, they believe it never was.

That is a failure of political leadership on every level.

I believe government exists to solve problems and make people’s lives better. And I know that we CAN solve big problems – because we’ve done it.

It’s how we pulled our country back from the depths of a global depression and lifted millions of seniors out of poverty. It’s how Michigan built a middle class that was the envy of the world.

I still believe in the American dream because when I grew up, I saw that dream live in action. And I believe we can get back there. That’s why I’m running for Congress.

The truth is this data, while it may be a shock to some, just confirms what you and I innately know from the reality we live with every day.

We don’t need a poll to tell us what our eyes and ears have been telling us: it’s harder to buy a home. It’s harder to send a kid to college. It’s harder to cover those medical bills. Hell, it’s harder just to put food on the table.

And the root of all these issues? We no longer have a government by the people, for the people. We no longer have a government that works for us, that gives our concerns a fair hearing, that fights for our kids’ tomorrows to be better than our parents’ yesterdays.

I’m running for Congress to restore our hope for the future – by fighting for what people need in the present.

I know that we can fix these problems, but the first thing we’ve got to do is a third rail back up on our democracy. Until we do, we can’t address any of the day-to-day pain that we all live with.

It’s time to end this era of corruption and betrayal in Washington. We deserve leaders who believe in representative government, not just power and money.

In such a wealthy country, there’s no reason our kids should be starting out life struggling to pay for doctor’s visits and dinner.

We know what the problem is. We know what the solutions are. So let’s fix it together.

Let’s get to work.

Wayne StilesDemocrat for Congress