As Middle Class Fades, So Does Use of Term on Campaign Trail New York Times – Amy Chozick. For the average American voter, the term ‘middle class’ now brings up feelings of fear and insecurity. This was the conclusion Democratic pollsters came to after having conversations with voters in focus groups, and it has caused political strategists to come up with new, more ambiguous terms to attract the  51 percent of Americans who identify as middle or upper-middle class . Thus, candidates on both sides of the aisle are using other phrases to appeal to the American middle class. Senator Bernie Sanders refers to them as “working families”, while Senator Ted Cruz calls has made “hardworking men and women across America” the emphasis of his stump speech. Hillary Clinton has joined in on this game of middle class synonymousness, referring to “everyday Americans” instead. Ultimately, all of these euphemistic terms feel like politicians walking on egg shells. As Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, said, “What do you call people who don’t have good jobs but who aren’t poor?” This question, while maybe not critical to the success of a given campaign, could provide a clue as to who will come across as the most authentic to the struggling American middle class. Stock buybacks – who does it help? In an in-depth piece, Bloomberg examines why companies choose to buy back shares or increase dividends instead of investing their profits by developing new products, initiatives or opening new stores. This is a must-read for those hoping to better understand this issue, which Nick Hanauer has written passionately on . Fact checking Hillary Clinton’s claim that illegal immigrants pay more in taxes than some corporations. It turns out, this is a deeply tendentious argument. See how many Pinocchios this statement earned her . Millennials are the largest generation in the US labor force: More than a third of American workers are now millennials,  notes Pew Research Center , and one reason they have become the largest generation in the workforce is their disproportionately large share of immigrants. Comments … Continue reading Daily Clips: May 11th, 2015