Lest we forget, it seems like only yesterday that middle-class Americans were blessed with the peace and prosperity of the ‘90s. At the turn of the century, our good fortune changed dramatically. Two wars with a estimated price tag of $6 trillion, high unemployment, a financial collapse, the housing bubble, spiraling national debt, a growing wealth disparity, all contributing to a catastrophic Bush II presidency.

The 40 years before Ronald Reagan’s presidency, the top tax rate never fell below 70 percent. It’s how the bills were paid. Through incremental reductions starting in 1981, Reagan had reduced the top tax rate to a historic low of 28 percent by 1988. Today, low taxes for the rich is a Republican centerpiece.

If Medicare recipients don’t know by now, their 2014 budget has just taken a big hit. In 2012, one could locate Medicare health insurance for an out-of-pocket limit of $3,400. Next year, the out-of-pocket norm in Pennsylvania doubles to $6,700. Medicare may now be referred to as “The Unaffordable Health Care Act.”

In 2010, many middle-class Americans aided their adversaries by awarding the speaker’s gavel to a Republican Congress. Their agenda is to instigate unprecedented political chaos to destroy a presidency. Their shutting down of the government harmed America.

The writing is on the wall: In the 2014 election, should middle-class Americans still not “get it,” an unscrupulous tea party may well accomplish its evil mission.