Most of middle class left out

More than half of all Americans - about 160 million - think of themselves as middle class, according to a 2008 Pew survey. But recent events suggest officials in Washington have a much narrower definition, encompassing only the 16 million workers represented by a union.

This definition gives new perspective to last week's first meeting of the Middle Class Working Families Task Force in Philadelphia. Headed by Vice President Biden, the task force certainly seems to be a high priority for the White House. But under close review, it becomes apparent that the administration's policies are not friendly to most of the middle class.

In just its first month, the new administration has already sided several times with union interests at the expense of hardworking members of the middle class who may or may not be in unions.

Consider one of President Obama's first executive orders. It repealed an important regulation that required employers to inform employees of their right to know whether labor officials use their dues to support political candidates or causes. This means working Americans are now at risk of being kept in the dark while money from their paychecks funds campaigns they oppose.

Another Obama executive order encourages federal agencies to seek "project labor agreements" with unions on public projects. This effectively guarantees that only union contractors will work on new projects funded by the stimulus plan, and the roughly 85 percent of America's construction employees who are not in unions won't. Moreover, schools, libraries, and other public structures built under these agreements will be more expensive.

The stimulus itself also saddles projects with the bureaucratic red tape and costs of "prevailing wage" and benefit mandates.

Lastly, consider the stated focus of the first middle-class task force meeting in Philadelphia on Friday: "green jobs." Public investment in alternative energy is certainly worth debating. But much of the "green jobs" legislative language being touted on Capitol Hill is little more than union giveaways in a shiny new wrapper. These mandates work against millions of nonunion construction employees.

Between the stimulus, the bailouts, and new rules to make life easier for union officials, it's hard to figure out how the administration is helping the middle class. Only one in 13 private-sector employees is a member of a union. So what about the rest of us?

The rest of us benefit from high-quality public infrastructure at competitive prices. These goals are impeded by "project labor agreements" and "prevailing wage" laws. Take it from the small-town Pennsylvania officials who are lobbying to alter the state's prevailing-wage law because it makes them pay Philadelphia or Pittsburgh rates.

More fundamentally, the rest of us benefit from being highly skilled individuals, not cogs in a machine. That requires a significant commitment to preparing children for a world of change, not a world of union-enforced stagnation.

Those of us looking out for our families and trying to stay in the middle class have real issues. Biden's task force should address them.