(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

A new survey out paints a pretty bleak picture of middle class America today, which is no surprise when you take into account falling house values, increased costs for food, energy, health care, education and growing unemployment.

The Pew Poll finds that 54% of those who describe themselves as “middle class” – which is more than half of this country – say they are no better off than they were 5 years ago. That’s the worse outlook in more than 40 years.

53% say they’ve had to cut spending because money is tight. 18% say they’ve had troubling getting or paying for medical care, and 10% say they’ve lost their jobs.

And, the view for the future isn’t much better. In the coming year, half of the middle class surveyed say they think they’ll have to cut more spending. 25% of those employed are worried they’ll be laid off, and 26% are concerned their salary or health benefits will be cut.

When asked who’s to blame for their economic problems, 26% say it’s the government’s fault, 15% blame the price of oil and 11% say the people themselves are responsible.

Meanwhile, don’t look for positive economic news on the horizon. The majority of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal say the U.S. economy has farther to fall. By a 3-to-1 ratio, they say our economy is in a recession, and almost three-quarters say we haven’t hit the bottom yet.

Here’s my question to you: Who’s to blame for an increasingly discouraged middle class?

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Click the Play Button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

Just when talk about Hillary Clinton’s tale from the tarmac in Bosnia was starting to die down, Bill Clinton decided to bring it up again.

Speaking in Indiana, the former president defended his wife’s lie about “landing under sniper fire” during that 1996 trip.

He said that she made the comment “one time late at night when she was exhausted, misstated — and immediately apologized for it.” Bill Clinton added that he believed Hillary was the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat zone and that the media treated her like she’d “robbed a bank”, suggesting “some of them, when they’re 60, they’ll forget something when they’re tired at 11 at night, too.”

So now we have the former president lying about his wife’s lie. Hillary Clinton made the comments about the Bosnia trip numerous times, not just once and not just “late at night.” Once she told the fictional sniper fire tale early in the morning. In fact, it took about a week for her to correct herself – saying she “misspoke” and “made a mistake.” And the Eleanor Roosevelt claim is bogus as well, since Pat Nixon traveled to Vietnam in 1969.

So why would a skillful politician like Bill Clinton re-ignite an issue that hurt his wife? You’d think he would know better. Unless it wasn’t an accident.

In fact, Clinton brought up the Bosnia issue twice yesterday.

Hillary Clinton has since told her husband to knock it off. She said, “You weren’t there. Let me handle it.” His response? “Yes, Ma’am.”

Here’s my question to you: Why would Bill Clinton voluntarily bring up the story of his wife’s trip to Bosnia?

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Protestors wave Tibetan flags while an athlete runs with Beijing Olympics torch, on April 7, 2008 in Paris. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

A “crisis” is how the president of the International Olympic Committee describes the protests that have surrounded the torch relay.

But Jacques Rogge insists the torch relay will go on – despite protests in London, Paris and San Francisco which have focused on China’s human rights record, its crackdown on Tibet and its close relationship with Sudan. He says the IOC has weathered many bigger storms, like the murder of the Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972 and the boycotts in 1976, 1980 and 1984.

However, Rogge says the committee will reconsider holding this kind of international relay for future Olympic Games.

He also called on China to honor its pledges to improve human rights and give foreign journalists unfettered access – a rare critique of the Communist country coming from the IOC. China shot right back, saying the committee should keep its nose out of its internal politics.

The torch has now arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where there will be a relay tomorrow. It then moves on to 14 more cities in Africa and Asia before returning to China in August.

One IOC member has suggested that the p.r. nightmare that followed the flame this year may make it the last time for an international relay.

Here’s my question to you: In light of what’s happened in London, Paris and San Francisco, how should officials handle the remainder of the Olympic torch tour?

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FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

Think about this next time you climb on an airplane.

An FAA whistle-blower testified before Congress today that his bosses repeatedly ignored his reports of inspection requirement violations by Southwest Airlines.

He also says his bosses, who were leaned on by Southwest to remove him from the case, knew the planes were flying illegally and did nothing about it.

You may remember a congressional investigation found that Southwest kept dozens of aircraft flying without mandatory inspections, and it turns out some of them had possibly dangerous cracks. The airline is facing a record $10.2 million fine.

There’s more: an American Airlines pilots’ group says regulators have mostly ignored several dangerous incidents where cockpit windshields have shattered during flight, sometimes even forcing emergency landings. The pilots claim these safety issues exist because the FAA is too close to the airlines.

For its part, the FAA says 4 U.S. airlines – it doesn’t name them – are being investigated for failure to comply with federal aviation regulations. A government agency that knows of four airlines that are not in compliance with FAA regulations but it won’t say which airlines? That is beyond outrageous.

Officials say three of the airlines have missed inspection deadlines. But, the FAA still insists people should feel safe despite all this. They say, “Flying is safer today than at anytime in the past.”

Here’s my question to you: How safe do you feel when you fly?

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(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

Before you sit down to write in to the Cafferty File, think about this: sending excessive e-mails and text messages could be a sign of mental illness – and some of you are on the margin. An editorial in The American Journal of Psychiatry suggests that these obsessive-compulsive symptoms are now so common that they should be included in an industry manual on mental disorders.

Here’s how to tell if you need help:

- Excessive use, which often goes along with a loss of any sense of time when you’re online.

- Withdrawal, which includes feelings of anger, tension or depression when you can’t get to a computer.

- The need for a better computer, more software and even more hours of use.

- And, negative repercussions, which can include arguments, lies, and social isolation all due to your time spent online.

In South Korea, which has the highest use of broadband internet worldwide, internet addiction is considered one of the most serious public health issues. The government estimates that more 210,000 children are affected and need treatment, and another 1.2 million are believed to be at risk for addiction. In China, it’s believed that nearly 14% of adolescent internet users are addicted… that’s 10 million Chinese youngsters.

So it comes as no surprise that there are now internet addiction clinics around the world. Experts say it’s also become a more significant legal issue in criminal, divorce and employment cases.

Here’s my question to you: Is sending excessive e-mails and text messages a sign of mental illness?

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Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

A group of high-profile Hillary Clinton supporters is going after Nancy Pelosi.

Nearly 20 Clinton donors sent a letter to the House Speaker, criticizing her for her recent suggestion that the Democratic superdelegates should not overturn the election results. Pelosi has said it would hurt the Democratic Party if the superdelegates did not support the candidate who ends the race with the most pledged delegates. The Clinton donors want Pelosi to “clarify” her position.

The letter says Pelosi’s take is at odds with the party’s original intent on the role of superdelegates, those nearly 800 party insiders and elected officials who will likely decide the outcome of this race. The Clinton donors insist the superdelegates should look at a whole range of factors to help them decide who will be the party’s strongest nominee in November.

Pelosi hasn’t endorsed either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Her office responded to this letter saying, “As chair of the convention, she is neutral and her position has remained the same throughout the primary season.” She also repeated her position that the superdelegates should not “overturn the will of the voters.”

The Obama campaign says the letter from Clinton donors is “inappropriate” and calls on the Clinton campaign to “reject the insinuation contained in it.”

Here’s my question to you: Do you agree with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the superdelegates should support the candidate with the most pledged delegates?

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Randall L.Stephenson, Chairman and CEO of AT&T.

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

The top U.S. phone company is having a hard time finding enough skilled American workers.

Say what? Reuters reports AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson says the company is coming up short in finding enough Americans capable of filling the 5,000 customer service jobs it promised to bring back to the U.S. from India.

So far, about 1,400 of those positions have been returned to the U.S. The company set a goal of 5,000 jobs back in 2006 and says it still plans to stick to that target. But they’re not having much luck.

Stephenson is particularly worried about the state of education, pointing to some parts of the U.S. where the high school dropout rate is as high as 50%. He says: “If I had a business that half the product we turned out was defective or you couldn’t put into the marketplace, I would shut that business down.”

The U.S. economy lost 63,000 jobs last month, which was the largest cut in 5 years. And, if the American public isn’t educated enough to handle customer service jobs at AT&T and probably thousands and thousands of others with all different kinds of employers, these companies will have little choice but to continue shipping jobs overseas.

Here’s my question to you: What does it suggest about the state of this country when AT&T says it’s having a hard time finding enough skilled American workers?

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A wedding photograph of a US soldier affixed to the inside of his helmet from Ghostrider Company 3rd Squadron 2nd Stryker in Diyala Province, Baghdad, in March 2008. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

Forest Lake Area High School in Minnesota was all set to have some veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan come and talk to the students.

The event was billed as an academic classroom discussion around military service – teach the kids about military service in the context of their history classes. But suddenly the veterans were told, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Forest Lake Area High School principal Steve Massey said there were concerns the event was becoming political, instead of educational and that made it inappropriate for a public school. Translation: Massey got some calls from parents who complained, he buckled, and canceled the appearance by the veterans. The Star Tribune newspaper reports some parents had threatened to stage a protest if the visit by the soldiers went forward.

The visit was sponsored by “Vets for Freedom”, a nonpartisan group whose mission is to educate the public about the importance of achieving success in Iraq and Afghanistan. The head of the organization, who graduated from Forest Lake Area High School and served in Iraq, calls it “extremely unfortunate” that a school would bow to political pressure and not bring in a veterans organization.

One education expert suggests what happened in Minnesota might be just the tip of the iceberg in this long political year. He recommends that schools still tackle tough subjects, but invite opposing groups to speak out on each issue.

Here’s my question to you: Should the military be allowed to tell its story in public schools?

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FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

Turns out money really can buy happiness. But there’s a catch: you have to spend it on someone else.

A new study conducted by Harvard Business School and the University of British Columbia finds that spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could make you significantly happier. I’ll give you my address at the end of this.

Experiments on more than 600 Americans found people were much happier when they spent the money on others even if they thought they’d be happier spending it on themselves.

One of the lead researchers points out that this study goes along with a growing body of research that shows that helping others is the best way to help yourself.

Another expert suggests that it’s experiences, not possessions, that actually make people happier. So if you buy yourself a new car or TV, the elation wears off relatively quickly. But if you take a friend out to lunch, you’ll feel good longer. She also suggests that kind acts make you think that people are grateful and that is also linked with happiness.

Meanwhile, the study – published in this week’s edition of the journal Science – may also explain why people aren’t happier even though America keeps getting richer.

Here’s my question to you: Is spending money on someone else the key to happiness?

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Sen. Chuck Hagel at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

The U.S. needs independent leadership and maybe even a new political party.

Senator Chuck Hagel, the Nebraska Republican and one of the very few class acts in Washington, has a new book out, “America: Our Next Chapter.” Hagel writes, “In the current impasse, an independent candidate for the presidency, or a bipartisan unity ticket… could be appealing to Americans.”

Hagel, who is a Vietnam veteran, also suggests that the war in Iraq might be remembered as one of the five biggest blunders in all of history. He says that the invasion 5 years ago was “the triumph of the so-called neoconservative ideology, as well as Bush administration arrogance and incompetence.”

Hagel says he held one of the Senate’s strongest records of support for President Bush, but his standing as a Republican was still doubted because of his opposition to the administration’s foreign policy – one he sees as “reckless” and “divorced from a strategic context.”

Hagel announced last year that he wouldn’t run for a third Senate term or seek the Republican nomination for president. His name was often mentioned as a potential running mate for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on an independent presidential ticket. But last month, Bloomberg said he wouldn’t run.

Here’s my question to you: Republican Senator Chuck Hagel says the U.S. may need a new political party. Is he right?
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