Washington – Using a Lakewood family as their example, Senate Democrats on Wednesday pushed their election-year message that Republican policies squeeze the middle class.
Cindy Sovine, 26; her husband, Noah Miller, 27; and their son, Jonathan, 5, were featured at an event in the U.S. Capitol. They stood beside Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, as the Democratic leaders charged that Republican policies elevate special interests above working families.
It’s a message Democratic senators will be pushing in their states during the August congressional recess, as Republicans emphasize their conservative fiscal policies and their tough stance on illegal immigration.
“Middle-class families are struggling with higher gas prices, they’re facing ever-rising college tuition costs and … rising health care costs,” Reid said. “The Republican Congress hasn’t noticed, and it is time for a change.”
The Colorado Republican Party rejected the notion that Democrats will better protect the middle class.
“Republicans have reduced taxes for every American,” said executive director Hans Gullickson. “They doubled the child tax credit and reduced the marriage penalty. Every time the Democratic majority is in Congress, they want to raise taxes on Americans.”
Sovine and Miller didn’t know in advance that their trip would be for a Democratic event nor that they would be the sole family representing the middle class, Sovine said. A Democratic policy committee found them through a union that contacted a community group.
The couple tends to be “conservative” on fiscal issues, Sovine said. Nevertheless, they agreed with the points made at the event. Sovine, who’s in government relations, and Miller, an insurance salesman, both work full time. The family spends about $500 a month on health insurance, and Sovine spends at least $360 a month on gas. Sovine said together they make $75,000 to $100,000 a year.
“We have to make the choice between whether we pay the bills and keep our insurance up to date … versus being able to save for retirement or a college fund,” Sovine said. “We’re still on a month-to-month basis trying to make ends meet.”
