The document outlines a narrative to explain the current economic problems facing the middle class and call citizens to action. It argues that working families are struggling while corporations outsource jobs and Wall Street profits off speculation. A successful economy benefits all through good jobs, education, and retirement security rather than just stock prices and corporate profits. The government should invest in people to build the middle class, but the political system is corrupted by wealthy elites who rewrite rules to their benefit. Citizens must take back democracy to ensure the economy serves all, not just the richest few, and hold officials accountable for protecting the middle class.

1. Telling Our Story:
An Economy that
Works for All of Us
Presented by Richard Kirsch for
USAction Education Fund

2. What is narrative?
 People can only marshal anger and action about the crisis
if they feel that at some basic level they understand it.
Before we have a politics, or a broad call for reform, we
must have some broadly shared understanding of what
went wrong and who’s responsible. (New Pecora
Commission, Christopher Hayes, New Deal 2.0)

3. What is narrative?
 The narrative determines our attitudes toward the actors
and events of the crisis. It also identifies the structural
problems thought suitable for legislative and regulatory
remedy. (Vincent Reinhart, American Enterprise Institute)

4. Five Pillars of our Narrative
 The Economic Problem
 What a Successful Economy Looks Like
 The Role of Our Government
 The Political Problem
 The Call to Action

5. Our Story
Connect with our Economic Problem
 Working and middle class families are struggling, while
the richest get richer at the expense of the rest of us.
 American families are working harder and getting paid less,
falling behind our parents' generation.
 Big corporations shipped jobs overseas and Wall Street
speculators took more and more of America’s wealth, getting
rich quickly at the expense of American workers, and
families.

6. Our Story
What a Successful Economy Looks Like
 Our middle class is the engine of the economy.
 The true measure of economic success is the well-being of
American families, and the productivity of our nation, not
just the stock market and corporate profits.
 We all do better when we all do better. America is only as
strong as its middle class.
 Our economic success is driven by innovating and investing
in the future so that every American has a good job, can
educate their kids, support their families and retire with
security.

7. Our Story
The Role of Our Government in the Economy
 The middle class does not prosper by accident.
 We build the middle class by decisions we make together,
as a society.
 Decisions to invest in our people, expand opportunity and
provide security.
 Decisions that will pave the way for businesses to innovate
and meet the future.
 Writing rules that boost businesses that do the right thing.

8. Our Story
Our Political Problem –
 Our political system has been captured and corrupted by
self-serving elites.
 The issue is not the size of our government, it's who it works
for – the richest few or all of us?
 Today, CEO campaign contributors and Wall Street
speculators bribe our leaders to rewrite the rules just for
them and to look the other way when they break the law.
 Our democracy will only work again when we all have an
equal voice in making the rules we all live by. We have to
take our democracy back to ensure that our economy works
for all of us, not just the richest few.

9. Our Story
The Call to Action –
 We are fighting together for an America that works for all
of us.
 It’s up to us to fight together for the American Dream:
opportunity for good jobs, strong communities, shared
prosperity.
 We are going to hold our elected representatives responsible
for protecting and expanding the middle class.
 Americans have done this before. This is who we are. This is
what America is all about.

10. Five Questions for the 99%
1. Why isn’t the economy working?
 For 30 years, the 1% got richer at
the expense of the 99%

11. Five Questions for the 99%
2. What makes the economy work?
 The economy works, when it
works for the 99%.

12. Five Questions for the 99%
3. How do we get our economy
moving forward again?
 By making our economy work
for the 99%.

13. Five Questions for the 99%
4. What do we – the 99% – have to do
together for our country?
 Make our democracy work for
us, the 99%.

14. Five Questions for the 99%
5. What are we asking our elected
officials?
 Which side are you on, the 1% or
the 99%.