Positively American : winning back the middle-class majority one family at a time / Chuck Schumer with Daniel Squadron.

Includes index.

Pt. 1: Meet the Baileys. Victory? ; It's the middle class, stupid ; The Fonz ; Ohio 4 Bush ; Trust ; Brave new world ; Eight words -- Pt. 2: The 50% Solution: The Kitchen Table Compact ; Increase reading and math scores by 50% ; Reduce property taxes that fund education by 50% ; Increase the number of college graduates by 50% ; Reduce illegal immigration by at least 50% and increase legal immigration by up to 50% ; Reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 50% ; Reduce cancer mortality by 50% ; Reduce childhood obesity by 50% ; Reduce abortions by 50% ; Cut children's access to internet pornography by at least 50% ; Reduce tax evasion and avoidance by 50% ; Increase our ability to fight terrorism by 50%.

New York's popular senior senator offers a bold plan for change in the Democratic Party. The results of the 2004 election made it clear that while Democrats call themselves the party of the middle, the middle class does not consider the Democrats their party. Now, Chuck Schumer offers his plan for capturing the middle-class vote and moving his party back into the majority. Democrats can accomplish this, the senator explains, without abandoning their traditional principles. Schumer envisions a hypothetical, average middle-class American family, "the Baileys," who spend "as much time talking about the cost of cornflakes as the cost of the national debt." He then details specific proposals he believes would keep America safe, secure, and on top; and support the aspirations of a prosperous and growing middle class while speaking to anxieties created in a world changed by technology and globalization.--From publisher description.