According to a report from the Federal Reserve it has! The Fed's 'Bulletin' titled, Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2007 to 2010: Evidence from th... states that family median net wealth decreased nearly a whopping 40% from 2007 to 2010! The bulletin also states that there was a decline in the years prior to 2007 as well.

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From the Washington Post:

The data represent one of the most detailed looks at how the economic downturn altered the landscape of family finance. Over a span of three years, Americans watched progress that took almost a generation to accumulate evaporate. The promise of retirement built on the inevitable rise of the stock market proved illusory for most. Homeownership, once heralded as a pathway to wealth, became an albatross.

The findings underscore the depth of the wounds of the financial crisis and how far many families remain from healing. If the recession set Americans back 20 years, economists say, the road forward is sure to be a long one. And so far, the country has seen only a halting recovery.

“It’s hard to overstate how serious the collapse in the economy was,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. “We were in free fall.”

The recession caused the greatest upheaval among the middle class. Only roughly half of middle­-class Americans remained on the same economic rung during the downturn, the Fed found.

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So clearly the American Dream of each generation doing better than the one before it is dead, at least for now. Why? While the report is full of data trying to explain this depressing result it is clear to us that government is taking too much from the private sector economy and regulating it to death. When people are not free to create and produce then the economy has nowhere to go but down. Like Reagan said, "Government is not the solution to our problems, Government is the problem!"

Have any of you ever tried to start a small business? Do you own a small business? Every year it gets harder and harder to accomplish. Sure, the liberal/socialists will tell you the economic downturn happened because of Wall Street but that is simply not true. This decline has been 'in the works' for years and years as Government puts more and more restrictions on what businesses can and can't do as well as increasing taxes and reporting requirements. There are many examples of entrepreneurs who started great companies 30 years ago that say they probably could not pull it off in today's environment.

The answer is simple! Cut taxes on businesses and massively cut regulations. Don't just stop the 'growth' of regulations, get rid of them! Businesses should not pay any taxes anyway. If you really think about it taxing a business is the stupidest thing in the world as it kills expansion and hiring. People pay taxes, not businesses. Every penny that is taxed from a business takes it away from expanding that business and/or hiring new employees. Of course, if you are a socialist that is exactly what you want though. You want government controlling all the money and deciding the fate of the economy instead of FREE people. Ask yourself this question, "Who will do a better job controlling your money, you or the government?"

Our economy could literally be turned around overnight if the politicians would set the American business sector free. It won't happen though. American is on a slow path to socialism. Politicians want to pander to people who want 'free stuff' from the Government instead of doing what is right that would help EVERYONE. And the sad truth is that about half the population of the United States probably wants a socialist type system.

But there is still hope. Scott Walker's victory proved that! We just have to keep fighting to preserve the American Dream.