The monied elite, the PtB, want what they have always wanted: A populace with no options and no security, desperate enough to work for pennies or a workhouse bed for the night. Forget selling to the US middle class, they'll sell to the much bigger Asian markets.

Once you realise what their agenda is (and I'm not talking about an overarching conspiracy, simply that the corporate elites tend to have similar goals), everything makes sense. Education gets cut because worker drones only need basic literacy and numeracy. The plebs are pushed into debt because it makes them more desperate. Ditto eviscerating Social Security and welfare (and Clinton must take a lot of blame on that one). Keep them desperate, keep them scared, and you can get away with paying them pennies, or a meal or a workhouse bed.