My son is nine years old.

Darrin and Holly Rankin's kids are six and two. Cal and Elizabeth's are six and eight. Our generation of parents face an economy that riddles our plans with holes -- right smack dab in the middle of our children's college savings timeline.

For many families, these will be lost years in which little is saved.

If parenthood wasn't an inherently hopeful adventure, we would have used different music in this film. But the thing is, life goes on. You play catch in the afternoon. You try to learn and change. You watch the bottom line.

And it's the same for other folks for whom this downturn comes at precisely the wrong time. Imagine coming into this job market out of college right now -- or being a few years away from retirement. This recession is an equal opportunity life re-arranger for the majority of Americans who, like Darrin, consider themselves members of the middle class.

To that end, Cal's middle class relief package includes several tax cuts and savings programs, including:

* Extending first time homebuyers and existing homeowners tax credits
* Increasing the child tax credit
* Passing a new federal prepaid college savings option
* Expanding the child care tax credit
* Expanding and making permanent the American Opportunity tax credit

All of these things aim to incentivize planning and saving for the future, which is such a huge part of the difficult household budgetary decisions we all make every month.

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This is the last of our "Voices of North Carolina" series for the primary. As you're thinking about your choice for United States Senate, I'd ask you to consider the candidate who could have put himself first, but instead chose to highlight the stories of his neighbors.

Considering that the average attention span for online video is about 45 seconds, it's nearly heretical that in none of these six films does the candidate appear before 1:45.

But leadership listens first, and takes the time to do so.

Thanks for your time and attention, your confidence and your vote.

Frank