Democrats, do not fear, the Middle Class ethos is here.
For years, Progressives tried, with maddening failure, to convince average, working class Americans that inheritance taxes on the super-rich were in fact reasonable and equitable: The rich had for years gorged themselves on countless tax shelters not available to Joe Schmoe, so Uncle Sam taking his cut after they were six feet under was in fact justified.
Remarkably, polls indicated that a majority of Americans, including many living at or below median income, supported the opposition's claim that this was nothing more than a "Death Tax", stealing food from the silver spoons of the deceased's well-deserving heirs.
Peeling away the layers of these polls, however, exposed the underlying sentiment of many respondents: They truly believed, no matter what their present situation, that they could in fact realize the "American Dream" and thus, be in the very position of those uber-millionaires. Having clawed their way to the top, should they then have to fork over those big taxes, despite being shot up with more preservatives than a slab of bacon?
The seeming sane position of opposing massive tax cuts for the vitally-challenged super rich seemed the perfect Robin Hood tactic with which the Left could finally expose the true greedy and mendacious soul of the modern Republican Party. They (we) never expected such a reasonable argument to fail so miserably.
Fortunately for us, George Bush is about to experience the very same reaction, this time in response to his call for massive cuts in Social Security benefits for the rich. Of course, these cuts will also dramatically affect the middle class, but let's just leave that aside for the moment. Bush's supporters argue that he is taking the Robin Hood position, taking from the rich to, well, keep the poor equally poor, and thus will be rewarded by the poor, out of greedy selfishness, and the middle class and wealthy Americans, out of Christian self-sacrifice, for his brave attempt to grab onto the third rail of American politics.
Obviously, the man is less in touch with middle America than his price-of-milk-ignorant sire. Poor Americans will not support cuts for the middle and upper classes as they believe that they will someday occupy that position. And having worked their fingers to the bone, they're not about to return to abject poverty in their golden years soley based on that very success. As for the middle class, many of whom did in fact work their way out of lesser financial circumstances or, conversely, have seen their comfortable position eroded in the past few years of growing wage stagflation, of their 401Ks devastated by the dot-com induced market crash of the early 2000s, will be more than a little reluctant to forgo the security of their previously promised benefits, with or without "personal" accounts.
As for the rich. Well, despite their financial clout, there are only so many voters in their ranks. They'll vote their interest, or vote philanthropically, but their actually ballots represent a fraction of the general electorate. In this instance, they barely matter.
Thus, Bush's pander to the generosity of the American heart will fail as miserably as did the Left's attempt to engage the rationality of the American mind. Four hundred years of the American Dream trumps (no pun intended) both social justice and reality-based self-interest. Just as the poor happily cut taxes for the wealthy, with the belief that someday their own tax burden will be thus decreased, they will fight benefit cuts for even the super rich, due to the same mindset.
It's the American Way.
Posted by MB Williams at May 2, 2005 08:05 PM | TrackBackLots of liberals could have learned this in a far easier way... try any of Anne Wilson Schaef's books (especially "Women's Reality").
Every meme is in there, and understanding them will help greatly - perhaps even for the Peoples of the First Nations (although I doubt that will happen speedily).
Posted by: General Washington at May 4, 2005 02:17 AM