Leftist Says Election Was ‘Victory for the Left’ about Income Equality
Liberals make my job easier. There isn’t a day that goes by that I can’t find something to write about.
The latest is from William Saletan who writes for Slate.com. He’s claiming the following:
“Republicans won big in the 2014 elections. They captured the Senate and gained seats in the House. But they didn’t do it by running to the right. They did it, to a surprising extent, by embracing ideas and standards that came from the left. . . . I’m talking about the core of the liberal agenda: economic equality.”
I had to laugh as I read this. Of course, Republicans talk about “income equality.” It’s a fundamental plank in a conservative’s platform.
The only time you have near income equality is under Communism where everybody is equally poor. Given the agenda of the Democrats, we are moving in that direction, except, of course, those implementing the policies and running them. Like the Politburo, their income is vastly unequal.
Staletan mentions 13 categories related to economic equality: poverty, minorities, equal pay, median income, real unemployment, underemployment, income inequality, part-time America, upward mobility, labor vs. capital, minimum wage, earned income tax credit, progressive taxation.
A Leftist’s way to address these issues is to involve government while those of us on the right believe these economic matters are better addressed by getting government out of the way. In fact, a conservative would say that many of these problems have been created by Leftists for Leftist political gain.
Yes, there are Republicans who have not called for a wholesale cancellation of many entrenched economic policies that are bankrupting the nation and turning millions of Americans into economic dependents in the same of fairness and social justice.
Let’s take a look at some of Staletan’s arguments:
“From California to Georgia to Virginia, Republicans called attention to high or rising poverty rates.
Of course they did. Why are poverty rates high or rising? One big factor is the manipulation of the economy by government. Obstacles for success are everywhere. Talk to any business owner.
High corporate tax rates that end up sending jobs overseas, mandated insurance coverage for birth control, abortions, and other non-medical procedures, minimum wage laws, regulations of all kinds, etc. Then there’s the competing welfare system that makes it economically unfeasible for millions of non-workers to return to the workforce.
To remedy the situation, Leftists call for more taxes on the rich. They want to tax the people that spend, invest, and save, the very things that go into true job creation.
“Republicans also zeroed in on blacks and other underserved populations. In Louisiana right-wing candidate Rob Maness pointed out, ‘Unemployment for young black men in this state is three times the rate of unemployment for anybody else.’”
Once again, liberals have created programs of dependence. A fettered economy is cautious with its assets. With increased expenses, many of which are government-mandated, employers hire the most educated and experienced workers. Many unskilled poor people can’t compete for jobs because the minimum wage keeps them out of the job market.
A screaming economy would have “Help Wanted” signs up everywhere. The most under-skilled and least experienced would be recruited for job training and placement.
“Republicans researched how much money Democratic officeholders paid their male and female staffers. Any Democrat who paid women less was called out for it, regardless of circumstances.”
It’s called pointing out the hypocrisy. That last line is important for a conservative’s argument: “regardless of circumstances.” There are many reasons why men and women are paid differently, and it’s none of the government’s business as to why. Some (many) women make more money than men. Tall men play basketball and make more money than short un-athletic men. Female models make more money than male models.
“‘Over the last several years, median household income in this state has declined by over $4,000,’ said Rep. Cory Gardner, the Republican Senate candidate in Colorado.”
What’s Staletan’s solution? He and his fellow-leftists don’t have a free market solution. They believe government is the answer. What’s government going to do to fix this “inequality”? By taxing the rich? More wealth redistribution? Once again, the Leftist solution is a government solution.
I could have hired two people with the amount of money I paid in taxes last year. Did any of my tax dollars actually help anybody? The poor who demand that the rich pay their “fair share” ever get any of that “fair share”?
Which is better, for a rich person to be taxed $10,000,000 or for a rich person to build a house that costs $10,000,000? Building house creates jobs in probably a thousand different ways.
“While Democratic incumbents bragged about declining unemployment, Republicans pointed out that this number omits people who are so discouraged they’ve stopped looking for work.”
Declining unemployment? The number of people who have left the workforce is staggering. They are no longer counted in the unemployment numbers. The economy has been wrecked by Leftist policies designed to help the poor. The housing bubble crisis is a good example. People who had no business buying a home had their mortgages insured by the government. Lending institutions were forced to loan to the poor (no redlining), but any defaults on the loans would be backed up by the government. The result? Economic disaster that resulted in across-the-board unemployment.
Each of the points he tries to use to say that the midterm election was a “Victory for the Left” is nonsense. These issues were raised by Republicans because Democrats either created the problems or amplified them with their policies.
Are some Republicans part of the problem? You bet they are, but that’s why we have elections.