The public sees clear winners and losers from the economic policies the government has implemented since the recession of 2008. Most Americans say these policies have helped large banks, large corporations and the wealthy, while providing little or no help for the poor, the middle class or small businesses.I believe Americans expected better from Democrats in charge in Washington. The latter have failed to sustain any pretense of champions of common folk.
Fully 74% say that government policies over the past two years have done a great deal (53%) or a fair amount (21%) to help large banks and financial institutions. Majorities also say that large corporations (70% great deal/fair amount) and wealthy people (57% great deal/fair amount) have been helped.
By contrast, 68% say government policies have helped small businesses not at all (29%) or not too much (39%); 68% also say middle-class people have received little or no help from these policies. And about the same percentage (64%) says poor people have not been helped.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
It's still the economy, stupid
There continues to be 2 disparate Americas in the national consciousness according to Pew. President Obama's rather weak economic solutions have not curbed popular frustrations with a big government that protects big business first:
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"...weak economic solutions have not curbed popular frustrations with a big government that protects big business first."
ReplyDeleteThis is our progressive tax system coming home to roost atop the heads of the common folk. Big Government needs to collect Big Taxes from Big Business and Big Bonus Earner in order to leverage ever more debt even as it struggles to roll over existing debt.
Despite talk to the contrary, government is not printing money. It is borrowing and paying interest, even on the money printed by the Fed against junk assets. It needs to show income to lenders/investors to maintain its credit rating and - most importantly - keep interest on that debt at record lows.
The wealthiest 1% of tax filers paid 28% of all federal taxes. Corporations, as much as folks say they don't pay taxes, do contribute 14% of all federal receipts.
The bottom 50% of all taxpayers pay less than 3% of all federal income directly. We're made as irrelevant as our revenue contribution; sidelined by the innate need of the federal government for as much wealth to pass through the hands of those in the highest tax brackets as possible and as often as possible, regardless of the effect on the increasingly impoverished and debt-inslaved middle class. All because of the perverse incentive to see the wealthy prosper encouraged by the progressive tax scale.
Look at it this way: say someone steals $1000 from you and gives 35% to the policeman you're going to report the crime to, who needs that money and more or he'll loose his house. What are the chances that thief will ever be caught when the policeman has become almost equal partner in splitting the loot? Funny we get all bent over campaign contributions without ever seeing the influence wielded by those few who shoulder the majority of the federal tax burden.