America's wealthy elite votes against self-interest.

[dawg]

This is a thought that has been bubbling around in my brain for quite some time. We have the notion, here in liberal circles, that the wealthy individuals that fund and support the extreme right-wing of the Republican party do so because of their greed. I don't doubt that this is true, however, it would seem to me that their efforts are counterproductive.

Just like with a company, a country needs investment in productive capital in order to achieve long-term success. The fortunes of the billionaire class are dependent on an educated workforce, a rock-solid infrastructure, middle-class consumers, sustainable sources of energy, well-regulated financial markets, a stable legal system, stable interest rates, consistent tax policy, and good international relations. I just don't see how today's Republican party serves any of these interests.

There is a general consensus among business types that Wall Street strongly favors Bush in the election due to his "pro growth" polices. I'm sorry - I just don't see it. It would be one thing if he were able to cut taxes by wringing substantial amounts of waste out of the budget. He has not done so. What cuts he has made, have come at the expense of the poorest families and will be reflected in the economy by an immediate reduction in demand for consumer products. The remainder of the tax cuts are debt-financed, which is not pro-growth in the slightest. How can someone with a business school degree not realize that? Any amount of money deposited into the economy through lower taxes must be immediately removed by the purchase of government bonds sold to finance the deficit. It is a zero-sum proposition, except of course to the extent that foreigners purchase US treasuries, which is another problem in and of itself.

The Bush economy, as lackluster as it is, is an unsustainable house of cards. Only a substantial tax increase, or major entitlement reform involving outright theft of a portion of the social security trust fund, can right the ship of state and avoid a debt crisis. These policies, political will or no, literally can not be continued indefinitely.

Either I'm missing something that is obvious to 85% of all business types, or the whole bloomin' lot of them is delusional. I'm voting for "delusional" - does anyone else have any insight on this?

[trotsky]

1. Wall Street has a lot of conflicts.

1) The market ALWAYS performs better under Democratic presidents. This is a demonstrated fact. Not just marginally better, but significantly better. I've got the link somewhere, but someone else might have it ready.

2) Personally, the rich Wall Street types like to see their taxes cut under Republican presidents.

So, they have a dilemma - support the candidate who will help the market perform (which will make them more money), or support the one who will cut their taxes (which will make them more money).

[rfranklin]

3. Or just alternate between the two and reap rewards from...

each set of circumstances. For people with huge amounts of capital, it is good for the market to take a tumble. While they may lose some value to their investments for that time, they benefit from distress sales of stocks and other investments.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. There was some talk of this in the Stock Market thread.

I don't quite remember the method (in and out of the bond market?) but the rich have avoided paying their fair share for decades, if not centuries, while only mildly suffering, or not suffering at all, during economic downturns.

The Cult of Greed is the root cause of virtually every major problem this country has, e.g., war, poverty, media, elections, civility, wealth disparity, etc...

The real traitors and anti-patriots, imho.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Tax cuts are debt-finaced. Debt paid by middle/lower classes.

They know exactly what they're supporting. It's not delusional, it's cold, calculating greed.

When taxes are raised to former levels, and they will be, they will have enjoyed 4 years of mattress stuffing.

[dawg]

5. Those middle class people are their consumers!

Do they think they'll be able to maintain their profit-margins selling their products to the Chinese? To the Indians?

And as we continue to de-fund public education, our workforce becomes less and less competitive.

Also, history has shown that when wealth becomes too concentrated at the top - a redistribution occurs. Either through the democratic process or at the point of a sword, it happens. And the upperclasses end up far, far worse than if they had worked to maintain a balanced society in the first place.

[camero]

4. Remember the aliens in "Independence Day"?

That's our rich. The goal of globalization is to bring the wages of the industrialized world down to third world levels. Money is a limited resource like everything else. The less you have the more they have.

The greedy don't just want some. They want it all. They make money off the debt too because they take the tax cut money and buy the bonds used to finance the debt and collect the interest.

[dawg]

6. Then who, pray tell, do they plan to sell their shit to?

No one ever got rich by selling goods and services to third-world nations.

[camero]

8. Plenty of other countries in Globalization

Honestly I don't think they plan on selling anything. They plan on taking the money and running. There will always be people who are willing to grovel for the crumbs they get. The rich know there time is near and they are going for broke now.

[tabasco]

7. Shortsightedness

- Republicans don't give a damn about future generations. That's why they support destructive environmental policies.
- Democrats actually care about future generations and act in the interest of society as a whole.
- Republicans want to restore monarchy with themselves as the princes. They do not understand that capitalism is not just the law of the jungle. Working class republicans need to get a clue and fast.