GOP want US dependence on Wealthy mood/handouts

[papau]

I am beginning to understand the faith based push that Bush is cheerleading - he wants all help for the poor to come from a cloying
dependence on the wealthy. The state is replaced by the assumption that philanthropy from business people and the other rich is all that is needed to run the country - we should have a government with no power to tax the rich (say left with only a national sales tax - no tax on income from investments) that tries to run the country and follow an economic policy based on the whims of millionaires, and their current mood.

Anyone who wants to help the poor - via Church or a non-profit - must depend on contributions from the wealthy - a world based on handouts that are recieved with the proper show of appreciation, including shapping all policy to fit the du jour desires of
their financiers. Charity becomes the business card of the rich - not low wages, poor working conditions, bad environment, and rip-offs of the public treasury via corporate welfare in taxes and contracts. Gee - this will make other country's rich want to invest in the US because of our better investment climate (as in all those 3rd world countries with one family controlling billions and the rest starving).

So we underfund "No child left behind", and accept the investor flight from lack of high quality academic manpower, because of all the low paid jobs we will take away from China with our cheap labor and fond appreciation for the rich. We even lower taxes on the rich to levels that pass the debt to our children, so that the rich will have so much on their table that they will "throw a few crumbs" to the non-rich. What a great society the GOP are bringing us - where all pretending that we are a democracy ends, and the rich know that they need not hide their ability to hand out orders in exchange for handouts. And the GOP yell "increase the motivation of the rich with low taxes" and we all understand that they mean that once we end state welfare and are totally dependent of the rich, we will really fear not pleasing the rich - cause, hey, they could move to a better country and take their jobs with them!

What a great party is the GOP.

[priller]

1. I actually think it's more politically oriented

The GOP have long complained that the Dems have a built-in automatic vote from the people on Welfare, that the poor will always vote Democratic to keep the welfare checks coming.

If the GOP can change the outlet for these benefits from the state to a church/charity arrangement, then the poor will know that their bread is now being buttered by the GOP, not the Dems, and then the GOP would get both the rich and poor vote.

[TrogL]

2. It's more than just the GOP

It's a conservative touchstone, derived from Calvinism(?) that basically says rich people are rich because they inherently deserve to be. Also, because they are rich, they are automatically good (yes, there's a logical fallacy there). Because they are good, they should be the ones to set social policy ie. who gets handouts.

Basically it amounts to this "why should I give you a handout to do something that doesn't support my values".

They consider public money (ie. taxes) to be "their" money because they think they (presumably by Manifest Destiny) should be in charge. Hence, if there's a chance for them NOT to be in charge (ie. losing the election) they will do their damdest to make sure there isn't any money in the public coffers to spend. Hence the war in Iraq and the non-peace in Afghanistan. It never did have anything to do with Saddam's WMD's, it had everything to do with using up all of America's bombs so that America would have to buy more from conservative businesses.

[TrogL]

3. The above post is...

pretty much the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. :tinfoilhat:

[sandnsea]

5. Calvinism - a bit more

It's more than deserve. Calvinism is pre-destination. God has His elected people and you know who is chosen and holy by their blessings. There isn't anything you do to participate in your salvation at all. Negative consequences happen on this earth because you've been disobedient in some way. Therefore, rich people are good Christians and poor people are, at best, bad Christians who caused all their own problems. At least, that's the way I understand it.

[German-Lefty]

4. The religious right fits your theory.

Remove all public charities to let the church take them over. Churches used to run schools, hospitals, charities, and universities. I think some of them miss the good old days, when their Church was a massive financial and political machine, with a monopoly on "truth".

Look to Mormons and Catholics to see Churches with some financial power.