Paul Krugman: Bush Abuses Of Power & Rising Income Inequality

[Hissyspit]

http://welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com/2007/04/paul-krugman-distract-and.html

I have a theory about the Bush administration abuses of power that are now, finally, coming to light. Ultimately, I believe, they were driven by rising income inequality.

Let me explain.

In 1980, when Ronald Reagan won the White House, conservative ideas appealed to many, even most, Americans. At the time, we were truly a middle-class nation. To white voters, at least, the vast inequalities and social injustices of the past, which were what originally gave liberalism its appeal, seemed like ancient history. It was easy, in that nation, to convince many voters that Big Government was their enemy, that they were being taxed to provide social programs for other people.

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Several of the fired U.S. attorneys were under pressure to pursue allegations of voter fraud — a phrase that has become almost synonymous with “voting while black.” Former staff members of the Justice Department’s civil rights division say that they were repeatedly overruled when they objected to Republican actions, ranging from Georgia’s voter ID law to Tom DeLay’s Texas redistricting, that they believed would effectively disenfranchise African-American voters.

The good news is that all the G.O.P.’s abuses of power weren’t enough to win the 2006 elections. And 2008 may be even harder for the Republicans, because the Democrats — who spent most of the Clinton years trying to reassure rich people and corporations that they weren’t really populists — seem to be realizing that times have changed.

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[Skittles]

1. it still sickens me, how many people were fooled by Reagan

I'll never understand it

[KittyWampus]

6. Well, he blended hatred of the govt. with hatred of minorities using subtle/not-so-subtle language

And then also, remember "October Surprise" is a term coined during his first election.

[rman]

2. The odd thing is then even during the Clinton years rich people and corporations

made up a minority of the population. Clinton was either pandering to a minority at the expense of the majority - or there were many people who were thinking they were rich while in reality they were not rich (the middle class).

[Frances]

4. Move Up Dream

Most of the people in the middle class in the 80s thought they would move up just as most of their parents had. They wanted to protect the rights of the rich because they believed it was possible that they or their children could move into that category.

[karynnj]

5. The norm in the US is to believe in upward mobility

and to vote as if you are in the class you aspire to be in. this is why so many thing the estate tax is an issue for them - when it affects almost no one.

[KittyWampus]

7. The Death Tax, as it stands now, effects me greatly. My family has had a business for 50 years

Do you know how rare it is to keep a small family business for THREE generations.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but the comment you made about Estate Taxes rubs me the wrong way. It is an incorrect statement.

And yet when my father dies, I would have to sell this place to pay the taxes. Real estate values are insane now.

And there are many families out here, with small farms, who face the same problems.

We aren't absentee landlords. We are small businesses.

And telling me we should use a Trust to make it workable is bullshit. Or that my father should give me this place before he goes.

Why should OUR property become a Trust just so I can keep a place I've worked at my whole life?
Why should my father hand over the place prematurely?

[rman]

8. What the previous poster said

slightly paraphrased:
"so many think the estate tax is an issue for them - when it affects a very few"

Is simply true.
Many people voted against it, thinking that it would benefit them while in reality estate tax does not apply to them. That's the result of very effective RW propaganda.


Though personally i think a distinction should be made between estates that are the property of big money/big business people on the one hand, and estates that are the property of small businesses. I think the Republican party makes it hard on small businesses on purpose - after all it's not small businesses that spend billions each year on lobbying. Large businesses would love to expand their market share, and i don't think they care much about disappearing mom-and-pop shops.

[karynnj]

9. I agree

The point is that the way to handle this is to fix the problem with small businesses. My family has a small business that some of my siblings took over from my mom, by buying her out over time.

As to farms, in 2000 (I think), the Republicans tried but could not find one example of a farm lost to taxes.


Whether the tax was good or not wasn't my point. My point was a huge group of people who are not close to being affected are adamant that this could hurt them long term. I don't remember which Senator (I think Feingold) tried to see if they would accept even an extraordinarily high limit and teh Republicans STILL rejected it.

[cassiepriam]

3. Rove's biggest success has been tricking Americans into voting against their self interest.

Over and over again, the American people have voted the
middle class out of existence.