One Dollar, One Vote?

[phantom power]

A small but growing number of moderate Democrats are balking at boosting taxes on the rich. Many face electorates that recoil at the mention of any tax increase. Some represent areas that are loaded with wealthier taxpayers. Further, some incumbent senators who don't face voters this fall are reluctant to increase taxes on anyone while the economy remains sluggish. Without their support, the push to raise rates on the rich probably will fail.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/01/99992/democrats-unlikely-to-repeal-tax.html

...

As research from Princeton political scientist Larry Bartels demonstrated several years ago, American politicians are powerfully affected by the views of the rich, and this has nothing to do with any recent electoral trends.

Rather, as the chart on the right shows, things have been this way for a long time. Using data from voting records in the early 90s, it shows that the responsiveness of senators to the views of the poor and working class is....zero. Or maybe even negative. And that's true for both parties. The middle class does better — again, with both parties — and high earners do better still. In fact, they do spectacularly better among Republican senators. And this disparity has almost certainly gotten even worse over the past two decades.

This is the shape of American politics. If your income is low — and probably a fair number of the 56% who want Bush's tax cuts for the rich repealed are low-income voters — politicians simply don't care. If you're middle class they care a little more. But if you're rich, then they really, really care. And it's safe to say that most high earners are opposed to repealing tax cuts on high earners. That goes for all Republicans and a growing number of Democrats too. So what seems like a no-brainer isn't as simple as it looks. Economically it makes sense to repeal Bush's tax cuts for the rich, and a majority of American citizens are in favor of it. Unfortunately for them, they belong to the wrong majority. They're not rich themselves, and increasingly in America, that means their votes just don't count.

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/09/repeal-bush-tax-cuts-for-wealthy

[Dark]

1. This should be an easy win issue for the dems. "Keep taxes lower on the middle class."

And still they're going to cave. The Democrats aren't the professional left. They are professional losers.

[depakid]

2. Looks more than a bit like a third world model of government

reflected to some extent in the pattern we see here:

http://mapscroll.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-us-becoming-third-world-country.html

[jdlh8894]

3. If they let the tax cuts runout

I thought it was an all or nothing bill. Seems to me, if they are going for the rich,everybody is effected. Otherwise, they would have to re-write the whole legislation.Don't know,just asking.

[BurtWorm]

4. I almost posted this.

:patriot:

[LiberalFighter]

5. These Democrats are so efn stupid.

1) These god damn rich folks will still receive the same tax cuts that those with less than 250k.

2) If they don't want to pay higher taxes above the 250k then should reduce their god damn income.