Rich Or Richer?
November 23, 2007 on 10:00 pm | In Main, National |
I’m always amused when my Democratic friends tell me the Republicans represent the rich, while the Dems are the party of the downtrodden and the working class. It was probably true at one time. Indeed, before I came to my senses a few years ago, I believed it, too.
It reminds me of the story about former NBA great Charles Barkley, who while contemplating a run for governor of his native Alabama, was berated by his own mother. She said (and I am paraphrasing here), “How can you belong to the Republican Party? They only care about rich people.”
To which Sir Charles replied, “Mom, we’re rich.” But I digress …
This study by the conservative Heritage Foundation takes a look at the hard numbers and concludes just the opposite. The Dems in Congress tend to represent wealthier people than the Republicans.
The foundation’s findings are consistent with what I see here in the Northwest Corner. The Democratic Party used to represent laborers (and their unions), but now the GOP has more working class supporters and the Dems are becoming increasingly elitist. I know committed liberals who deny this, but the numbers don’t lie.
[BTW, I suspect the migration of the working class to the GOP has less to do with economics than with social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.]
Witness the Dems joining the bandwagon to eliminate the alternative minimum tax and their reluctance to replace it with a tax hike on hedge fund managers. No, I’m not making this up. Democratic congressmen and senators, particularly those in the northeastern states (and even Charlie Rangel), know their constituents.
Next thing you know, Teddy Kennedy will be calling for an extension of the estate tax repeal …
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Reminds me of a conversation I had with my cousin’s wife (who is an editor at the WaPo). Standing in the dining room of her seven bedroom, 14 acre estate on Philadelphia’s Main Line, she remarked how Delaware County was obviously Republican because so many “rich people” live. When I mentioned that the county had voted Democrat consistently for the past ten years, she looked at me like I had two heads. And this was someone who is supposed to know something about politics.
One way of looking at it is this. The Republican Party is the party of small business people, people who get little benefit from government spending, and/or people whose tax burden impacts their standard of living (the people who pay the bulk of the taxes). Democrats are people who benefit from government spending and/or are people whose personal net worth isn’t significantly impacted by their tax burden (ever met a Republican who lives on third generation inherited wealth? Me neither.) As such, the two parties package their platforms around issues relating to the size and cost of government.
Comment by Jake — November 24, 2007 #
…live there.
Comment by Jake — November 24, 2007 #