Us versus Them, the Winners and the Losers, And of course, the Wealthy and the Middle Class

We have been perusing the so-called and conservative and progressive websites ever since the Senate passed the raising of the debt ceiling this morning. It is truly amazing how reducing the growth rate of federal government spending (there are no cuts) has been characterized as a “loss” for the middle class and a “win” for the wealthy on sites like "The Nation" and "Progressive."
The dialogue in the analysis pre-supposes that somehow if government is functioning properly, the middle class can benefit from bigger government, while it comes at the “expense” of the wealthy.
The stereotyping of public policy as an “us versus them” battle wherein the middle class benefits from maintaining the upward trajectory of federal government spending is the ultimate false assumption about how economics works. And of course, the suggestion that the choice must be made between the “wealthy” and the “middle class,” is the ultimate presentation of a patently false choice.
Just as the tea parties are characterized as racists and hostage takers, somehow the wealthy and the business owners are portrayed as exploiters of all others, especially those they emply who fall into the so-called "middle class." How sad it is in the second decade of the 21st century that we have not learned the basic lesson that big government only benefits politicians who vote for big government. Everyone else loses…..everyone. Still the progressives sites relentlessly bash and bash the tea parties most of all. I'm not a member of the Tea Party but I have met plenty of them. The great irony is very few are wealthy and almost all of them ARE MEMBERS of the so-called MIDDLE CLASS. Go figure.



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