{"id":24109,"date":"2013-01-28T13:54:32","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T12:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/view\/2013\/01\/28-4"},"modified":"2013-01-28T13:54:32","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T12:54:32","slug":"the-gops-class-warriors-makers-takers-fakers-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/the-gops-class-warriors-makers-takers-fakers-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The GOP’s Class Warriors: Makers, Takers, Fakers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Republicans have a problem. For years they could shout down any attempt to point out the extent to which their policies favored the elite over the poor and the middle class; all they had to do was yell \u201cClass warfare!\u201d and Democrats scurried away. In the 2012 election, however, that didn\u2019t work: the picture of the G.O.P. as the party of sneering plutocrats stuck, even as Democrats became more openly populist than they have been in decades.\"\"Republican Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Congressman and former VOP candidate Paul Ryan.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, prominent Republicans have begun acknowledging that their party needs to improve its image. But here\u2019s the thing: Their proposals for a makeover all involve changing the sales pitch rather than the product. When it comes to substance, the G.O.P. is more committed than ever to policies that take from most Americans and give to a wealthy handful.<\/p>\n

Consider, as a case in point, how a widely reported recent speech by Bobby Jindal the governor of Louisiana, compares with his actual policies.<\/p>\n

Mr. Jindal posed the problem in a way that would, I believe, have been unthinkable for a leading Republican even a year ago. \u201cWe must not,\u201d he declared, \u201cbe the party that simply protects the well off so they can keep their toys. We have to be the party that shows all Americans how they can thrive.\u201d After a campaign in which Mitt Romney denounced any attempt to talk about class divisions as an \u201cattack on success,\u201d this represents a major rhetorical shift.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Jindal didn\u2019t offer any suggestions about how Republicans might demonstrate that they aren\u2019t just about letting the rich keep their toys, other than claiming even more loudly that their policies are good for everyone.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back in Louisiana Mr. Jindal is pushing a plan to eliminate the state\u2019s income tax, which falls most heavily on the affluent, and make up for the lost revenue by raising sales taxes, which fall much more heavily on the poor and the middle class. The result would be big gains for the top 1 percent, substantial losses for the bottom 60 percent. Similar plans are being pushed by a number of other Republican governors as well.<\/p>\n

Like the new acknowledgment that the perception of being the party of the rich is a problem, this represents a departure for the G.O.P. \u2013 but in the opposite direction. In the past, Republicans would justify tax cuts for the rich either by claiming that they would pay for themselves or by claiming that they could make up for lost revenue by cutting wasteful spending. But what we\u2019re seeing now is open, explicit reverse Robin Hoodism: taking from ordinary families and giving to the rich. That is, even as Republicans look for a way to sound more sympathetic and less extreme, their actual policies are taking another sharp right turn.<\/p>\n

Why is this happening? In particular, why is it happening now, just after an election in which the G.O.P. paid a price for its anti-populist stand?<\/p>\n

Well, I don\u2019t have a full answer, but I think it\u2019s important to understand the extent to which leading Republicans live in an intellectual bubble. They get their news from Fox and other captive media, they get their policy analysis from billionaire-financed right-wing think tanks, and they\u2019re often blissfully unaware both of contrary evidence and of how their positions sound to outsiders.<\/p>\n

So when Mr. Romney made his infamous \u201c47 percent\u201d remarks, he wasn\u2019t, in his own mind, saying anything outrageous or even controversial. He was just repeating a view that has become increasingly dominant inside the right-wing bubble, namely that a large and ever-growing proportion of Americans won\u2019t take responsibility for their own lives and are mooching off the hard-working wealthy. Rising unemployment claims demonstrate laziness, not lack of jobs; rising disability claims represent malingering, not the real health problems of an aging work force.<\/p>\n

And given that worldview, Republicans see it as entirely appropriate to cut taxes on the rich while making everyone else pay more.<\/p>\n

Now, national politicians learned last year that this kind of talk plays badly with the public, so they\u2019re trying to obscure their positions. Paul Ryan, for example, has lately made a transparently dishonest attempt to claim that when he spoke about \u201ctakers\u201d living off the efforts of the \u201cmakers\u201d \u2013 at one point he assigned 60 percent of Americans to the taker category \u2013 he wasn\u2019t talking about people receiving Social Security and Medicare. (He was.)<\/p>\n

But in deep red states like Louisiana or Kansas, Republicans are much freer to act on their beliefs \u2013 which means moving strongly to comfort the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted.<\/p>\n

Which brings me back to Mr. Jindal, who declared in his speech that \u201cwe are a populist party.\u201d No, you aren\u2019t. You\u2019re a party that holds a large proportion of Americans in contempt. And the public may have figured that out.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2012 The New York Times<\/p>\n

\n
\"Paul<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Paul Krugman is professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University and a regular columnist for The New York Times. Krugman was the 2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is the author of numerous books, including The Conscience of A Liberal<\/a>, The Return of Depression Economics<\/a>, and his most recent, End This Depression Now!<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n

Republicans have a problem. For years they could shout down any attempt to point out the extent to which their policies favored the elite over the poor and the middle class; all they had to do was yell “Class warfare!” and Democrats scurried away. In the 2012 election, however, that didn’t work: the picture of the G.O.P. as the party of sneering plutocrats stuck, even as Democrats became more openly populist than they have been in decades.\"\"Republican Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Congressman and former VOP candidate Paul Ryan.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, prominent Republicans have begun acknowledging that their party needs to improve its image. But here’s the thing: Their proposals for a makeover all involve changing the sales pitch rather than the product. When it comes to substance, the G.O.P. is more committed than ever to policies that take from most Americans and give to a wealthy handful.<\/p>\n

Consider, as a case in point, how a widely reported recent speech by Bobby Jindal the governor of Louisiana, compares with his actual policies.<\/p>\n

Mr. Jindal posed the problem in a way that would, I believe, have been unthinkable for a leading Republican even a year ago. “We must not,” he declared, “be the party that simply protects the well off so they can keep their toys. We have to be the party that shows all Americans how they can thrive.” After a campaign in which Mitt Romney denounced any attempt to talk about class divisions as an “attack on success,” this represents a major rhetorical shift.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Jindal didn’t offer any suggestions about how Republicans might demonstrate that they aren’t just about letting the rich keep their toys, other than claiming even more loudly that their policies are good for everyone.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back in Louisiana Mr. Jindal is pushing a plan to eliminate the state’s income tax, which falls most heavily on the affluent, and make up for the lost revenue by raising sales taxes, which fall much more heavily on the poor and the middle class. The result would be big gains for the top 1 percent, substantial losses for the bottom 60 percent. Similar plans are being pushed by a number of other Republican governors as well.<\/p>\n

Like the new acknowledgment that the perception of being the party of the rich is a problem, this represents a departure for the G.O.P. — but in the opposite direction. In the past, Republicans would justify tax cuts for the rich either by claiming that they would pay for themselves or by claiming that they could make up for lost revenue by cutting wasteful spending. But what we’re seeing now is open, explicit reverse Robin Hoodism: taking from ordinary families and giving to the rich. That is, even as Republicans look for a way to sound more sympathetic and less extreme, their actual policies are taking another sharp right turn.<\/p>\n

Why is this happening? In particular, why is it happening now, just after an election in which the G.O.P. paid a price for its anti-populist stand?<\/p>\n

Well, I don’t have a full answer, but I think it’s important to understand the extent to which leading Republicans live in an intellectual bubble. They get their news from Fox and other captive media, they get their policy analysis from billionaire-financed right-wing think tanks, and they’re often blissfully unaware both of contrary evidence and of how their positions sound to outsiders.<\/p>\n

So when Mr. Romney made his infamous “47 percent” remarks, he wasn’t, in his own mind, saying anything outrageous or even controversial. He was just repeating a view that has become increasingly dominant inside the right-wing bubble, namely that a large and ever-growing proportion of Americans won’t take responsibility for their own lives and are mooching off the hard-working wealthy. Rising unemployment claims demonstrate laziness, not lack of jobs; rising disability claims represent malingering, not the real health problems of an aging work force.<\/p>\n

And given that worldview, Republicans see it as entirely appropriate to cut taxes on the rich while making everyone else pay more.<\/p>\n

Now, national politicians learned last year that this kind of talk plays badly with the public, so they’re trying to obscure their positions. Paul Ryan, for example, has lately made a transparently dishonest attempt to claim that when he spoke about “takers” living off the efforts of the “makers” — at one point he assigned 60 percent of Americans to the taker category — he wasn’t talking about people receiving Social Security and Medicare. (He was.)<\/p>\n

But in deep red states like Louisiana or Kansas, Republicans are much freer to act on their beliefs — which means moving strongly to comfort the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted.<\/p>\n

Which brings me back to Mr. Jindal, who declared in his speech that “we are a populist party.” No, you aren’t. You’re a party that holds a large proportion of Americans in contempt. And the public may have figured that out.<\/p>\n

© 2012 The New York Times<\/p>\n

\n
\"Paul<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Paul Krugman is professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University and a regular columnist for The New York Times. Krugman was the 2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is the author of numerous books, including The Conscience of A Liberal<\/a>, The Return of Depression Economics<\/a>, and his most recent, End This Depression Now!<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}