Before you decide which candidates to vote for, before you decide which political party best represents you, before you champion politicians whom you believe have your best interests in mind, it is very important that you examine the chart above. It contains the latest information about just who owns the United States.
Stolen pie
Americans have been told, and many seem to believe, that “the Democrats want us to give up some of our slice of the pie to black and brown people.”
First of all, nobody is going after your slice of the pie. As the chart above clearly shows, you don’t have very much pie. Even if Democrats were the thieves you paint us as, wouldn’t we want to go where the money is?
Second, most of your slice of the pie has already been stolen, not by Democrats, but by the rich and the super rich. Again, the chart above shows the existing situation. Which piece of the pie do you share? If you are not in the top 10%, it is Republican policies that you should fear.
Tax cuts for the rich
The rich were assisted in this inequitable distribution of our nation’s wealth, this immoral theft from working people, by elected Republicans. The 2017 Trump/Orrin Hatch tax cuts, which overwhelmingly benefited businesses and the wealthy, were a Republican dream come true.
You might think, “Tax cuts are good,” but you are forgetting that the programs that are then underfunded or cut are the programs that benefit you and me – the middle and lower income earners. The wealthy don’t care about public education, public transportation, public libraries, public parks, municipal police and fire departments, the postal service, etc. The super wealthy, with their helicopters and private jets, don’t even care about the state of public roads!
See The Entrenched Power of Big Money
The 1981 Ronald Reagan tax cut, that cut the top rate from 70 to 50 percent, was so large, and so damaging to the economy, that Reagan himself signed tax increases in 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1987. People don’t remember that. George Bush, Sr. signed a tax increase in 1990, and Bill Clinton signed one in 1993 just to try and slow the deficit created by Reagan.
President Biden’s 2024 Budget, which is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House without significant changes, did include tax increases – but not on you and me. It slightly raises Medicare taxes on those who make more than $400,000 a year and includes a “billionaires tax” on the top 0.01% of earners.
The President’s stated goal is to reduce the federal deficit and save Medicare by “Making the wealthy pay their fair share.” Given the situation illustrated in the pie chart above, I believe it’s about time they do.
Party of the rich
The party that steals from hard-working Americans is the Republican Party. Because of union busting, withholding of work benefits, refusal to increase the minimum wage, sending jobs overseas to sweat shops, and outrageous CEO pay raises, the wealth gap in America is larger than in many Third-World countries. Also, it is the Republican Party that constantly wants to cut Social Security.
The following chart shows who has been getting richer in America for the past 40 years. Notice that the dramatic gap begins during the Reagan presidency.
Redistribute income?
We often hear the claim that Democrats are “socialists.” Those who say it never define the term. They just use it as a bogey-man label. The truth is that there are many different types of socialism in many different countries.
One “scary” idea you sometimes hear is that Democrats are “socialists” because they want to “redistribute income toward the poor.” Strangely, many who think that is a bad idea claim to be “Christian.”
Again, look at the pie chart. Income is already hugely “redistributed” toward the super rich. Do they deserve it? Did they earn it by working harder than everyone else? Is this inequality good for the economy as a whole? Is it fair? Is it American? Is it Christian?
The answer to all of these questions is, “No!”
God loves everyone and wants us to share the blessings of the Earth equitably. As a member of the restored Church of Jesus Christ, I cannot wait until we are able to finally fully live the Law of Consecration. In the meantime, I’ll be supporting Democrats.
Sources:
“Wealth distribution in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2022,” Statista.com
“Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989,” Federalreserve.gov
Sara Dorn, “Biden Unveils $6.8 Trillion Budget With New Tax Revenue – Here’s What To Know,” Forbes, March 9, 2023.
Dominic Rushe, “Trump’s tax cuts helped billionaires pay less than the working class for the first time,” The Guardian, October 9, 2019.
Davis Wessel, “What we learned from Reagan’s tax cuts,” Brookings, December 8, 2017.
Tommy Beer, “Top 1% of U.S. Households Hold 15 Times More Wealth Than Bottom 50% Combined,” Forbes, April 14, 2022.
Would have been more instructive to have defined the definition of wealth in each category. What are the ranges in dollars for each category?
That data was not available to me. I agree that would be interesting, but I don’t think it would necessarily be “more instructive” to my point. If you happen to find those numbers, please send me a copy.
Good observations. I recall reading an interview with Apostle Hugh B. Brown in which he said he decided to be a Democrat because that party more consistently showed concern for the poor. In the decades since, I have seen much that demonstrates that observation to be true. The promise that by giving the rich whatever they want would lead to “trickle-down” benefits is demonstrably false. Indeed, the deregulation that the Republicans want so much usually amounts to dismantling, environmental concerns, healthcare, safety, unions, and equality protections. Indeed, “deregulation” is used in ways that reminds of “Whatsoever a man doeth should be no crime,” and the general distain for social protections comes across as “Am I my brother’s keeper?” One reason for the regular demonization of Socialism, these days favoring the extreme example of Nicaragua, where the economy in shambles, rather than Sweden or Norway or others that do very well, is to distract people from making the obvious connection.
Amen.
The Republican Party is built on the lack of data, distractions, mistruth, and outright lies coupled with obedience and complicity. They buy your vote with promises instead of policy, slogans instead of critical thinking, and fear instead of hope.
As you know Brian I am reflexively Democratic generally. However these hearings on “weaponization of government” put on by the Republicans were in fact a terrible display of Democrats seeking to silence RFK Jr. Led Debbie Wasserman- Schultz they took his past remarks completely out of context and would not let him explain himself. They have decided because RFK Jr is running against Joe Biden they must assassinate his character. It was a shameful and shocking display. I didn’t think Democrats could act like that. BTW, Wasserman-Schultz was the gal who sougth to destroy Bernie Sanders in 2016, for which deeds she had to resign from the DNC.
My loyalties to the Democratic Party have take a really bad hit.
I think the local Democrats can make amends to a degree by allowing Kennedy to run in the primary against Biden, and not do another Bernie treament on him. You may recall that even though Sanders won our primary half of our delegates when for Clinton via super – i.e. unelected – delegates, but that is another story.
Your graphs are accurate, but Democrats have held all three branches of government – house, senate, and the presidency from time to time, but they have not arrested these trends. Why?
Good question, Lew. I suppose you would argue that the Democrats have been just as bad as the Republicans. But the truth is that the American Economy is much larger than the US Government. It changes slowly. And, yes, not all Democrats are as enlightened as Bernie, Elizabeth, and AOC. But NO ONE since FDR has done as much to improve the economy for working people as Joe Biden. And no one has damaged American democracy as much as D.J. Trump (though DeSantis will, if we give him the opportunity). That difference, between the Democrats and the Republicans, is critical to understand if democracy in the US is to survive. It is time for Democrats to stop sniping at each other and step up to save the country.