By Jamison Foser
For decades, the gap between the super-rich and everyone else has steadily grown, in part because of policy approaches that favor the wealthy, like cuts in estate taxes and a myopic belief that the most important taxes are the taxes paid only by the rich. Now, with President Obama proposing a tax increase for income above $1 million, Republicans are predictably howling about "class warfare."
That's long been a favorite rhetorical ploy of conservatives and many in the media. Five years ago, Warren Buffett cut the nonsense: "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."
Buffett was right: The rich are winning, and they're doing so with the help of Republican politicians, the foot soldiers in the war against the middle class and poor. As you listen to people like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-OH) disingenuously denounce class warfare, keep in mind some recent examples of what it really looks like:
Rep. Steve King: Unemployment Benefits Have Created "A Nation Of Slackers"
Does Sen. Hatch Think It's "Perverse" When Millionaires Don't Pay Taxes?
Rep. Gohmert Ridicules Effort To Protect The Unemployed From Hiring Discrimination
After Backing Tax Breaks For Big Oil, Sen. Johnson Tells Poor Kids To Tighten Belts
Heritage's Refrigerator-Based Dismissal Of Poverty Wrongly Defines "Typical" Poor Families
Rep. Allen West's Class Warfare
Rep. West Has No Sympathy For Blind Woman On Food Stamps: "Stop Creating Victims"
Rep. Cantor Throws Young, Unemployed Under The Bus To Protect Rich People From Taxes
Coburn/Lieberman Plan Cuts Medicare To Pay For Tax Cuts For The Wealthy
Coburn/Lieberman Plan To Raise Retirement Age Hits Lower-Income Workers Hardest
3
1
1
