I try to spend some time each night perusing different newspapers with Web sites. Tonight I came across a simply wonderful letter to the editor in The Cincinnati Post newspaper. It should be required reading for everyone on this board.
Headline: Gore appeals to the working class
To the editor:
Much has been said about the populous tone of the acceptance speech of Al Gore. Pundits, journalists and Republicans have christened it "same old, same old" and seem a bit bewildered why this "liberal rehash" finds favor with the public. Let me submit a plausible explanation. Maybe it's because America's middle-class workers feel they have received short shrift from the new economy and deserve to be cared about. The Gore speech told them they were.
This "caring" message is unfamiliar to an entire generation of Americans. It hasn't been heard since Jimmy Carter left office and the Reagan era began some 20 years ago. It was during the Reagan era we were subjected to the "trickle-down economy" wherein most tax relief was funneled toward the rich in hopes they would invest their excesses in American enterprises -- much like crumbs from Lazarus's table. But the rich didn't do that. Instead, they bought French wines, German cars and vacationed in the Caribbean while terms like "chronic homelessness" and "working poor" became a part of our everyday vocabulary. It was also during this era that the U.S. went from being the largest creditor nation in the world to being the largest debtor nation in the world squandering 200 years of sweat-equity by working-class Americans. The economy stagnated to the point where, in 1992, Bill Clinton could win the presidency on a theme as simple as "It's the economy, stupid."
Since then, the economy has improved due, in large part, to both the sacrifices and increased productivity of the American worker. During this time, however, "two-parent working families" and "latch-key kids" became a part of our vocabulary. But the sacrifices by these workers and their families paid off and we now have an economy with a surplus. And what do the Republicans want to do with this surplus? Why, give it to the rich, of course. Congress's attempt to eliminate the estate tax and the G.W. Bush tax-cut proposal are prime examples.
To me, pandering to the rich by Republicans is much more "same old, same old" than the liberal philosophy of uplifting all boats -- not just yachts. When we continue to elect those who ignore working families while they pander to the elite we are not only doing a disservice to ourselves and our children but are setting the stage for more flagrant abuses to generations yet to come. |
