Les, so what are the right things ?
I don't see corporate decision makers, when given too much power over consumers, voluntarily doing the right thing to protect their health (Love Canal), the environment (Maxxam), safety (Firestone), or health care (all insurance companies). Government protections are often the only recourse left to the powerless, unfortunately. There's got to be balance, free markets alone mostly look out only for them that makes the rules.
I'm basically a centrist who supported welfare reform, individual responsibility, and debt reduction (mass responsibility). Without some voice for those without the money or political influence, one leg of the social tripod collapses. It seems some could care less.
Dependent class is a pejorative, when it's really a varied group that can often be persuaded with intelligent policies to care more for themselves, without the bottom dropping out. It's so easy to completely pull the rug out from everyone, walk away, and let the mean streets sort it all out. Then go home to the two martinis in the gated community.
I'm in that white collar high tax bracket too, but it still beats the hell out of the days I did real work as a blue collar laborer in college days for peanuts. I don't mind a moderate tax cut, but not at the expense of bringing back Reaganomics, its supply side failures, and the self righteous moralizers who just can't help telling us how to live.
Anyway, I'm hoping for a Democratic president, a slightly Republican majority in the house, and a Senate that can override scurrilous filibusters. |
