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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (11594)	1/11/2003 10:31:57 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Be kind to Shrub. After all, he "has restored dignity to the oval office". Personally, I'd prefer a little less dignity and a little more enlightenment. ...and Shrub is an honorable man... Da Ghost of Mark Anthony

To: American Spirit who wrote (11594)	1/12/2003 12:12:35 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Bush's class warfare A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL 1/11/2003 ONCE AGAIN, President Bush has trotted out the ''class warfare'' tag to deflect criticism that his economic plan serves to reduce taxes on the rich. The United States has never, in Bush's lifetime, experienced the kind of class-based strife that has convulsed other societies, among them Venezuela in recent weeks. The president ought to promote policies that ameliorate inequalities instead of exacerbating them, as he proposes to do. There is enough economic mobility in American society to prevent the development of class-driven politics, and most Americans are uncomfortable with class analyses, perhaps because they evoke images of Leninist revolution and dictatorship. By his regular invocations of ''class warfare,'' Bush is trying to make his critics seem alien and divisive. Class struggle was last a serious possibility in the United States during the 1930s, before Bush's birth. To prevent a cataclysm, Franklin D. Roosevelt threw the federal government into the struggle against the Great Depression and established Social Security as the foundation of a system to protect needy citizens. Lyndon Johnson continued this effort with the creation of Medicare and the antipoverty programs. Last year Bush tried unsuccessfully to diminish the guaranteed benefit that is the essence of Social Security. Supporters of Medicare now await with trepidation his proposals to revamp that program. The president ought to be focusing his efforts on strengthening these essential social supports. Instead, Bush proposes to speed up tax cuts targeted to the wealthy and to end the tax on stock dividends. These tax breaks for the rich would increase the growing income gap between Americans. In 1968, the richest 5 percent of US households earned on average $125,437 while the poorest 20 percent earned $7,911. By 2001 the income of the poorest one-fifth had risen to $10,136, but the richest 5 percent had ballooned to $260,464. These figures come from the Census Bureau and are adjusted for inflation. In fits and starts, the US economy has kept growing since 1968. The nation has not endured a prolonged economic contraction like that which is exacerbating class divisions in Venezuela. In the United States, there's no talk of nationalizing industry or confiscating wealth - the stuff of genuine class warfare. The Democrats ought to engage Bush in a debate, running through the 2004 elections, about programs the government might develop to use the great wealth of the nation to ease burdens on Americans with modest incomes. Bush will no doubt say this is another example of class warfare, but it would really be an attempt to build a society in which the chasms of wealth are bridged by the ethic of shared responsibility. That would foster class amity and strengthen the nation. boston.com