The Class War Has Begun

[arely staircase]

Obama is waging it against the rich. The Republicans are waging it against the poor.

...this superficial conflict about taxes hides a much more fundamental dispute about class warfare. The White House wants to substantially redistribute income downward, while the GOP wants to do just the reverse.

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/04/obama_s_2014_budget_obama_wants_to_soak_the_rich_to_help_the_poor_republicans.html

[olddots]

1. it never ended

Nobody is waging a war against the rich but they will bring on some shit the world has never seen .

[Javaman]

7. +1

It's been going on for thousands of years.

[Deep13]

2. Kind of seems like they are both for the rich. nt

[hay rick]

3. The last presidential election.

There were two competing narratives.
Romney: looting is good.
Obama: what looting?

[Volaris]

5. Precisley.

And the first Genuis who stands up and says "THAT looting, motherfucker.", will be the next President Roosevelt, REGARDLESS of which Party he/she belongs to.


Liz Warren for Whatever The Hell She Wants To Do With Her Bad Self.

[leveymg]

4. How is cutting SS "waging war against the rich" or downward redistribution?

I don't get your logic in view of the cuts to entitlements in the Obama plan? Particularly chained CPI, which is highly regressive?

[el_bryanto]

10. I think you missed the key point - Obama is a Democrat. Of course he's waging war on the rich.

You can't deny that Obama is a Democrat can you?

Bryant

[leveymg]

15. I can deny that in this he is acting as a good Democrat would or should.

This undermines the traditional, long-held image of Democrats as defenders of Social Security. Not good to undermine your brand for the sake of debating points.

[el_bryanto]

16. I really didn't understand that - are you saying Obama isn't a Democrat? Because he totally is!

and if Obama is a Democrat he is totally fighting for the little guy - that's the way it works.

Look for the Democrat label - it won't steer you wrong.

Bryant

[sendero]

20. LOL.......

.... I think you forgot your

[whathehell]

26. No, the point wasn't missed.

As to the question "Who is a democrat"?, consider the fact that anyone can put a "d" after their name.


As a congressman in Chicago, for instance, Rahm Emmanuel had a reputation of getting Republicans to run as Democrats.


Democrats are those who ACT like Democrats, and not just on social issues.

[Downwinder]

6. Have to watch out for friendly fire.

[Baitball Blogger]

17. Sometimes Obama pulls rabbits out of a hat.

I hope he's going to do it again and prove us all wrong.

[raccoon]

8. Begun? it began long ago and the 1% are winning. nt

[myrna minx]

9. How is proposing severe cuts to SS benefits "waging war on the rich"?

This convoluted logic makes no sense.

[arely staircase]

19. did you read the whole article?

I guess not.

[Autumn]

11. I'm gonna say it, Obama has joined the republicans in waging a war against the poor.

No matter how it's spun that's what has happened.

[KG]

12. too funny...

[woo me with science]

13. Chained CPI = "Obama is waging it against the POOR."

Not the rich. The poor.

Your fingers must have slipped.

[bigtree]

14. he makes kind of a cogent argument

. . .until this:

Republicans worry about the cost of the welfare state and fear that the American worker has gotten a bit soft. University of Chicago economist and New York Times columnist Casey Mulligan says we’re suffering from a “redistribution recession” in which excessively generous programs have gutted the incentives to work. That’s the impulse behind growing moral indignation over exactly how “disabled” recipients of disability insurance benefits really are. It’s why Mitt Romney said he’d never persuaded 47 percent of the population “to take responsibility for their own lives.” It’s why Newt Gingrich calls Obama the “food-stamp president” and it’s also why Gingrich isn’t totally wrong. Obama’s vision of America really is one in which many people will see their living standards rise thanks to better government benefits rather than higher market wages.

Yglesias agrees that Obama wants folks to be more dependent on govt. than private industry? That's an old conservative canard. Stopped reading there . . .

[JHB]

23. Exactly. Where are those "high market wages"?

We are three decades into policies that have freed companies to very aggressively keep wages down, and undercut the ability of employees to push back on that.

If we actually had "high market wages" there would be a lot less need for "better government benefits".

[G_j]

18. waging war in the rich? lol

[reformist2]

21. The REAL problem is that in our system, the rich hold all the cards.

The poor only have the cards the rich give them, because of programs that have been voted on. All they need to do is get the votes to undo these programs, and the poor (and middle class) will have nothing.

It's becoming obvious to me that we need to establish a set of rules by which our safety net programs cannot be taken away by a mere majority in Congress - we really do need an economic bill of rights that will enshrine the right to retirement funds, unemployment insurance and health care.

[rucky]

22. I keep seeing a low-income exemption mentioned in the Chained CPI proposal

"Even high-profile gestures like Obama’s willingness to reduce Social Security benefits are conditioned on protecting low-income beneficiaries from cuts."

Does anyone know the specifics to this?

If it's set right, it could be seen as a retroactive way of making SS more progressive. Just instead of increasing the pay-in for people who won't need it, they get a reduction in pay-out. Not sure how that would be measured, or how fair it'll end up being, but it makes a bit of sense if that's what Obama's thinking.

[raouldukelives]

28. I would assume our President, Jamie & Lloyd are using the WSJ example of American incomes.

Look for big increases under 100k.

[raouldukelives]

24. Ignorance is strength. nt

[OldDem2012]

25. The so-called "class war" in this country began the day colonists landed in North America....

...but it was actually an extension of an ancient global "class war" centered in Europe at the time.

The "class war" has always involved the most wealthy among us preying on everyone else.

[MannyGoldstein]

27. YES! Obama's taking the battle right to the Earned Benefit Queens!

Their days of maggot-free food are numbered.