Class warfare wrapped in flag

[norml]

Class warfare wrapped in flag

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Columnist



In case you haven’t noticed, modern American politics is marked by vicious partisanship, with the great bulk of the viciousness coming from the right. It’s clear that the Republican plan for the 2006 election is, once again, to question Democrats’ patriotism.

But do Republican leaders truly believe that they are serious about fighting terrorism, while Democrats aren’t? When the speaker of the House declares that “we in this Congress must show the same steely resolve as those men and women on United Flight 93,” is that really the way he sees himself? (Dennis Hastert, Man of Steel!) Of course not.

So what’s our bitter partisan divide really about? In two words: class warfare. That’s the lesson of a new book, Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches, by Nolan McCarty of Princeton University; Keith Poole of the University of California-San Diego; and Howard Rosenthal of New York University.

snip

What the book shows, using a sophisticated analysis of congressional votes and other data, is that for the past century, political polarization and economic inequality have moved hand in hand. Politics during the Gilded Age, an era of huge income gaps, was a nasty business — as nasty as it is today. The era of bipartisanship, which lasted for roughly a generation after World War II, corresponded to the high tide of America’s middle class. That high tide began receding in the late 1970s, as middle-class incomes grew slowly at best while incomes at the top soared; and as income gaps widened, a deep partisan divide re-emerged.

snip

Before the 1940s, the Republican Party relied financially on the support of a wealthy elite, and most Republican politicians firmly defended that elite’s privileges. But the rich became a lot poorer during and after World War II, while the middle class prospered. And many Republicans adapted to the new situation, accepting the legitimacy and desirability of institutions that helped limit economic inequality, such as a strongly progressive tax system. (The top rate during the Eisenhower years was 91 percent.)


snip


http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/14981892.htm

[Greyhound]

1. I'm so happy to see somebody put this info out.

The rich have always been at war with the people, but for some reason, the people have steadfastly refused to acknowledge it.

Thanks for posting this. 1st recommendation.