We’re experiencing a new era of class warfare, not seen since the 19th century. It’s a war of the rich vs. the rest
Our nation is experiencing a new round of class warfare on a scale not seen since the laissez faire government of the 19th century. It is being waged on several fronts:
The tariffs that act as a sales tax hitting the low and middle classes the hardest.
Tax cuts for the corporations that the wealthiest people in the country own.
Loss of the regulations that protect the lower and middle classes from economic and environmental damage.
The slash and burn of services that help the lower and middle classes lead lives of safety, security and dignity.
In all these, the wealthiest sector of our nation is being held harmless, and in fact benefits from tax cuts and regulatory cuts for the corporations that they own. All these shift the burden of balancing the budget entirely on the backs of the lower and middle classes. It’s a war of the rich versus the rest. And like most of history, the rich win.
One of the proposals being prepared for Congress to shift the burden would be a $400 billion tax on consumers (tariffs). This is a serious tax shift. The tax on imported items includes food, cars, electronics, minerals and household items.
Lower and middle classes pay a larger portion of their income on these items. Wealthier individuals spend disproportionately more on services that will not be subject to this tax. The lower and middle classes will pay the largest share of the $400 billion taxes from the tariffs. At the same time, lower taxes on corporations will benefit those with the largest investments in those stocks — the wealthiest in our nation. It pits the rich against the rest.
The second tax shift is to move the tax burden from corporations in the form of more tax cuts for corporations and a huge benefit for the very wealthy that own them. There are no corresponding benefits for the lower and middle classes.
It pits the rich against the rest.
Reduced corporate regulations will further enhance the wealth of the wealthy while the environmental and economic damage falls disproportionately on lower and middle classes. It pits the rich against the rest. Believe it or not, billionaire investor Warren Buffett is one of the good guys.
At the same time, the proposed solution for all these and to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy is to cut government programs that disproportionately help the lower and middle classes. Services that help the average and below-average income citizen and protect them from the economic and environmental damage of unregulated businesses will be delayed or eliminated.
There are no proposals to tax the wealthy and have them share in the pain of balancing the budget. The wealthy are held harmless and the plan is to have them benefit. All the pain will be borne by the lower and middle classes. It pits the rich against the rest.
The effect of these programs is to place greater burdens on the poor and middle classes to give more benefits to the wealthy pitting the rich against the rest. It is deliberately creating class warfare that this nation should not have to endure.
John Cunningham of Sioux Falls has spent his career in local government finance, including in Fulton County, Ga., and Atlanta. He has a master of public administration from Harvard and has done consultant work in four foreign countries. This column first appeared on the Change Agents of South Dakota website.
Photo: “Bosses of the Senate,” a 19th century cartoon depicting the control of the U.S. government by the wealthy and powerful forces of “the gilded age” – public domain, wikimedia commons
