Please Lie to Us

 

eve“I trust in the good judgment of the American people.” So said a radio host I admire (not one of the screamers) about six months ago, when the rise of Trump was still notional. At this moment, looking at both parties, you have to ask whether judgment is being applied at all or whether we’re in the much more dangerous realm of emotional release.

Let’s start on the left. Democrats have made careers out of pretending that “government” has money to distribute, that the rich don’t pay their fair share of taxes, that most of the problems of black America are attributable to white racism, that deficits can be eliminated by raising taxes on the few at the top, that women are victims in need of government redress, and that climate change is the greatest national security threat we face. Fairy tales.

In the past several years, partly due to President Obama’s destructive divisiveness, those delusions have deepened, and now, with the influence of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, a full-throated socialism commands the affections of Democrats under the age of 30. In Iowa, for example, Sanders won 84 percent of voters between the ages of 17 and 29.

Democrats have plunged lustily into a dumbed-down politics that appeals to the mammalian brain, not the reasoning one. The Black Lives Matter movement demands not justice but rote obeisance. No issue is ever presented in the terms that mature adults should manage, namely that there are inevitable trade-offs in life, and that every policy has costs and benefits. No, now it’s “The billionaires are screwing you,” or, “The system is rigged against you.”

The Democrats’ likely nominee, insofar as she has any true convictions at all, has trimmed and tacked to the left. She has endorsed a $15 an hour minimum wage, declined to consider entitlement reform, and, in a marked shift, now opposes free trade.

Among Republicans, a similar conspiratorial mindset has taken hold. Our problems – slow growth, crime, increasing inequality – are the result of an evil cabal. The Democrats believe the cabal is on Wall Street. Large numbers of Republicans locate it in Washington, DC. And just as Democrats finger the wealthy and Republicans as the source of the ills of the middle class (no one is shy anymore about making class appeals in America), Trump’s supporters point to immigrants, crafty foreigners, and Washington. By sticking it to the Mexicans and the Chinese and the Muslims and Washington, Trump promises catharsis.

Politicians in a democracy have little incentive to tell voters the truth – not when voters reward them for telling lies. In due course, voters howl that they have been betrayed, but it’s a betrayal they invited.

Has the middle class been stabbed in the back by Washington, DC? If so, it’s a very pleasant dagger: More entitlements, more spending, more regulation, and less concern for debt. The federal government is a vast engine for taxing (disproportionately) the rich and paying benefits to the middle class and the poor. Two-thirds of 2014’s $3.5 trillion federal budget went to payments to individual citizens. These included overlapping categories of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and other entitlements.

The top 20 percent of taxpayers paid 69 percent of all taxes. The national debt is north of $19 trillion.

Truth serum: Our problems arise from demanding too much of government. We, the middle class, have asked government to make sure everyone (no matter how credit-unworthy) can buy a house. We’ve demanded government bring down the price of health care and education – with the result that those two sectors have seen the steepest price increases of any in the American economy. We’ve demanded corporations pay the highest tax rates in the developed world in the mistaken belief that someone else pays those taxes (when in fact we all pay, through higher prices or in the loss of jobs as companies relocate to business-friendlier countries). We’ve demanded disability payments become the new welfare, and political connections substitute for merit among businesses. Every time we vote for a candidate who promises to go to Washington to “fight for you” rather than to shrink the government, we’re voting for the kind of corruption that we claim to despise. We’re empowering those who excel at manipulating political power for private gain.

It is therefore sadly apt that the two nominees of the great political parties could well turn out to be two multi-millionaires who’ve played the middle class for suckers all their lives.

Published in Culture, General, Politics
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There are 14 comments.

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  1. Paul A. Rahe Member
    Paul A. Rahe
    @PaulARahe

    Alas, all too true.

    • #1
  2. Pony Convertible Inactive
    Pony Convertible
    @PonyConvertible

    The Founder’s recognized that a pure democracy will lead to failure. That is why they created a republic.  It is also why they separated the Senate from direct influence of the people.  So they would consider the long term implications of decisions, the natural rights of minority groups, and not be heavily influenced by the whims of the people. The 17th Amendment changed that.  We have been paying the consequences since.

    • #2
  3. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    First an aside.  Why do the billionaires support these kinds of tax the rich approaches?  Because the super rich do not get their wealth from income, they get it from unrealized capital gains.  They borrow against it, they match losers and winners but mostly they just sit on it and watch it grow.   Cruz tax proposal actually deals with this and that is good.

    Now, the protectionist wave can be dealt with only through successful domestic policy which the Democrats will never address.   The causes of our inability to adjust to  trade, technology and immigrant shocks are all policies and institutional restraints dear to the Democrats.  The administrative state is the problem.  There are adults in the Republican party on these and foreign policy issues that can shape a Trump presidency if he is as empty as he appears.   In any event.  I recommend we keep speaking of a Cruz win.   Is this not a war?  Do we tell our troops we might lose, that the enemy has some really nasty weapons, or do we say.  Charge!

    • #3
  4. Lucy Pevensie Inactive
    Lucy Pevensie
    @LucyPevensie

    Mona, for a truly chilling window into the mind of an ordinary voter, go listen here.

    • #4
  5. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Mona, some good analysis here. Regarding the pleasant dagger analogy do you think it is possible that all of the things you lost have resulted in less individual liberty and hope for upward mobility.

    I realize the way folks have lashed out do not resolve those issues.

    • #5
  6. Redneck Desi Inactive
    Redneck Desi
    @RedneckDesi

    Sad but true. The middle class welfare state has fundamentally changed our country. Although politically toxic, the 47% comment from Romney was speaking truth to the people.

    • #6
  7. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    Mona Charen: a radio host I admire (not one of the screamers)

    Suddenly, “talk radio” is not a monolithic bunch of spittle-flecked Nazi apes.  Amazing how the goalposts move.

    Not reading beyond this.  Only read this far by accident.

    • #7
  8. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    I Walton: Now, the protectionist wave can be dealt with only through successful domestic policy which the Democrats will never address. The causes of our inability to adjust to trade, technology and immigrant shocks are all policies and institutional restraints dear to the Democrats. The administrative state is the problem. There are adults in the Republican party on these and foreign policy issues that can shape a Trump presidency if he is as empty as he appears.

    Profound.  There is real wisdom here.

    • #8
  9. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    I’m with you on the gist, but not here:

    Among Republicans, a similar conspiratorial mindset has taken hold. Our problems – slow growth, crime, increasing inequality – are the result of an evil cabal. The Democrats believe the cabal is on Wall Street. Large numbers of Republicans locate it in Washington, DC.

    I think only a small fraction of Republicans think in conspiratorial terms about a cabal. Rather, they think Washington cronyism is a key cause of the destructive policies you go on to delineate. And they’re right.

    • #9
  10. TG Thatcher
    TG
    @TG

    To expand from what Katievs just said:  To identify Washington cronyism as a key cause of these problems is not to say that the people involved with said cronyism are “evil.”  They’re not.  They’re self-interested.  They’re sometimes well-intentioned but first-level thinkers.  They’re biased to believe things that make them feel good.  This is why the writers of the Consititution did their best to build in checks and balances.  This is why we would be better off, as a country, to reinforce and reclaim the checks and balances that already exist, and perhaps create some new ones. [ok, end of preaching to the choir, for now]

    • #10
  11. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Mona Charen: In Iowa, for example, Sanders won 84 percent of voters between the ages of 17 and 29.

    Correction: Sanders won 84 per cent of Democratic Party voters between the ages of 17 and 29. It’s a self-selected sample.

    • #11
  12. Baker Inactive
    Baker
    @Baker

    Lucy Pevensie:Mona, for a truly chilling window into the mind of an ordinary voter, go listen here.

    Yikes…I’m not really surprised by anything she said here but it’s chilling to listen to it as stream-of-consciousness. When you hear them on Salem Radio or wherever, there’s a Medved or Prager to slow them down every now and then.

    • #12
  13. Big Green Inactive
    Big Green
    @BigGreen

    I Walton:First an aside. Why do the billionaires support these kinds of tax the rich approaches? Because the super rich do not get their wealth from income, they get it from unrealized capital gains. They borrow against it, they match losers and winners but mostly they just sit on it and watch it grow. Cruz tax proposal actually deals with this and that is good.

    I respectfully disagree.  The reason “billionaires” support these types of things is because:

    1.  They have a billion $ and tax rates whether it be capital gains or income tax, are almost entirely irrelevant.  They have built their wealth and are now free to be a social do-gooder.  I would have a lot more respect for them if they were willing to retroactively apply the higher tax rates to the income they received for the previous 20 years and pay that to the government as well.
    2. Many of them have grown up very, very wealthy and take a very paternalistic approach to the rubes.  Since they have always had money, they can’t possibly understand how folks survive on even middle class income.  It is sincere and I think these people are generally “good” people but misguided primarily because they are very poorly informed.
    3. In some instances, although not a lot, they feel at some deeper level that their wealth is ill-gotten or unfair and this assuages their guilt.
    • #13
  14. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Big Green:

    I Walton:First an aside. Why do the billionaires support these kinds of tax the rich approaches? Because the super rich do not get their wealth from income, they get it from unrealized capital gains. They borrow against it, they match losers and winners but mostly they just sit on it and watch it grow. Cruz tax proposal actually deals with this and that is good.

    I respectfully disagree. The reason “billionaires” support these types of things is because:

    1. They have a billion $ and tax rates whether it be capital gains or income tax, are almost entirely irrelevant. They have built their wealth and are now free to be a social do-gooder. I would have a lot more respect for them if they were willing to retroactively apply the higher tax rates to the income they received for the previous 20 years and pay that to the government as well.
    2. Many of them have grown up very, very wealthy and take a very paternalistic approach to the rubes. Since they have always had money, they can’t possibly understand how folks survive on even middle class income. It is sincere and I think these people are generally “good” people but misguided primarily because they are very poorly informed.
    3. In some instances, although not a lot, they feel at some deeper level that their wealth is ill-gotten or unfair and this assuages their guilt.

    Propose a ‘wealth tax’ and see what they say!

    • #14
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