Topple the 1%? Really?

Topple the 1%, That’s Your Strategy?

The View from the Middle

I’m really tired of the new politics.  It seems as if politicians don’t even care about laying out a platform for what they think is good for America.  They are only looking for focus group tested slogans that will win them votes.  President Obama, for example, ran on “Hope and Change”.  Did anyone know what the heck that meant?  And, if what we have today is Hope and Change, I want the old days of Ronald Reagan back.

The latest lab tested catchphrase is “Topple the 1%”.  It appeals to anyone who hasn’t done well over the last six years.  These are people who are not working or who have seen their take-home pay reduced, and unfortunately that represents a lot of people these days.  Down deep they are angry, and they would love to find a punching bag they can use to take out their frustrations.  This slogan gives them that target.

And it would probably work in terms of closing the wealth gap, which I agree has gotten too large in the US.  If the 1% gets poorer and the 99% stays the same, the wealth gap will get smaller, but no one’s life would get any better.  In fact we would all probably be much worse off.

If Hillary, or any President, would decide that the way to close the wealth gap was to punish the 1% (which, by the way, I am not a part of) he or she would discovery some disturbing realities.  We would all find out that these 1%’ers spend a bunch of money that stimulates the economy. When that spending declines, so would the demand that stimulates the economy and creates jobs.

We would also find that these 1%’ers employ lots of people, and if our government would decide to penalize them, it would likely result in a reduction in the people they employ.  In the end we would all experience the wisdom of the old adage, “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”  But we must ask ourselves, why does anyone have to be punished to close the wealth gap?  Instead of pulling the top level of earners down, why don't we encourage things that will lift the lower 99% up?

For example, did you know that we have lost over 8 million manufacturing jobs in the United States since our peak in 1980?  And almost 6 million of that 8 million has been lost just since 2000.  Getting just half of these jobs back would cut our unemployment rate in half.

And these aren’t minimum wage jobs either.  The average manufacturing job in the United States is right at $20 per hour.  With just a little over time, that job will generate a nice $50,000 a year job for anyone who has it.  This would put $200 billion into the hands of American workers to be spent, thus stimulating the economy, and to be taxed, thus reducing our deficit.

The point is we need politicians who are looking to make people’s lives better – all people, not just the wealthy and not just the poor.  When we hear politicians talk about “toppling” anyone, we should be skeptical.  Their jobs should not be about hindering or hobbling anyone, even if that makes many of the rest of us feel better.  We need leaders who’s goal is to lift people up, and my example above is just a small piece of what could be done if we ever got Washington turned around.

So, don’t fall for the clever slogan.  Don’t listen to the focus group tested catchphrase.  Our votes should be aimed at putting positive people in Washington who are after all of our best interests.  We can reduce the wealth gap, but we need to do it by lifting up we the 99%’ers.