The Death of the Middle

The Death of the Middle
The View from the Middle

As I sat and watched the vote come in for the tax reform bill yesterday I was actually a little disheartened. While I am in favor of nearly every aspect of this bill, especially the major elements, I was disappointed that not a single Democrat was able to break ranks with their ideologically extreme leadership and support a decrease in taxes.
This is particularly disappointing when you consider that almost every Democrat has endorsed the major elements of this plan. Barack Obama favored a reduction in the corporate tax rate. I can’t think of a Democrat who wouldn’t advocate the doubling of the standard deduction and the child tax credit as these provisions have their highest impact on middle and lower income families. And who could object to lowering every tax bracket. These were also the most expensive elements of this tax bill, which every one has supported in one-way shape or form in the past, yet not a single Democrat could muster the slightest support for this bill.
And it’s not about taxes. It’s about how our citizens are being divided and lured to the extreme edges of the ideological spectrum. The moderate, centrist, middle component of our country is being squeezed out of existence.
The Pew Research Center shows that the extreme elements of our liberal and conservative factions have doubled from a total of 10% in 1994 to 21% in 2014. Liberal extremism has quadrupled in that same period from 3% of the population in 1994 to 12% in 2014. They also showed that in 1994, 64% of Republicans were more conservative than the median Democrat. That number rose to 92% in 2014, and the numbers are similar on the Democratic side. In 1994, 70% of Democrats were more liberal than the median Republican. In 2014 that number had exploded to 94%. This would suggest that the old blue dog Democrats and moderate Republicans are almost extinct.
And our love / hate relationship with our Presidents have become very ideologically extreme. In the 1950’s, 88% of Republicans supported Eisenhower, as you might expect, but 49% of Democrats did also. That’s a difference of 39 percentage points. This ratio held steady until Ronald Reagan took office when the split hit 52%, and with Obama, the difference was 67% (81% favorable amongst Democrats and only 14% amongst Republicans). The polarization is clearly getting worse, but why?
First, our rhetoric is appalling. Whether it is Hillary Clinton calling everyone she disagrees with “the enemy” or “deplorable”, or Donald Trump’s demeaning labels for everyone in his way, we need to clean up our speech. Also, our politicians plug billions of dollars into negative advertising against their opponents every campaign year. Democrats suggest that Paul Ryan actually wanted to throw his grandmother off a cliff and imply that Republicans want people to die. This hyperbole is intended to inflame the political bases, which is does, but it also angers the other side which tends to drive both moderate liberals and conservatives to the extreme edges of their ideologies.
What is even scarier is that while this Pew research confirms my suspicion that our country has become more polarized, it doesn’t even include Trump’s first year in office which I am convinced has divided us even more deeply. So, how do we get back to a place where we can disagree on policy without impugning each other’s motives and questioning the other side’s humanity?
The solution is simple. Don’t vote for the manipulative, narcissistic egomaniacs in Washington. If you hear someone demean and condemn millions of people because of their party affiliation, recognize it for what it is – prejudice. When you hear people use hyperbolic rhetoric, like an entire party “wants people to die” or suggesting that passing a bill will result in “Armageddon”, see it for what it is – manipulation.
Next, since our politicians won’t do this, I’m asking you to reach across the aisle and discuss the issues with someone of the opposing party. If you are a conservative, you may just find that your liberal friend isn’t an acid dropping communist sympathizer, but just a patriotic citizen who wants the very best for America. If you are a liberal, you may find that your friend is not a knuckle-dragging, uncaring moron, but a pretty decent person. I’ve done it, and I can attest to the fact that you will find good, caring intelligent people on both sides of the political divide.