In the wake of Scott Walker’s win in his recall election, Democrats are scrambling to come up with an excuse as to why they lost. Not only did Walker win, but he won by 7 points (53/46) and over 100,000 votes – a stronger victory than his original win in 2010. This shows that not only does Wisconsin want him as their governor, but that they like him even more after he implemented Act 10, the legislation limiting collective bargaining rights of public workers.
CNN was lucky enough to film a goofball on the streets crying (literally) about how “democracy is dead”. Of course, the fact that there have been 7 elections in the last 17 months disproves his hypothesis about the death of democracy. He went on to say that Walker outspent his opponent by $30 million. Again – when we look at third party expenditures, we see that Walker and his opponents spend about the same amount – each around $60 million since early 2011. A lot of money, no doubt, but not nearly as one-sided as the left would have it seem.
But as the facts start to come out, Democrats still refuse to accept the truth. Instead, (in an article found HERE) they point to the Republicans’ new strategy of “class warfare” – turning the middle class against itself. Non union workers are now turned against union workers and they’re anger is based solely in envy and fear. A ridiculous concept considering the entire 99% vs 1% movement (classic class warfare) was started by the left. The left attempting to explain away their sad loss by saying Republicans are using class warfare is laughable. The article goes on to say that instead of turning union against non union, they say we should be turning 99% against 1%! In one sentence condemn class warfare, and in the next use it yourself. Beautiful.
No, the truth of the matter is that Wisconsin and America are not leftists. In fact, the majority of Americans do not classify themselves as liberals, or even Democrats. When push comes to shove, more Americans call themselves conservatives than liberals. The media would have you believe otherwise. A near monopoly on newspapers, local and cable news, and public radio and television gives the impression that liberal ideas are the norm when in fact they are not. This election told the truth loud and clear – Wisconsin is just not a fan of liberal socialist policies.
But the truth about Scott Walker and elections isn’t enough. Shinning some light on this whole 99% thing could be useful as well. So let’s break it down real quick. The statistics that show a majority of the wealth clumped into the top tax bracket follows on certain brackets (via census). If you want a better picture of who “has all the money”, the IRS tells a very interesting story, due to the fact that it follows flesh and blood individuals, not abstract groups. IRS statistics show that most people in 1% are only there for a year! Not only that, but most people move through a number of different tax brackets throughout their life.
The idea that the 1% or even that “the rich” are an enduring class is simply not true. The same people who were rich and in the 1% 20 years ago are not the same people who are there today. And the people there today will most likely not be the same people there next year. Hating “the rich” is simply hating success. Anyone who is successful enough to get into the 1%, if even for a single year, needs to be punished and taxed endlessly until they fall from the 1%? Now that is class warfare!
I hear it all too often – the rich get richer and the poor get ______. Fill in the blank. That’s right – poorer. Again, its just simply not true. For this one we don’t even need to read off any statistics. Just look around and tell me that the poor today are worse off than they were 20 years ago. The “poor” as government defines them aren’t actually poor, they just don’t earn a lot of money. There are legitimately poor people, no doubt, but most “poor” people have air conditioning, cable TV, video games, cars, and cell phones. How is it that the poor are worse off today than they were 20 years ago?
Capitalism works because even the lowest earning group of people see a raise in their standard of living. The money made up top trickles down, products become cheaper to produce, and more people (including the “poor”) benefit. Those who believe in class warfare ought to take a look around and see how capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than all socialist government programs combined. Equality and prosperity are not the same thing, and forced equality will most certainly lead to a less prosperous society. History has proven it again and again.
