Democrat Strategy: Divide Americans Into Classes

The upcoming expiration of the Bush tax cuts has prompted Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats to say and do some curious things.  This is the first of several posts on the current situation with taxes and why the Democrats' thinking and proposals, despite perhaps the best of intentions, simply will not be successful as understood by the real world outside the Washington DC Beltway.  This post looks at the ideology and agenda which appear to drive Obama and Congressional Democrats.  This will help provide context for future posts and for the curious things Obama and the Democrats say.

The foundation for the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive agenda and ideology appears to go back to a quote from the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, although there is some dispute about who actually said it:  "We are going to tax and tax, spend and spend, and elect and elect."  The top priorities of this ideology in today's Washington DC seem to be:

• Secure Democrat control of government; the end justifies the means.
• Create and expand Americans' dependency on government.
• Expand government control of all wealth and people's lives.
• To make this all work, divide Americans into classes and demonize and favor different classes as needed.
  

Obama and the Democrats appear to have missed or chosen to ignore where the Declaration of Independence talks about the self-evident truth "that all men are created equal," and "life and liberty" as among "certain unalienable rights."  As candidates seek your vote in the upcoming elections, make sure they reject the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive agenda to run America, and they understand the Declaration of Independence means what it says.  

More on the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive Agenda

The Declaration of Independence presents a view of the world where the only limits on the success one can achieve are one's own talent, knowledge, and drive, and people should enjoy the rewards of their accomplishments.  From the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive point of view:

• Economic growth and people improving their own lives are secondary.
• Success and being rewarded financially will be tolerated only up to a point.
• Government control and regulation of wealth and all aspects of life are more important than individual rights and freedoms.

Dividing Americans into Classes

A disturbing aspect of the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive ideology is the attempt to divide Americans into classes and favoring or demonizing the different classes as suits this worldview and agenda.  At minimum, this is Democrat-sponsored bigotry.  For some reason, the self-evident truths in the Declaration of Independence are inconvenient to the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive  ideology and agenda.  According to this ideology Americans can (or should) be divided into the following classes:

• Government Dependents:  45% of American households did not pay any federal income taxes in 2010 up from 39% in 2005 (Tax Policy Center).  By Q3-2008, 44% of all Americans lived in a household where at least one individual received some form of government support (Census Bureau).  For the Democrats, this class is a source of votes for continued control of government; one tactic is to play on fears of threats to government benefits to try to win elections.
• Public Sector Unions:  Very similar in some ways to Government Dependents.  Key source of political support for the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive agenda:  campaign contributions, votes, general political activism, other campaign support (commercials, campaign workers).  Taxpayers' dollars are used to provide public sector unions with compensation, pensions, health care, job security, and other benefits far beyond what is available to private sector workers.  Legalized money laundering of taxpayers' money into campaign contributions for elected officials.  (See Washington DC Prospers post.)
  
• The Middle Class:  Households with 1-2 adults working in careers typically in the private sector.  At least some savings up to the point tolerable by the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive agenda.  Health care and retirement generally provided by non-government sources.  Largest source of tax dollars for government.  Source of new recruits for Government Dependents by pushing them into programs such as ObamaCare.
• Ethnic Minorities:  Get support by bribing with taxpayers' money.  Where possible, maintain as part of Government Dependents.
• "The Rich":  Out of reach of most government programs and probably will never be part of Government Dependents except for Social Security and Medicare.  Can legally shift income and assets around to avoid taxes.  Easy scapegoat for tax increases and any perceived economic and social problems.

Getting America Back on Track

Over time, America has been through a number of ugly episodes involving bigotry, racism, and other forms of creating and exploiting different groups of Americans.  The direction which the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive ideology is taking needs to be stopped.  The quotes below speak to this:

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent".  -Abraham Lincoln

"I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master."  -Thomas Jefferson

"A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither."  -Thomas Jefferson.

The upcoming election is critical to getting America back on track.  Be sure the candidates who get your vote understand that dividing Americans into classes is not what people like Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson wanted for America.