America's inequality worse now than during slavery

cookiemdough

Vanessa Doofenshmirtz:

I may show some naivety here, but don't the very poorest already get their basic needs met? Is it that we should raise the limit on who can get housing, food and cash assistance? Or are we just talking about standing firm to protect existing entitlements? I guess I'm not sure whether the average liberal view (if there is such a thing) wants an expansion or just a protection of current safety nets for people living in poverty.

And the part about where the wealth comes from matters a bit to me because of the tone of the Occupy movement. This notion that "1 % controls x% of the wealth." It does imply greed, ill-gotten gains, and prevention from the lower economic classes from accessing the wealth. And when you buy into that notion, it's much easier to agree with higher taxes, because those people are "bad" and not paying their fair share. And this notion when taken to extremes gets ugly (Roseanne Barr...oh my).

No, I don't think the poorest get their basic needs met, but if our current entitlements are unsustainable I don't think they should be expanded and I am okay with cuts to programs.  

Maybe I don't "get" my own party's talking points, but in general when I think of fairness I view it as shared sacrifice. I am all for making necessary cuts in these economic times. But in doing so I realize there will be pain for the poor and old relying on entitlements.  Those cuts are their sacrifice and letting Bush tax cuts that were never paid for in the first place, are the sacrifice of the rich.  It is not because the rich are being punished for their success or they are undeserving, but that is just their share of the sacrifice pie that everyone needs to make if we want to get out of this mess.  

Well "how much more in taxes do we expect" is always the question I see from cons.  I don't look at it based on a set percentage.  I do look at how it impacts the deficit.  And if we are serious about cutting the deficit, I think adding trillions to it to maintain tax cuts for individuals who can easily afford a few percentage point increase contradicts that effort.  I don't expect a raise in taxes will work without necessary cuts in entitlements.  

None of this means I think the rich are greedy.