Why do Republicans want to make the Rich Richer and the Poor Poorer?

Answer 1

Greed?

Answer 2

Roughly speaking, I'd say two reasons for right wing economic policies, neither of which have as a goal 'to make the poor poorer'.

1) A general belief that, ideally, someone's labour, and what is produced with it, belongs to them, not the government. There is an acceptance of some sharing - via taxes and social programs - but there is a difference between 'right wing' and 'left wing' thinkers on how _much_ sharing of incomes their should be, with, in the extreme cases, some people against any sharing, and on the other extreme communists favouring complete sharing. This isn't suggesting the 'poor should be made poorer'. Virtually all countries attempt to make the rich poorer and poor richer. The question is to what extent that should be done. If you think the prior administration took sharing too far, and undid some of that, people do indeed scream you are 'making the poor poorer'.

2) I would suggest that, generally speaking, 'left wing' thinkers are more concerned with dividing the economic 'pie' more 'fairly', while right wing thinkers worry more about 'growing the pie'. A 'poor' person in the US has a standard of living far in excess of what an average person in many parts of the world has, and much of this benefit can be attributed to the staggering strength of the economy that has grown via the stimulus of capitalism. You can snort at 'helping the poor' through growth all you want, but the fact is, the sort of medical system I benefit from in Canada relies on having a robust economy to support it. A third world country cannot simply snap their fingers and give everyone first world health care.

A lot of this has to do with what you consider 'rich' and 'poor'. I would say that, personally, I like to help the poor, but am less keen on taxing the upper middle class to benefit the lower middle class. I'd prefer to provide support to people in genuine need, and beyond that point, let people have what they earn.

Answer 3

I dislike the answer from the professor who is "Distinguished" only by his credential. The real debate is 'what percent extra should the rich man pay?'.

If he makes 2 billion a year and he pays 50000, there's a problem. He makes so much more than what is necessary to survive that he could afford to make the surrounding environment where he lives better (and I don't mean his lawn or his rich suburb.)

He has a duty to his larger community and his country to make them better off. European countries, for the most part, pay more in taxes and share them with less burden on the poor. They also put more emphasis on education and many have a better educated population. If we're concerned about losing rich people to those countries, it'd be because they care about everyone, not just the rich man. They are more inviting because you can get a haircut from an interesting barber who has a lot of pertinent thoughts about the world as a whole, not just the Mets.

Answer 4

The poor enjoy the same federal facilities and military protection, and national roads as the rich. Why should the rich pay more for the same services? If you do not like being poor, do something about it. Start a business, the government will help you. Investors will help you. Invent something. The great thing about this country is oppurtunity. Take advantage of it and stop asking for different standards for the rich and the poor. The federal government cutting taxes for the rich still has them paying way more for the same services.

Answer 5

You don't understand economics. I received this email and it truly is the best way to explain taxes to those that assume rich people get richer from tax breaks.


Subject: Taxes explained by Econ Prof @ UGA
Taxes Explained

Sometimes Politicians can exclaim; "It's just a tax cut for the
rich!", and it is just accepted to be fact. But what does that really
mean?

Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, we hope
the following will help.

Tax Cuts -- A Simple Lesson In Economics

This is how the cookie crumbles. Please read it carefully.

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that everyday, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:


The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh $7.

The eighth $12.

The ninth $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, the ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and
seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to
reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."

So, now dinner for the ten only cost $80. The group still wanted
to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So, the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for
free. But what about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share'?

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they
subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being 'PAID' to eat their meal. So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).

The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings)

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He
pointed to the tenth man but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a
dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10
back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't
get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the
nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is
how our tax system works. The ones who get the most money back from a reduction are those who paid in the most. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore. There are lots of good restaurants in Europe and the Caribbean.


David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D
Distinguished Professor of Economics
536 Brooks Hall
University of Georgia

Answer 6

to all the people who said that they do not want to give money to those who don't do anything and don't deserve it. Or to those who say that it's their money and they should be able to keep it. Keep on dreaming. If you have kids, then yes maybe you got a little more back. But I can tell you this, if you are a median income single person, you know what's it's like to be royally screwed. Under this administration, single people have paid MORE taxes. We have had to contribute more for medical insurance. And companies have gotten away with MAJOR theft from stealing from employees 401K programs. You call this better!?

Answer 7

Republicans don't wanna make the rich richer and the poor poorer. They want people to get to keep what they earn instead of having to give it away. You are illusioned by the picture liberals paint. They want you to think that because you are poor you are entitled to a piece of a rich person's money. You can sit on your *** and collect money from other hard working citizens but you are never gunna get rich or even have a decent standard of living that way.

Answer 8

OK, for the last time:

Republicans want to allow you to keep as much of the money you earn as possible and they actually want to make the poor better off by providing them incentive to stop suckling the federal teat and get themselves bettered through education and good old fashioned hard work up the ladder of success.

Liberal dems would rather continue to stifle economic growth by punishing business and personal success with high taxes and use those taxes as nothing more than a redistribution of wealth to those who are unwilling to find their own means of providing for themselves as long as Uncle Sam keeps sending them a check. So in reality, Dems want to keep everyone in general poorer.

Got it. Ok, I expect never to see this same stupid question posted ever again.

Answer 9

I was poor and the Republicans helped me to get out of poverty by defeating Democrats in elections.
Democrats use taxes to keep people down, so they'll vote Democrat.
An old Democrat trick.

Answer 10

It's the cycle see? They get richer and then they pay to put the reps back in, then they get even richer and then they pay to put the reps back in ....see how it works?


btw: who cares what
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D
Distinguished Professor of Economics
536 Brooks Hall
University of Georgia

thinks? I sure don't.


hey look at this:

http://davidk.myweb.uga.edu/

maybe

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D
Distinguished Professor of Economics
536 Brooks Hall
University of Georgia

doesn't think so either eh?

Answer 11

I supposs you are not a parent that earns less than $35,000.00 dollars a year that is able to take advantage of the Earned Income Credit. Or a parent that paid taxes and received a $1,000.00 tax credit for each dependent under Bush's new tax laws. Ya I guess $35,000.00 for a family of 4 is just rolling in it. Tell the Kennedy's, most of liberal Hollywood and the countless other multi millionaire dems how you feel about the poor.