The GOP, tea party activists and other assorted right wing conservatives love to appear as champions of the “common man.” They throw out words like “main street” in a folksy drawl while talking about the troops and sacrifices other Americans make, bemoaning the scary modern age while pining for the better days of yesteryear. They’re down home, good ole people representing the grand ole party and the America where paw kept his shotgun on the mantle and ma baked cookies after she spent all day making dinner. Their clean pressed designer suits give them the look of trusted preachers, the folksy twang erases their college history and the more they talk about loving the troops, the less we ask about their military service.
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Anyone who can tell the difference between Leave It To Beaver, Little House On The Prairie and reality knows that the halcyon days conservatives seem to pine for weren’t all that rosy for many Americans, particularly ones who weren’t white, Christian or wealthy. The latter of that trifecta is probably the most curious of the three, since conservatives and the hard right have a huge support base among people in the middle, working and poor classes of American society. Thanks to the rise of the right on AM radio, cable television and various internet outlets, they’ve done an amazing job spinning the idea that anything to the left of Reagan or Old 41 may as well be hard line Communism. Democrats are the same thing as socialists, who are the same as communists, who may as well all be terrorists. Everyone in Washington is part of some shadowy liberal elite who planned on taking over the United States government with their leftist university professors in order to steal the working man’s money and give it to poor lazy jobless undeserving people.
The ridiculousness of that conspiracy theory aside, I’m left wondering how the right purport to speak for the financial interests of Joe Six Pack. According to varied statistics, the “average” American household makes somewhere around $50,000. How is it then, that the talking heads of the right can accurately describe life on main street, when they’re really living on easy street? By boiling public blood over taxes that go to pay for schools, roads, care for the elderly, the military, infrastructure, etc they’ve successfully been able to make fast cash:
Sarah Palin took in around $166,000 in 2007. Since she quit her job as governor, she’s raked in $12 million between her book and speaking engagements.
Glenn Beck made an estimated $23 million in 2008.
In the time it took to type and hyperlink this sentence, Rush Limbaugh earned more money than many Americans make in a day. He makes $33 million a year.
Michele Bachmann made $174,000, a sum modest in comparison. In addition, her holdings in her federally subsidized family farm are worth $250,000.
On tax day, the hard right will be out in force, complaining about taxes and the federal government while the heads of the hydra continue to fill their coffers. Palin recently quoted conservative Jonah Goldberg, who said “Americans now spend 100 days of the year working for the government before we even start to earn any money for ourselves.” Would government really be better in the hands of people who would trade that 100 days worth of earnings and let the almighty market decide what we pay for civil services?
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If people really want a free market, they should let the government charge companies for all the services they offer. I like that this is finally done with student loans.
But considering that, in the event of natural disasters, the government usually has to step in when insurance companies fail to come through. Since they are providing the service, they should be allowed to enter the market. Insurance would be reliable and reasonable. And better yet, the revenue could be used to largely reduce, if not eliminate, income tax.