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Traditionally, blue-collar workers voted Democratic, they were for social services and tended to join unions. After the 80's, this seems to have changed. The working class is leaning towards Republicans since then. They believe that tax cuts will avoid funding welfare programs for immmigrants and those too lazy to find a job; they are socially conservative and see Dems as some rich elites from the Coasts. So they vote for the GOP.
Traditionally, blue-collar workers voted Democratic, they were for social services and tended to join unions. After the 80's, this seems to have changed. The working class is leaning towards Republicans since then. They believe that tax cuts will avoid funding welfare programs for immmigrants and those too lazy to find a job; they are socially conservative and see Dems as some rich elites from the Coasts. So they vote for the GOP.
Is this true?
It should be. For one unions are a cancer. The democrats always try to convince blue collar workers that they should have a sense of entitlement for things that they never earned instead of trying to get people to earn it themselves.
Yes it is true. The blue collar folks see the Dems as their enemy because of an extremely effective propaganda campaign lasting over 50 years by the Republicans and now the neocon fascists. The Republicans have made providing equal consideration under the law seem to be a threat to our "American Way of Life."
While they were doing this they robbed the working and middle classes of countless billions of dollars with self serving tax 'reforms' and industrial outsourcing. They also got a number of these people killed in colonial wars for the benefit of the militarists and warmongers over the soldiers.
I just wrote an essay on why is the middle class disappearing. Here it is.
Why is the middle class worse off than in the 1950's by Greg Warner
The principal reason middle class folks are worse off than in the fifties is simply government economic policies and tax systems since the 1980’s have greatly favored the wealthy at the expense of the working and middle classes. IIRC a family could put their money in a Savings and Loan bank and actually earn interest faster than inflation could devalue the money. This is no longer true and has not been since the early 1970’s. Many homes were being built and the GI Bill was subsidizing mortgages as well as educations for people that would never before have had the opportunity to go to college. The economy was geared to industrial growth behind protective tariffs so labor unions could get really decent wages and benefits for their workers. The engineers educated with the GI bill provided the talent for the development of the electronics industry in this country among others. These are the people that engineered the space program and created a walk on the moon and all the technological spin-offs that led to cell phones and big screen TVs.
Since the “Regan Revolution” all these policies have changed. Now a college education is not supported, even for military veterans, to nearly the same extent. Students are expected to go into debt for their educations so they can graduate to a closed job market devalued by foreign workers and a dying industrial economy. Illegal immigrants have just about eliminated low skill jobs. For instance the Federal Forest service used to hire seasonal labor and pay them directly. They usually hired US citizens studying forestry or out of school teens. Now they use “labor contractors” (semi slavers) to provide the seasonal labor using illegal immigrants at greater costs to the government but with way fewer benefits and huge profits for the politically connected contractors. Our military hires mercenaries for embassy guards and truck drivers instead of using real soldiers for jobs that require using real weapons. This also costs the government far more but creates immense profit for politically connected companies like Halliburton and Brown & Root.
The Federal taxes have effectively increased to the point where a family just on the verge of making it to the point where they can live off their investments are taxed at nearly 40% while families already in the investor class are taxed at 15%. Property taxes have increased because federal aid to states and communities have decreased while Federal mandates have increased. The overall tax burdens have been shifted from the investor class to the working class.
These are a few of the reasons the working and middle classes of 2010 Are not doing as well as the same folks parents were doing in the 1950’s. This is not an accident but the result of carefully thought out and implemented government policies designed to enhance and protect upper class wealth and privilege.
Yes it is true. The blue collar folks see the Dems as their enemy because of an extremely effective propaganda campaign lasting over 50 years by the Republicans and now the neocon fascists. The Republicans have made providing equal consideration under the law seem to be a threat to our "American Way of Life."
While they were doing this they robbed the working and middle classes of countless billions of dollars with self serving tax 'reforms' and industrial outsourcing. They also got a number of these people killed in colonial wars for the benefit of the militarists and warmongers over the soldiers.
I just wrote an essay on why is the middle class disappearing. Here it is.
Why is the middle class worse off than in the 1950's by Greg Warner
The principal reason middle class folks are worse off than in the fifties is simply government economic policies and tax systems since the 1980’s have greatly favored the wealthy at the expense of the working and middle classes. IIRC a family could put their money in a Savings and Loan bank and actually earn interest faster than inflation could devalue the money. This is no longer true and has not been since the early 1970’s. Many homes were being built and the GI Bill was subsidizing mortgages as well as educations for people that would never before have had the opportunity to go to college. The economy was geared to industrial growth behind protective tariffs so labor unions could get really decent wages and benefits for their workers. The engineers educated with the GI bill provided the talent for the development of the electronics industry in this country among others. These are the people that engineered the space program and created a walk on the moon and all the technological spin-offs that led to cell phones and big screen TVs.
Since the “Regan Revolution†all these policies have changed. Now a college education is not supported, even for military veterans, to nearly the same extent. Students are expected to go into debt for their educations so they can graduate to a closed job market devalued by foreign workers and a dying industrial economy. Illegal immigrants have just about eliminated low skill jobs. For instance the Federal Forest service used to hire seasonal labor and pay them directly. They usually hired US citizens studying forestry or out of school teens. Now they use “labor contractors†(semi slavers) to provide the seasonal labor using illegal immigrants at greater costs to the government but with way fewer benefits and huge profits for the politically connected contractors. Our military hires mercenaries for embassy guards and truck drivers instead of using real soldiers for jobs that require using real weapons. This also costs the government far more but creates immense profit for politically connected companies like Halliburton and Brown & Root.
The Federal taxes have effectively increased to the point where a family just on the verge of making it to the point where they can live off their investments are taxed at nearly 40% while families already in the investor class are taxed at 15%. Property taxes have increased because federal aid to states and communities have decreased while Federal mandates have increased. The overall tax burdens have been shifted from the investor class to the working class.
These are a few of the reasons the working and middle classes of 2010 Are not doing as well as the same folks parents were doing in the 1950’s. This is not an accident but the result of carefully thought out and implemented government policies designed to enhance and protect upper class wealth and privilege.
Things have only gotten better since the 50's. People are able to afford larger, nicer homes and even have central air/heat. More people are climbing the ladder from middle class an becoming millionaires more than ever. People have money and the chances to have robust retirement accounts waiting for them. Union's are a business. If you are so anti corporate America why do you support the unions who have CEO's that make millions a year like other CEO's. People have better futures with no union companies, if you don't believe me come down here to the south and look at the great jobs people have and the money they make in non union automotive plants. I worked in automotive manufacturing and one of our plants in Alabama voted in the UAW, they ended up with lower wages and less benefits. They've regretted every doing it.
Traditionally, blue-collar workers voted Democratic, they were for social services and tended to join unions. After the 80's, this seems to have changed. The working class is leaning towards Republicans since then. They believe that tax cuts will avoid funding welfare programs for immmigrants and those too lazy to find a job; they are socially conservative and see Dems as some rich elites from the Coasts. So they vote for the GOP.
Is this true?
It is much more complex than this, but I don't disagree that what you posted is part of the sentiment that caused the support for Republican candidates. I believe your starting point is a bit delayed though, I would put the beginning of the shift toward the later 1960's, not 1980.
Traditionally, blue-collar workers voted Democratic, they were for social services and tended to join unions. After the 80's, this seems to have changed. The working class is leaning towards Republicans since then. They believe that tax cuts will avoid funding welfare programs for immmigrants and those too lazy to find a job; they are socially conservative and see Dems as some rich elites from the Coasts. So they vote for the GOP.
Is this true?
Actually , its called "pulling back the curtain", and finally seeing the democrats for what they are and realizing that the republican party is the closest to the working mans, middle class party, versus the democrats who have been bribing the unions all these years with everyone elses tax dollars.
Theory I have: The democrats always want to push their gun controls more heavily that the republicans. Many working class people want to own guns (for home protection, hunting, whatever reasons) and will vote in that direction as it is an issue that they feel is very important.
They appeal by convincing working-class people that their biggest hindrances/threats to their way of life are Mexican immigrants (who also tend to be "working class," in my mind it would make more sense for the two groups to band together), homosexuals (who I would think have basically no effect on anything except for fashion and womens' bodybuilding competitions... they certainly don't have much political power, except for occasionally when they disguise themselves as gay-bashing social conservatives and become red-state Senators or megachurch pastors), people on welfare (who might actually help drive up wages for people in the working class by not being in the labor pool), liberals (who haven't run the country in well over a decade or longer and as of now have only a very weak grasp on legislative power thanks to the 49-51 Senate and GWB being president) & rag-tag terrorist groups halfway across the globe armed with AK-47s and improvised bombs. Democrats maybe lay more of the blame on our economic policy, which is a more nebulous and less easily scapegoatable cause. You could say they use corporations and investors as "scapegoats," but since those groups have a disproportionate role in determining the aforementioned economic policy, I'm not sure if that's so much scapegoating as it is reality.
Last edited by fishmonger; 03-21-2008 at 11:42 AM..
There were two major parts of the Democratic party in the early 20th Century - the old South and the Democrats descended from those who seceded in 1861, and the northern urban wing descended from the immigrants and the great political machines of the cities.
The northern wing began to gain more power within the party, alienating the old southern Dixiecrats. The GOP stepped in as the northern, more liberal wing of the Democratic party left the conservative Southern wing without a voice.
That's why former Democrats like Jesse Helms switched parties.
These are a few of the reasons the working and middle classes of 2010 Are not doing as well as the same folks parents were doing in the 1950’s. This is not an accident but the result of carefully thought out and implemented government policies designed to enhance and protect upper class wealth and privilege.
I really don't see this to be true. In the 50s and 60s when many Americans worked manufacturing jobs, families owned one car, had a house of about 1,500 square feet, a small yard, and little else.
In today's world a house under 2,500 square feet is small. You need room for your three cars, your boat, your RV. You need a back yard large enough for your hot tub, below ground pool, and your trampoline. The problem in today's world is not that the middle class is any worse off, it is that they are never content, and end up using credit to live the high life, typically reserved for the Upper classes. They then lose everything they own, when they can no longer make payments on all of their toys, and seem quite poor. All at the same time, if they had spent within their means they would be living a life not quite as extravagant as the upper classes, but considerably better than working class families in the 1950s. It is the materialistic nature of our society today which puts on the appearence of what you have is never enough, and that you are underprivileged. The problem is neither a Democratic or Republican issue, but a personal issue. In the end however the Right will typically have no sympathy for over spending, where as the Left see it as an opportunity to gain power and influence through bail outs, and special programs.
The shift towards Republicanism among the middle class is because the fact that those working want to keep their money, and not have to support those who do not. The influx of Republicanism came in the 80s & 90s when the economy boomed due to a lack of government interference. Even Clinton saw this and didn't do too much to screw up the economy Reagan built.
Unfortunately a Corporatist big government Republican administrstion running under the guise of conservatism has taken it upon themselves to spend every last dime they can get their hands on and then some. Now the economy is on the down swing due to the same credit mistakes that are made by individuals who spend out of their means.
Last edited by jufrbo; 03-21-2008 at 11:54 AM..
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