Quote Originally Posted by natronforever View Post
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Why do people think that the government holds the solution to all their collective and individual woes? Belittling a person because of his/her wealth is covetous and backwards-thinking. We should be happy for the successes of others, shouldn't we? Taking more from "rich people" only sates the interest of the jealous. It does nothing to improve your circumstance. ...
Yours seems to be the typical, anti-liberal view. For a start it is simplistic: "government holds the solution to all their collective and individual woes" just doesn't state position most liberals hold. I'm a liberal and a "progressive" in the sense that word was used in the USA 100 years ago -- someone who believes that government can take an active role to improve the lives of citizens of all economic classes.

As for notion that liberals want to seize the wealth of the (innovative, hard-working, deserving) rich and hand it over to the (lazy, feckless, undeserving) poor. This again is simplistic.

Consider rather that the Republican policy since Reagan has been frankly the opposite. To reduce taxes on the rich and regulations on business -- on the theory that thus encouraged they would invest generously in the economy. But this isn't what has happened.

Instead we have seen manufacturing take flight from North American and with it most high-paying jobs for working people. We saw the median income stale in the '80s and '90s and actually decline in the '00 (even before the crisis of '08). Also we see crumbling infrastructure and weakening schools and public services in general. We see increasing poverty while the top 10% has scooped the virtually all the benefits that remain to be had, and the top 1%, 0.1%, and 0.001% progressively larger portions of that.

What Romney wants is a continuation of the above. This is the inevitable conclusion one must draw based on the policies he and likes of Paul Ryan espouse.