Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) suggested that rich people deserve tax cuts more than working class people because working class people spend all of their money on booze, women, or movies.
Grassley told the Des Moines Register, “I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing, as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.â€
In the Republican view of America, there are two classes of people, the deserving rich, and the undeserving everyone else.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) also expressed this view when he said during the tax cut debate that Republicans no longer have the money to pay for children’s health insurance, “[L]et me tell you something: we’re going to do CHIP. There’s no question about it in my mind. It’s got to be done the right way. But we, the reason CHIP’s having trouble is because we don’t have money anymore.â€
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The problem with the thinking of Grassley and Hatch is that rich people don’t reinvest their tax cuts back into the economy. If a tax cut is given to someone making $25,000-$75,000 a year, they put the money back into the economy. They don’t spend the money on women and booze and Grassley said. They pay bills or make purchases that they have put off for a long time because they couldn’t afford it. They don’t blow the money. Working class people put their tax cuts back into the economy, and benefit businesses.
Grassley was suggesting that working class people lack the morals to deserve a tax cut, and Hatch directly stated that Republicans drained the treasury and let children suffer.
The mentality expressed by Sen. Grassley shows why Republican trickle-down economics always fails. Republicans don’t care that cutting taxes for the rich doesn’t work because they believe that the wealthy are morally superior to everyone else.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
