WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) voted against beginning debate on a measure that would have the Senate declare the rich should share the pain of debt reduction Thursday, a day after arguing that it’s the poor and middle class who need to do more…. “I hear how they’re so caring for the poor and so forth,” Hatch said in remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, in reference to Democrats. “The poor need jobs! And they also need to share some of the responsibility.”
I can think of nothing that more succinctly and completely indicates just how much Republicans hate the poor and the middle class than Orrin Hatch’s sad, misguided, hateful words. In a time when this country would be far better served by all of us pulling together, what we get is a prominent Republican senator blaming the patient for being ill. Yeah, if it wasn’t for those damned poor folks sucking at the federal teat, this country would be in great shape. Except that the very reason we find ourselves in the mess we’re in is that we’ve become a country ruled by greed and self-interest. We’ve elevated the interests of the (wealthy) individual over that of our collective well-being, to the point where anything that smacks of addressing the collective good is immediately condemned as Socialism- not that those making that claim can even adequately define “Socialism.”
Memo to Sen. Hatch: it’s tough to pay taxes and “share some of the responsibility” when you don’t have a job or don’t make enough to survive. It’s not that the poor don’t want to contribute, but they’re kinda busy trying to feed themselves, keep a roof over their heads, and keep the utilities on. Being that it’s August and all, it would really kinda suck to have the electricity turned off and not have any air conditioning, knowhutimean? Then again, you probably DON’T- and never will- know what I mean. SInce you and your greedy friends are largely responsible for the mess we’re in, I can’t imagine that you can relate to the plight of those suffering the consequences of greed run amok and self-interest raised to an art form.
I find the Right’s interested in “shared sacrifice” to be somewhat laughable and disingenuous, given how assiduously they work to protect the interests of the wealthiest among us. Of course, the poor and middle class are far less likely to vote Republicans, and they certainly don’t donate the large sums of money to GOP coffers that the wealthy do. Truthfully, then, “shared sacrifice” is really just code for “let’s see if we can squeeze a little more blood from this turnip, shall we?”
I’m not advocating that the wealthy be penalized for their material success. We all aspire to that sort of thing. Even so, should it not be considered reasonable to presume that from those to whom much is given, much is expected? Or is the contention here really that the poor and middle class are where they are simply because they can’t afford the tax attorneys necessary to identify and exploit every available tax shelter, loophole, and write-off?
We now live in a world where the long-term unemployed are running out of benefits, the poor and middle class are running out of options, and businesses increasingly are refusing to hire anyone who doesn’t already have a job. Sen. Hatch, before you begin whining about “shared sacrifice”, how about getting serious about addressing the problems that you and your greedy friends created through avarice, mismanagement, and self-interest?
Or would you really rather focus on squeezing a little more blood from that turnip?
