I guess I must be a communist for quoting an ancient Greek author as a way of raising concerns about growing income disparity in the United States.
OK, I confess. I am concerned with how President Obama and Democrats caved to Republican rejection of tax increases, particularly for the nation's wealthiest citizens. Yes, I do wonder if Plutarch had a point that an "imbalance" between poor and rich could be dangerous to our republic, especially when our very rich citizens are doing so very well right now.
Well, here's another commie--and probably unpatriotic and un-American--view of this issue. It's from Robert Reich, former U.S. labor secretary, the chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at UC-Berkeley, and the author of Aftershock. He published this blog, "Ransom Paid" on, ugh, the Huffington Post.
Anyone who characterizes the deal between the president, Democratic, and Republican leaders as a victory for the American people over partisanship understands neither economics nor politics.
The deal does not raise taxes on America's wealthy and most fortunate -- who are now taking home a larger share of total income and wealth, and whose tax rates are already lower than they have been in eighty years. Yet it puts the nation's most important safety nets and public investments on the chopping block.
It also hobbles the capacity of the government to respond to the jobs and growth crisis. Added to the cuts already underway by state and local governments, the deal's spending cuts increase the odds of a double-dip recession.
