Posted on 01/21/2015 5:23:42 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
On Tuesday night, Senator Ted Cruz appeared on Fox News to respond to the State of the Union address — and talked about how the US economy was only working for the "top 1 percent," who he said have gotten "fat and happy" under Obama's administration.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Cruz's rhetorical move is unusual for a prominent Republican, particularly a presidential contender. This emphasis on the "the 1 percent" has long been condemned by many in the party as class warfare. For instance, Sen. Marco Rubio said in 2012 that "convincing one group that their life isn't doing better because another is doing too well" is "divisive."
But Cruz's line is the latest example of why many Republicans are reacting to the latest good economic news by sounding more like Elizabeth Warren, as Matt Yglesias wrote recently. The solutions they're proposing are quite different from Warren's — but, at least rhetorically, their diagnosis of the problem is getting more and more similar.
What Cruz said
Cruz began with a common refrain, saying that Obama’s speech "doubled down on the same failed policies of the past six years." He added, "It’s not working." But when anchor Megyn Kelly pressed Cruz for more specifics, his response was more interesting:
KELLY: He says it is working. He calls it "middle-class economics" and says "the verdict is in, it’s working." Some of the stats offered by the president and in some of the news reports today: Unemployment down to 5.6 percent. Gasoline prices down. Stock markets are up. Economy grew by 5 percent in the third quarter of last year, its fastest rate for more than a decade. How can you hit him on the economy?
CRUZ: Because the facts are, we’re facing a divided America right now when it comes to the economy. It is true that the top 1 percent are doing great under Barack Obama. Today, the top 1 percent earn a higher share of our national income than any year since 1928.
He continued by citing wage stagnation, Americans dropping out of the workforce, and even said that the "rich and powerful" have gotten "fat and happy":
CRUZ: "The sad reality is, with big government under the Obama administration, the rich and powerful, those who walk the corridors of power in the Obama administration, have gotten fat and happy. But working men and women across this country — we have the lowest labor force participation since 1978. The reason the unemployment rate keeps dropping is millions of people keep dropping out of the workforce altogether so they’re not counted in that number. And, I’ll tell you, wage stagnation. For over a decade now, median wages have stagnated, and this is an administration that benefits those with connections to Washington with influence."
What it means
Now that the economy is in better shape than at any other time during the Obama presidency, the GOP is trying to sharpen its messaging on what, exactly, still isn't right.
Cruz’s rhetoric about the top 1 percent and wage stagnation is striking and calls to mind that of not only Elizabeth Warren, but Sen. Bernie Sanders, a socialist from Vermont weighing a run for president. (The statistic that the top 1 percent’s share of the economy is the highest since 1928 is a favorite of Sanders’.)
But of course, Cruz’s focus on "big government" as the problem is very different from Warren or Sanders. So while the GOP senator has adopted a similar diagnosis of the problems we face, he certainly isn’t calling for similar solutions.
The context is that Cruz is gearing up for a likely presidential run. The Washington Examiner’s David Drucker reported Monday that Cruz’s campaign "could start before this spring." Drucker added that Cruz is planning to give a top campaign position to GOP operative Jeff Roe, and quotes a source calling Roe "a mean, bare-knuckles brawler."
But it’s clear that Cruz isn’t turning against all of the 1 percent. Politico’s Ken Vogel reported this week that Cruz will attend a summit hosted by the Koch brothers’ political operation this weekend. Cruz’s argument that "those with connections to Washington" have unfairly benefited is a favorite of Charles Koch, who has condemned government "cronyism."
Eat the rich.
Maybe if we raise taxes enough, that will magically happen?
2ndDV posts Cruz articles, this is what the enemy is saying, and we need to know it. If it slipped you, some of us here are trying to get Cruz elected.
Some of that 1% earned it with hard work and honesty. But a large number of them earned it in ways that once upon a time would have been illegal and landed them in jail. In fact; many times how they earned it was illegal, but when you are in a “protected” profession such as working for investment banks then you can pilfer money anyway you want.
You can bet that the top 1% subsidize the bottom 70% in one form or another.
I believe there is a better way to address this, and it doesn’t include class warfare.
Simply address the fact that we 92 million able bodied people out of work. That’s all. You don’t talk about “rich people” and you don’t talk about “poor people”.
You talk about job growth since 2000 and the fact is has been almost negligible. You look at growth up to 2000, and it’s about 9.75% per every four years. Since 2000, it has been about 1% every four years, if we were lucky.
In 2016, it will have been four terms in office, and only job growth of about 5%. In four terms job growth normally reaches around 40% plus.
Each four years 9.75%. The first four is 9.75% on the orginal figure. The second is 9.75% on the first figure plus the first 9.75%, and so on for four terms.
Bush and Obama absolutely tanked on job growth. Boy those imports sure piled up though. H1-B’s grew.
And the jobs that were created here, service sector. The lowest paying jobs around, grew. Isn’t that special.
Rich? Poor? Come on Ted, you can do better than that. Sheesh!
I wish it did. I had no idea what Vox was until I read the FR comments.
There’s a HUGE difference between Warren and Cruz. Warren wants the government, ran by her and her ilk, running the economy. They have theirs and they want the door shut behind them for anyone else to gain success. Her plan, the progressive plan, is to tear everyone down to the same level of misery begging for table scraps from Warren’s table.
Cruz would much rather make it an economy where barriers to success, placed by the government, are removed. Giving people ‘free’ stuff like we have been doing since LBJ has proven to be a failure every single time.
Cruz is hitting Barry over the head about the crony capitalism involving all the TARP and Stimulus money handed out to Obummer donors and fellow travelers who have raked in millions while average Americans have either lost their jobs or are working longer and harder for the same amount of money (or less).
That is not free enterprise, but government picking winners and losers.
Smart move by Cruz.
Well, the truth is that under Obama the 1% are becoming FILTHY rich while the rest of us are losing ground. AT 66 I had to go back to work to keep our head above water, and if the government defaults, there goes my SS and annuity. everything gone in one fell swoop. This will not affect those who have their wealth in offshore accounts, which is legal. It won’t affect those who have their money tied up in other assets that will get even better in a collapse. The rich will buy the rest of us off in easy pickings because we won’t have the wherewithal to keep up mortgage and utility, car payments, purchase food, etc. We’ll be looking for a bridge to sleep under, or an overpass to beg at. The filthy rich will continue to be that. I don’t care about that. We cannot let this conquer our hearts. We were naked coming into the world and will leave with nothing. Our treasures are in heaven. However, there is nothing wrong with stating the facts as they are, and they concern a lot of people. I worked hard, but if God sees to take it away, then He will provide in some way.
Cruz’s point was that under Obama and in SPITE OF his rhetoric about the rich getting richer, etc., we know that he is only using it as a tool to drive a wedge. Cruz is stating it as a fact. It is true, but Obama wants people to hate others because of it. He knows that these 1%ers are NOT in harms’ way, really. But, he gets the anarchists panties in a wad. Then they attack those who are not the 1%, but are more accessible to the anarchists. So, anybody in the class that makes over 100K per year are targets, which puts them at personal and economic risk all the way around. They don’t have the real money to have the safety nets in place that the filthy rich have, but the fact that they are wealthier than the average neighbor makes them look like the 1% to those locally who don’t understand any of this.
Personally, I’m glad that it is more than Warren who is sounding the alarm. I’m not sure that Warren’s purposes are pure, but I know that Cruz’s are. She is probably running for office and she is going to do it smartly. If she is right, and the only one saying these things, she is an automatic shoe-in come November 2016. There needs to be someone from our side sounding the alarm. We cannot let the democrats own the narrative for 2016.
“The economy grew by 5 per cent in the third quarter.”
________________________________________________________
BS. At least 4% of this “increase” is due to the much higher cost of Obamacare premiums that are replacing the so-called “bad apple” (i.e., much better) policies.
The top 1% is the permanent political class, and they favor leftist ideology. Cruz gets it.
Back at the Cromnibus dustup, the Partisan Media Shills were calling her visionary and calling him a loose cannon. The approach has changed, but the intent is the same.
Salon is still on the old meme:
Joan Walsh - State of the GOP is broken: I thought Joni Ernst was bad. Then I watched Ted Cruz
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/gop/3249317/posts
Cruz was definitely striking out at Obama’s social corporatist agenda. Obama’s ‘friends’ do well. These are the captains of industry or are made the captains through sweetheart deals (Solyndra).
They are better than the rest of us serfs, and are our ubermensch. /sarc
DH and I are 1 percenters. Barely. We are far from getting filthy rich. After paying 6 figures in taxes and being told we are not paying our fair share yet, I have to pay college tuition and now grad school tuition for 2 kids (no financial aid for you, you’re rich) and a nanny for the grandchild I’m raising. That leaves very little at the end of the month. I’m grateful I can provide for my family, but this filthy rich 1 percenter drives a honda and shops at Kohls. I don’t know how we will afford more taxes, but retirement gets further away every year.
If you are struggling that much, you’re probably not in the 1%, regardless of what the homeless panhandlers shout at you.
Last week Retroplex replayed the 1960s classical version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
They put a pod next to the bed and the person appears the next day with a completely different personally.
What really sounds crazy is Romney trying to talk about income inequality, come on Mitt. Anyone stupid enough to believe you shouldnt be allowed to vote.
Ted Cruz is right. Obama has managed to get the unemployment figures down by dint of systematically discouraging so many people from seeking jobs or encouraging them to get on welfare. Since the unemployment figures do not include those who are not a actively seeking jobs, it’s easy to cynically get the unemployment figures down if you are an American hating communist like Obama. The only figures that matter are the total number of people in active employment, which today is less than when Obama assumed power 6 years ago, despite a much higher population today.
SSDI is the new, long-term unemployment insurance.
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