Most Americans Want Economic Fairness

(The cartoon image above is by Ann Telnaes in The Washington Post.)

It should come as no surprise that this country is in economic trouble. Even though the economic pundits are telling us that the recession is over, it is still being felt by everyone but the rich and the corporations. Millions of people are still unemployed, the unemployment rate is still at 7%, the median income is still falling, poverty rolls & the need for food assistance is still growing, the size of the middle class is still shrinking, and the gap in wealth & income between the rich and the rest of America is larger than it has been since before the Great Depression (and is growing even wider).

We should have instituted some policies of economic fairness by now to change this. That's what happened after the Great Depression, and once those policies took effect the country had several decades of growth and a healthy economy, with the rising production being shared with all classes. But this time is different. It is different because the Republicans cling to power in the House of Representatives -- and they have blocked all efforts to change the failed economic policies that got us into this mess.

They cling to their incredibly naive (and unbelievably hard-hearted) belief that giving tax cuts to the rich and the corporations, while trying to balance the budget on the backs of ordinary citizens, is the cure for our ailing economy. They deny the economic unfairness of that policy, label as "class warfare" any attempt to change it, and refuse to even consider raising the minimum wage (or making the rich & corporations pay their fair share of taxes).

But they are out-of-step with the American public. Americans know that the current policies favor the rich, while hurting others -- and they want the government to change these policies, and take action that will reduce the income and wealth gap. They also believe that a good start on this would be to raise the minimum wage.

This is verified by a new ABC News / Washington Post Poll (taken between December 12th and 15th of a random national sample of 1,005 adults, with a margin of error of 3.5 points). Note that not only does a significant majority of Americans believe that current government policies favor the rich, but that is also true of every single demographic group (except for Republicans, and even among them that is believed by 48%).

And the same is true when Americans are asked whether government should reduce the wealth & income gap. A majority of every group (except Republicans, where only 40% agree) wants the government to institute economic policies that are fairer to all Americans (and will reduce that vastly unfair gap).

The same is true of the minimum wage. While the congressional Republicans oppose raising the minimum wage (and many would eliminate the minimum wage completely), and are still trying to convince people that raising it would be a bad thing, the American people are not buying that lie. Large majorities of every group want the minimum wage to be raised -- and on this issue, even 50% of the Republican base agrees.

Polls have shown that many of the public do want the federal budget to be cut. But they don't want it done without it being accompanied by some other actions -- actions that would raise wages (especially the minimum wage), reduce the gap in wealth & income between the rich and the rest of America, and create a fairer economic system that would be beneficial to all Americans.