Americans Don't See The Economy As Being Fair To All

These charts are made from information in the Public Religion Research Institute's 2015 American Values Survey.

A few days ago I posted about what this survey shows on raising the minimum wage. It showed that 76% of the public supports raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, and 59% supports raising it to $15.00 an hour. That's good, but Americans went further. They don't think the economy is fair to everyone, and they think the government favors some groups over others.

Note in the chart above that 65% think the economic inequality in this country is a big problem. They think there should be a more fair and equitable distribution of wealth and income. About 90% thinks government favors the wealthy, and 88% think they favor corporations. But less than a majority think the government does a good job of looking out for the middle class (44%) or low-income workers (43%).

Americans aren't against people being able to become wealthy, or corporations being able to make good profits. But they think all workers should be able to earn a livable wage, and should have the opportunity to better themselves economically. They are tired of most of the new income going to the rich, while everyone else struggles for the crumbs that are left. They believe this is a rich enough country to provide a decent living for all of its citizens.

Of course, the Republicans (at least those elected to office) don't believe that. They think everything will be OK if they just give more to the rich and the corporations (a policy that has been proven to be a failure). This is why they must be voted out of office in 2016.