And this guy is Damn Proud of it
Posted on 06/21/2003 4:13:06 PM PDT by Martus
J. Francis Gardner: Democrats can't rely on mythology
Web Posted : 06/21/2003 12:00 AM
If history is a guide, the 2004 presidential election season won't start in earnest for another three months, sometime after Labor Day. But so many Democrat hopefuls have thrown hats into the ring, Americans are already getting a taste of how the battle will be waged. Early indications suggest Bush's challengers see the economy as his Achilles' heal, along with related matters of taxes and the budget. Indeed, a "myth-information" campaign is well under way. Stay alert for the following classics, be they stated or implied.
Myth No. 1: The economy is a wreck.
Fact: The economy grew 2.9 percent in 2002; 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2003. This represents modest growth that is a disappointment only to those who insist on a comparison to the historical fluke known as the Internet boom of the 1990s.
Myth No.2: The unemployment rate is skyrocketing.
Fact: At 6.1 percent, the current rate is at a nine-year high, but well under the average for the past 30 years. (Clinton's average: 5.2; Bush the Elder: 6.3; Reagan: 7.5; Carter: 6.5; Ford: 6.7.) These numbers are from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Myth No. 3: The stock market is a mess.
Fact: Now closing well above 9,000, the Dow has recovered 1,700 points from its nadir in September 2002. The market's collapse was due to the inevitable bursting of the dot-com bubble, combined with aftershocks from 9-11 and Wall Street malfeasance.
Democrats will try to package these myths in an attempt to create nostalgia for the economic prosperity enjoyed during most of the Clinton era. Whether this is effective depends on how savvy the electorate has become. The nation's economy surges and fades regardless of which political party occupies the White House.
Myth No. 4: Tax cuts on capital gains only benefit the rich.
Fact: According to the Federal Reserve, 52 percent of households in America now own stocks, either directly or through mutual funds.
Myth No. 5: Bush's income tax cuts only benefit the rich.
Fact: When have Democrats ever publicly defined what they call "the rich"? Federal Reserve stats reveal that 95 percent of income taxes paid to the U.S. Treasury come from people earning more than the median family income of $39,900. Imagine that! If you earn $40,000, you're doing better than half of all households in America.
Earn $60,000 and you're in the top 25 percent of all households and pay 85 percent of the tax. Guess what? The Democrats think you're rich, and they want to deny you any tax relief.
A police officer married to a secretary; a teacher married to a firefighter; a nurse married to a symphony musician — all are likely to have combined earnings above $60,000 annually. Yet how many of those couples consider themselves so wealthy that they don't deserve a tax refund?
By contrast, households earning less than $39,900 pay only 5 percent of the federal tab. It's rather difficult to give this group a refund when they don't pay any of the tax, a concept seemingly lost on Democrat leadership.
If they want to include this group in any government largesse, fine. Just don't call it a tax rebate. Have the intellectual honesty to call it what it really is: welfare.
Myths 4 and 5 fall under the liberal gambit known as class envy. It has worked like a charm for decades, but no longer.
The American voter has become too successful, too sophisticated to fall for that foolishness any longer. Someone please advise the Democrat candidates that the golden age of mythology is dead.
Probably the public schools
And this guy is Damn Proud of it
What? Who says??????
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