In recent years, one of the victories often cited by political consultants (on the left and right) has been the transition of blue states to red states as Republican political candidates have won local and state elections in areas that were previously consistently Democratic.
Much of the Republican growth in has come from hispanic voters, religious people, and the working poor migrating from the Democratic party to the Republican party.
In the past, Democratic politicians have served the working poor, partly because of ethical reasons, and also because the working poor voted for them.
Often seen as the party of the underdogs, the Democratic party, like Robin Hood (pictured above), served to balance out unfairness in the marketplace. As Barack Obama recently put it, “Spread the Wealth Around.” Like a modern day Robin Hood, Obama’s vision of spreading the wealth around was to take money from the wealthy and give it to those who’ve been less fortunate.
The concept of asking for more from those who have more isn’t new. It’s a theme that’s been echoed by political and religious leaders throughout history.
“For of those to whom much is given, much is required.” – President John F. Kennedy, January 9, 1961
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” – Jesus (Luke 12:48)
The Republicans recently voted to spread the wealth around. However, their plan was not to give to the less fortunate, but instead to take from the poor and give to the rich. This is both a bad decision politically as well as unethical by any standard. If not for ethical reasons, Republicans should for political expediency defend and support those who elected them. For this reason, over 75 professors at Catholic University and other prominent Catholic colleges have written a letter of protest.
Our country was founded on the principle of providing opportunities for everyone, even the poor, not exploiting the poor to create opportunities for the wealthy. Yet today, it’s the wealthy who are enjoying the American dream at the expense of others who don’t.
“Exxon Mobil, the most profitable corporation in the history of the world, not only paid nothing in federal income taxes in 2009, but received a $156 million tax refund from the IRS, according to their own shareholder report.” [source]
“At a time when we have a $14.2 trillion national debt and a $1.6 trillion federal deficit, it is unacceptable that Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Bank of America, Chevron, Boeing, and other large, profitable corporations are not only avoiding paying any federal income taxes at all but have actually received huge refund checks from the IRS.” [source]
Given these circumstances, we should just skip the middle man and make our tax payments directly to the corporations that are controlling our government.
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This article was inspired by The Religious Indictment of Republicanism by Nicholas Johnson.