GOP out of touch with Main Street

Last Thursday, while attending a discussion at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the topic turned to the President's plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire for families making more that $250,000. RNC Chairman Michael Steele said that "$1 million is not a lot of money." To the average American who earns $52,000 per year, $1 million is 19 years of labor. Only 2 percent of Americans earn more than $250,000 per year, taking only 4 years of labor to earn $1 millions.

While many are struggling in a recovering economy, Steele's comment is another clear sign that he and the Republican Party favor Wall Street over Main Street. The GOP continues to support tax cuts for the very rich while opposing the Recovery Act that has saved or created millions of jobs. They are out of touch with middle America and are lining up to oppose regulating Wall Street, even after the greed and excess the nearly brought down our economy.

The icing on the cake is that the GOP is opposed to getting our bailout money back from the banks. But it is not over yet. Now they have proposed a budget that privatizes Social Security and shreds Medicare. As Americans we need to take care of our neighbors on Main Street, and when we do, good thing will happen for Wall Street. When Wall Street comes first, we get greed and tax cuts for the rich.

Jeffrey Smith

Gurnee