Harrop, Dems don’t grasp own ideology

Harrop, Dems don’t grasp own ideology

Columnist Froma Harrop’s Oct. 21 argument boils down to the claim that “class warfare” does not exist. Democrats just want rich people to pay their “fair share.”

Rich people have an unfair advantage in a democracy, they say, because they can influence politics to their own advantage through their economic power. They gain government favor for their industries through generous contributions to select political candidates.

Now, obviously, the “fair share” means that the rich pay more taxes than others. Taxing the rich at the same rate, say 15 percent, is not enough. A tax on rich people earning $1 million a year ($150,000), compared to a regular person earning $50,000 a year ($7,500), still fails the fairness test. No, the rich have to pay an even higher rate, 30 percent, 70 percent, 90 percent, 99 percent.

Well, if that is true, should the rich not have a greater say in the affairs of government? Americans broke with the British monarchy in 1776 under the banner of “no taxation without representation.” Subsequently, under the new Constitution, the government taxed property owners who, therefore, had the right to vote. Those who did not own property could not vote.

Of course, that doesn’t sound ‘democratic.’ It isn’t. The Founding Fathers did not set up a democracy. They set up a republic. They knew from history that democracies always degenerated into tyrannies, that they allowed majorities to vote themselves the rewards that minorities produced. Is that not a form of warfare?

A genuine Democrat, Harry Hopkins, who ran the Works Project Administration under President Franklin Roosevelt, knew well the political importance of taxation. He advised, “Tax and tax; spend and spend; elect and elect.”

As usual, Harrop and most of her Democratic friends show that they do not understand their own ideology.

George Kocan

Warrenville