Friday, February 14, 2014

Dems Can't Figure Out Why People Like Their Issues But Don't Like Them: It's the Aspiration Stupid

Well it seems that the Dems just can't understand why most of their issues have broad support but it doesn't translate into liking the party.

Democrats disagree on how to discuss the growing divide between high-income earners and middle-class workers whose wages have largely stayed flat for many years. One top Democratic lawmaker, who would discuss the sensitive issue only on condition of anonymity, said he is incensed when his party's candidates denounce "income equality," because many voters see it as contrary to the American dream of advancing and benefiting from hard work.

Yet Biden jumped right in Friday. "They talk about the fact that we shouldn't be talking about income inequality," he told House Democrats. "I think it would be a sin if we didn't talk about income inequality."

When he was elected to the Senate in 1972, Biden said, "a CEO made about 25 times more than the lowest-paid employee." Now, he said, it's 240 times greater.

This is exactly why the Dems argument falls flat on a majority of Americans. No one cares if the CEO makes 240 times more than the lowest-paid employee because the majority of Americans will not tolerate being the lowest-paid employee for very long. They want to rise up the ladder and maybe if they work hard enough become the CEO themselves. It is rare but several corporations sport CEOs who used to have entry level jobs at the company.

So whenever the Dems talk about income inequality they go after something that many Americans aspire to become. One reason a person I know didn't join the Occupy Movement even though he was of the right demographic and is a liberal is because he wanted to eventually be one of the 1%. Why would you march against something you aspire to become?

So when the Dems talk about getting back at the rich or giving freebies to the poor it short circuits the idea that if you work hard you will get ahead. I mean most Americans don't want or need handouts or want any hostility from Dems once they actually attain some sort of wealth. They want a safety net in place but hope to never have to use it.

So whenever Biden talks out of his ass about CEO pay people tune him out. Americans probably won't make 240 times more than the lowest paid person at their company but there is a decent chance they will be able to make 20 or a 30 times it instead. They see Biden and the Dems standing in their way of achieving just that.

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