A cure for riches 12

We do not generally trust polls, but these figures endorse something we are pretty sure of anyway, so we trust them more than most.

Ameer Benno reports at the Western Journal:

The Democratic Party is now undeniably the party of the wealthy.

IRS data from 2020 show that Democrats represent 65 percent of taxpayers with a household income of $500,000.

Most taxpayers in Republican districts – 74% – have household incomes of less than $100,000.

Census Bureau data that show the typical congressional district represented by a Republican in 2020 was 13 percent poorer than its Democratic counterpart.

A somewhat less scientific analysis from 2020 reinforced that the GOP is the party of working Americans. According to The Cook Political Report, 85 percent of counties with a Whole Foods store voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump, while only 32 percent of counties with a Cracker Barrel Old Country store did so — a “culture gap” of 53 points.

This demographic shift is part of a long-term trend that began well before the arrival of Trump and his MAGA policies on the political scene.

A 2015 study revealed that families registered as Democrats have higher annual salaries than Republicans.

And, according to a Vox report from 2016, top-end wealth in America over the past several decades has increasingly concentrated in a handful of metropolises. Most of these very prosperous cities (especially New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Los Angeles) have become very solidly Democratic.

Despite these metrics, many cultural elitists on the left continue to perpetuate the canard that Republicans are country club snobs and that the Democrats are the party of the little guy, the underdog and the downtrodden. A Pew Research Center survey conducted during the Obama years revealed that more than 60 percent of Americans believed that Republicans were the party of the wealthy, but only 20 percent felt that way about Democrats. Conversely, 67 percent of Americans believed that the Democratic Party favors the poor and middle-class, and only 26 percent felt that way about Republicans.

The writer then speculates:

But if the Democratic Party is home to so many high-earners, why does it support so many wealth-killing measures, such as Biden’s 43.4 percent capital gains tax and the steep hike in the corporate tax rate?

The answer is that, generally speaking, its members view affluence — even their own — with scorn. Financial success does not inspire pride but shame. It is not something to be celebrated but punished.

Who can be so hard of heart as not to pity rich Democrats?

Luckily, there’s an easy cure for their suffering. Each has only to unload his/her/xir personal wealth onto any Republicans they happen to know or know of. Away with the dollars, away with the shame. Let Republicans endure the affliction of wealth.  

Posted under Commentary, United States by Jillian Becker on Sunday, May 2, 2021

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