Dictionary.com tells us that "class warfare" is (in Marxist thought) the struggle for political and economic power carried on between capitalists and workers, See, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/class+struggle.
This is an important distinction to note. In the 1950's Republicans by and large made their bones by whipping the nation up into a frenzy on the illusory notions that the federal government and society was plagued by Communists. Today's Republicans are trying to go back to that well and make people fearful. They argue that making the rich pay their fair share is a Communist-like plot. This, they will argue, is Obama and the Democrats engaging in socialism. That of course is, in their propagandizing, the first step down the slippery slope to a tyrannical Communist state.
If class warfare does exist, it is not being waged by the masses. My eighth grade teacher, Sister Mary Richard, used to say that figures don't lie but liars have to figure. The figures are in on the effect of the Bush tax cuts. With those tax cuts, and the deregulation of Wall Street, Republicans have managed to codify the old adage that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Unfortunately, their attack on the once strong middle class is just making more folk poorer while the rich are wallowing in wealth.
President Obama, Democrats, Independents, and non Tea Party Republicans need to tell the likes of Senator Lindsey Graham and Representative Paul Ryan that the President's plan to tax the rich is not class warfare. The Buffet Plan is named after billionaire Warren Buffet. Buffet thinks we need to tax folk like him as an egalitarian reform of the tax code. Americans need to be reminded of America's motto E. Pluribus Unum. "Out of many, one" is what America is supposed to be.
Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham and Representative Paul Ryun are urging that we stay the course on taxes which amounts to a policy of "Out of many, to a few". That, if anything, is class warfare. When all Americans stand together and fairly shoulder the burdens of the Republic, then we give existential import to our motto E. Pluribus Unum.
The figures, you ask? Check out these charts from Business Insider at http://www.businessinsider.com/15-charts-about-wealth-and-inequality-in-america-2010-4#now-read-16.
Wall Street Deregulation and Bush Tax Cuts
are creating those conditions that led to the Great Depression
Half of America has only 2.5% of the nation's wealth
Half of America has only 0.5% of our Stocks and Bonds
The Rich are getting Richer and the Poor are getting Poorer
CEO's are making out like Bandits
Real Average Earnings Show Little Change Over 50 Years
Personal Savings Rates Have Plummeted
The Impact of Republican Tax Policy
The Rich are Earning More and Paying Less in Taxes
Top 1% Doubles Income
Bottom 90% Loses Ground
Class Warfare? Senator Graham and Representative Ryun should be retired by their constituents for their blatant dishonesty.
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