Democrats say a lot of things that sound nice. It’s the backbone of their political strategy, but when you look at the actual effects of their promises and policies, the truth loses that nice luster. Take a look at some of the leading platforms coming from the left and how they have impacted and actually will impact Americans.
Wealth Inequality
One of the major platforms of the Democrats in recent years has been an attack on wealth inequality. The bottom half of wealth holders in the country are disillusioned with the sheer power and resources of the top, and resentment has followed.
While these feelings are not entirely unreasonable, the Democrats have taken a completely unconstructive approach to the issue. The primary fault is that they have emphasized income inequality over wealth inequality. Here is why that’s a problem.
The average pay for a CEO in the U.S. will probably surprise you. It is $159,891 per year. There are a handful of S&P 500 CEOs making millions of dollars, but when you consider how large those companies are, it still isn’t an unreasonable figure.
Take this point into account: if the highest paid CEOs in the country forfeited their salaries and gave it evenly to their employees, it would amount to $267 a year for each of those employees.
Here’s another key figure. Anyone who makes more than $31,000 a year is in the top 1 percent of income earners globally. Simply put, income is not responsible for wealth inequality.
Despite that fact, Democrat economics propose to combat wealth inequality by heavily taxing higher incomes. While that may change income disparity, it won’t have any measurable impact on the wealth inequality.
Economists across the board do agree, however, that excessively taxing the companies that create jobs will ultimately lead to economic problems and fewer jobs across the country. In the meantime, the wealthy elite will still own the biggest businesses and consequently retain all of their power and status.
Minimum Wage
Here is another major platform for the party. In order to pander to the lowest earners, Hillary and her camp have adopted one of their most destructive policies: $15 minimum wage. So far, a few select parts of the country have forged ahead with this plan, and so far it has been harmful, specifically for minimum wage earners.
Unsurprisingly, minimum wage hikes once again followed every economic model in history, and the forced wage increase caused a huge drop in hours for that group. Even workers who haven’t lost their job have seen their hours cut so much that they are earning less than they did before the hike.
Much like other Democratic assaults on wage disparity, this has only hurt the bottom line of the working class while the wealthiest members of society have been unaffected.
Education
This is the trickiest ways leftist economics keep people down. Currently, a college education is the most statistically reliable way for an individual to improve their financial status. Despite oppressive hikes in tuition over the last decade, a college education is still one of the best investments an American can make.
The free tuition model being proposed by Hillary is a surefire way to kill higher educations impact on workers wages. Subsidizing college education will have two immediate and dramatic impacts. First, it will artificially inflate tuition, causing the associated tax increases to skyrocket. Second, it will deflate the value of a degree while launching the cost into the stratosphere.
It’s a surefire way to make sure a good education stops being the most reliable way for a person to overcome their environment and find success. Free tuition is a direct assault on the American dream.
Health Care
Obama claims that his health care act was a wild success. There is no denying that millions more Americans were insured as a result.
There is also no denying that the cost of health insurance and health care has doubled since the law took effect. Every single American is now paying more for health services than they did before Obamacare.
On top of that, the added bureaucracy has slowed diagnosis and treatment times across the board, making American health care less effective than it used to be.
This is one of the most prominent examples of the left using an idea that sounds great, and affordable healthcare for everyone does in fact sound great, to increase financial strain, particularly on the poorest Americans, to make them more dependent on government programs.
Why
Now we come to the crux of it all. Low-income earners register and vote as Democrats over Republicans at a rate of two to one. The reasons why are obvious. Democrat promises are all designed to appeal to this group by fighting poverty, inequality and the unfair conditions that afflict them.
Here’s the catch. If the Democrats committed to policies that actually worked, their voter base would no longer need them and would trend towards policies that boost the middle and/or upper class.
Actually helping their voter base would destroy the Democratic Party. Instead, they have mastered using policies with names like “The Affordable Healthcare Act” that actually function to perpetuate poverty and sustain this demographic’s dependence on their party.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
