As I watched the debate on Tuesday, I was once again struck by how little positive response the CNN'ers in Columbus, Ohio gave to Obama's proposal to raise taxes only for those making $250k+, while maintaining or lowering tax rates for everyone else. For me personally, this is a huge issue. I live in NYC and I see daily (hourly? by the minute?) the enormous disparities between the rich and the regular folks.
Why don't middle class voters in Ohio like Obama's plan as much as I do?
For full disclosure, I would be included among Obama's definition of rich, and though my tax rate is like 3x or 4x the Palins, I never ever complain about paying my share. I am fortunate to be well educated and have a good, stable job. And I know that $5000 a year wouldn't really affect me or my family, but it would make an enormous difference in the life of a middle class family. Further, I know that lots of super-rich folks simply don't pay their taxes, which is just not fair. (Don't ask me how the Palins' tax rate is 10% - I still don't get it.)
So why doesn't Obama's message resonate with more people? For a while, I thought middle class voters, those who don't make anywhere near $250k, just hate taxes. But it turns out that I am TOTALLY OUT OF TOUCH (which is not suprising given where I live). It turns out that voters are just terribly cynical and think every politician, even Obama, is lying to them. Here, from George Packer's recent New Yorker article on middle class voters in Ohio, is Barbie Snodgrass's view:
She remained uninspired by Barack Obama. His Convention speech had gone into detail about his policy proposals on matters like the economy and health care, which seemed tailored to attract a voter like Snodgrass, but they filled her with suspicion. His promise to rescind the Bush tax cuts for wealthier Americans struck her as incredible: "How many people do you know who make two hundred and fifty thousand dollars? What is that, five per cent of the United States? That’s a joke! If he starts at a hundred thousand, I might listen. Two hundred fifty—that’s to me like people who hit the lottery." In fact, only two per cent of Americans make more than a quarter of a million dollars a year, but that group earns twelve per cent of the national income. Nonetheless, the circumstances of Snodgrass’s life made it impossible for her to imagine that there could possibly be enough taxable money in Obama’s upper-income category—which meant that he was being dishonest, and that she would eventually be the one to pay. "He’ll keep going down, and when it’s to people who make forty-five or fifty thousand it’s going to hit me," she said. "I’d have to sell my home and live in a five-hundred-dollar-a-month apartment with gang bangers out in my yard, and I’d be scared to death to leave my house."
Link to the full article, which is totally fascinating:
http://www.newyorker.com/...
Oy. How can we help these voters believe that help really is on the way?