The only real surprise here is that some Republicans do support policies to reduce inequality.
At the Rachel Maddow blog, Steve Benen takes note of the answers to a question asked in the most recent
Washington Post/ABC News
poll: "
Do you think the federal government should or should not pursue policies that try to reduce the gap between wealthy and less well-off Americans?"
With the gap between the rich and poor reaching levels unseen in generations, it’s an important area of debate and I’m glad the poll included it. What’s more, the results were pretty one-sided: among all American adults, 62% believe the government should try to reduce the wealth gap, while only 31% believe otherwise. That’s a 2-to-1 advantage.
What’s more, support for action in this area is quite broad. A majority of Americans regardless of race, for example, support actions to reduce the wealth gap. A majority of Americans regardless of age agree. Indeed, across the board—gender, level of education, household income, geographic region—there’s a broad consensus that this is an issue worthy of national action.
But the Republican majority rejects the idea. Conservatives reject the idea. And white Christian evangelicals reject the idea. As Benen points out, while Republicans are obviously out of touch with most Americans on this issue, they are in touch with their base, the people who will eagerly vote in the primaries for candidates who not only oppose reducing inequality but also support policies that worsen it.
Democratic incumbents and challengers—from city council contests all the way to the presidential race—don't need to reinvent the wheel regarding policies that would reduce inequality. There are plenty of ideas in that regard, some of which have been around for decades, some of which—like a more progressive tax system—used to be policy. What they need to do is figure out how to get these policies past the Republican majorities in 69 out of 99 state legislative bodies, 31 Republican governors, the Republican majorities in the House and Senate and, of course, their owners and string-pullers.
As ought to be obvious by now, that can't be done simply by changing who sits in the Oval Office. It requires working to replace Republicans and those conservative and go-along to get-along office-holding Democrats who, on issues of wealth and income inequality, have enabled Republicans and the oligarchy that has engineered the nation's gigantic upward transfer of wealth over the past 40 years.
There are lots of obstacles in the way of that task—gerrymandering, overly concentrated media ownership, campaign finance, unhelpful judicial rulings and a number of Democratic leaders who keep feeding us candidates who don't stand up for the 99 percent.
A combination of "street politics"—bottom-up movement politics—and locally based precinct organizing are essential ingredients for removing those obstacles. Not easy. Not short-term. And not advanced by whining. Only relentless organizing and grassroots persuasion can achieve it. Progressives who think this is a no-can-do prospect need to change their attitude.