Sure, take as much as you want
Frank Luntz apparently isn't the only Republican
"frightened to death" of Occupy Wall Street and the growing realization in America that 99 percent of us have gotten a raw deal, and Republicans like it that way.
Witness the Senate Republican's plan for paying for the payroll tax cut, introduced yesterday. Of course it's just one more way to protect millionaires from having to pay slightly higher taxes, and they propose doing that on the backs of public employees and seniors as well as on food stamps and unemployment benefits.
But they're trying to hide the fact they are being as regressive as ever, and to appear to "get it" when it comes to income inequality by making those cuts to programs actually seem fair. So their solution is to go after mythical rich people:
Senate Republicans unveiled an alternative on Wednesday that relies on freezing federal workers' pay through 2015 and reducing the government's bureaucracy by 200,000 jobs. The bill also would raise Medicare premiums for the wealthy, and take steps to deny unemployment benefits and food stamps to anyone with a seven-figure income.
Yes, 99 percenters, never fear because Republicans are going to make sure that all those millionaires who are milking the system for unemployment benefits and food stamps will be stymied now. That'll sure save a lot of money. So for now Republicans seem to have settled on how to sound like populists and make up for the fact that they're still beating up on public employees: attack non-existent millionaires.
