Why are there conservatives in the middle class?

I always wondered how people in the middle class end up believing someone else is suppose to make them rich and that the only way to get rich is to inherit it and that most rich people get rich by inheriting it.

 

How did the group that ended up paying more in actual dollars and a higher percentage of all taxes, the high earners, make out disproportionately better than those who had all the tax obligations eliminated and in fact make money off the tax system, those at the bottom?

 

Because not everyone is jealous that some people have more money than you.

 

Some of my Republican friends were born that way (influenced by their parents). Also, the republicans play a good word game (rename the estate tax to the death tax) and are kings at getting themselves out of a losing debate (when faced with a losing argument, make it look as though both parties are equally guilty by use of a straw man or red herring, an example would be they way they equivocated john kerry's military record to bush's).

 

because they work and dont want to be the low class like the libs

 

selected they aren't open although fox news and republican media helps perpetuate their false beliefs

somehow they got brainwashed during the vietnam war into hating government and they always think something is communist, the rich capitalist were able to build ideological fear of government by sending them off to fight wars as they do today with iraq and afghan

also it could be a product of fear from the cold war that is probably the psychology of supporting the ignorance of fear of government

 

I think the major reason is that we used to be in the upper class before Obama got here and we'd love to get back there before we die.

 

I am middle class. No, my mother is middle class. I work two jobs and go to school and just slide by on nothing. I am also a pretty serious conservative. I don't see why that is hard to believe. Being genuinely conservative just means smaller government, and back to our constitutionalist ways. I think more middle and lower-middle class are conservative than you would initially believe.

 

I think it was the liberals who hated government during the Viet Nam war.

 

I'm sure there's nothing more to the issue than that. Conservatives hopelessly brainwashed, liberals empathetic and wise truth seekers.

 

The Liberals understand the fact that corporations are corrupting Republicans.

Conservatives still believe that if you work really hard you actually have a chance to get a piece of the wealth pie.

The truth is that the belief the Conservatives take was true in the past, but the republicans are making it harder and harder for working hard to get you anywhere.

What they are doing is making it so bad that you have to work your a** off just to survive and have shelter.

 

The first thing you need to do is appreciate two things.

First, while having more money does make it more likely someone will vote republican, even the bottom quintile has a fair number of republican voters.

Second, Americans are increasingly not joining either party, or only sign up to take part in primaries. I believe well over a third of the population falls into this catagory.

What this means is that not only are there republicans in the middle and lower classes, but there are a lot of people who aren't Republicans that choose to vote for Republicans.


I'd explain why I think that is, but you seem to not actually care. That tendency is why Democrats lose as often as they do, and why Republicans can get away with as much as they do.

 

People who vote for Republicans who also belong in the middle or lower classes think that Republican representatives' goal is to pass conservative laws like abortion, gun rights, etc.

These issues are a cover for the real goals: eliminate unions in the public and private sectors, eradicate child labor laws, remove/lower minimum wage, eliminate corporate and top-rate income tax and capital gains tax, and maximize corporate profits.

 

That would be correct.....free lovin' hippy drug using liberals especially from the big city universities hated the government during Vietnam, and many hated the US soldiers too.......disgracefull......

 

Bad thread, with bad poll options.

Why'd you even bother making it a poll when the only options you planned on providing were ones that are inflammatory.

Folks, this is what trolling IS. So stop feeding.

 

Derailing the topic is almost as good as ignoring it IMHO....

 

It's not almost as good... it's better ! =P

 

That's part of it. But appreciate that even if you've managed to entirely conveince yourself that all those things are just covers in some giant republican/corporate conspiracy, the voters do get what they vote for in regards to these sorts of items.

You seem to care more about the stuff below. So when you're looking for a candidate or debate, maybe consider how much it's really worth it to try and go after various constitutional rights you might not like in light of the fact that it'll cost votes.

You're thinking of libertarians. I can see how one would get confused as libertairians sometimes run in Republican circles and sometimes register as such.

Ah, this is something else that's important for you to understand. Most of the middle class is directly linked to corporate profits.

Poking around it looks like at least 40% of the working population has a 401(k) or an IRA.
http://www.ebri.org/publications/notes/index.cfm?fa=notesDisp&content_id=3230

The total percentage of workers with stocks would be higher, but I don't know how much more.

The bottom line then is that it isn't even a matter of corproate profits "trickling down." People with stocks get their cut of the cash directly and in a timely manner via dividends and other such mechanisms.

They also have to personally deal with things like capital gains taxes.

 

I'm even more concerned about top-rate income taxes being cut. Corporate taxes are a little different (publicly traded only), which do sometimes help investors. Income tax cuts don't help anybody but the rich though.

And about the Libertarian thing, even so, 95% of Republicans vote along with tax-breaks and income tax cuts. Just look at the House of Representatives. It is an ocean of GOP corruption. Look at John Boner. "We hate taxes, but umm... the middle class one doesn't get me free vacations from my lobbyists. Let's kill it."

 

Just be careful where you draw the lines. I don't think going after doctors is going to be popular.

While there are rap starts and whatnot, generally once you get into the "rich" catagory, income has become convoluted with capital gains and corporate taxation. Not saying that you can't go after it. You just have to give it some thought.

They're generally against all taxes under the "starve the beast" tactic they're using.

However Republicans don't want to zero taxes out and eliminate the government. They aren't anarchists or libertarians with the odd exception. They just want lower certain entitlement and social programs etc.

Be fair. He wants to pass that part, mostly he's just trying to gets some of the democratic stuff cleaned off of it.

That said, republicans are certainly influenced by lobbyists and the wealthy. And the extent to which they get away with it is in large part determined by the level of threat posed by Democrats, who I think sometimes lack insight, or do not care, why so many people vote Republican.

 

This poll is worthless. It doesn't touch the reality of a conservative middle class. It is just partisan bleating.

 

Because some people in the middle class aren't retarded.

 

This is a stupid thread. There is no valid argument or poll answer. You aren't even doing anything except insulting the conservative middle class. Way to waste some perfectly good server space.

 

I ultimately went with this...

...because these programs are helpful to a few people, and there are plenty of valid reasons to hate them for the good of the country.

 

Ha! I like the grammar twist.

And yes, I think that is the case for many.

In part people don't like getting charged taxes.

But many of these "helpful" programs just encourage or exacerbate toxic situations and dependencies. They are bad for the country and often the people they are supposed to be helping in the long run.