Wingnuts baffled by inequality: Why they’re totally confused about how to talk about it

[DonViejo]

From decrying the problem to praising it to ignoring it, the right is totally lost on how to talk to the 99 percent

ELIAS ISQUITH

With the notable exception of a cross-dressing Uncle Sam on stilts, I haven’t really been surprised by anything I’ve seen here at CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Convention, the right’s premiere, annual multi-day confab). For the most part, it’s been what I’d expected to see at a massive gathering of conservative activists, politicians and media members — a lot of khakis; a lot of high heels; a lot of wrinkles; a lot of white hair; and a lot of red, white and blue. I was expecting to see more Rand Paul swag, I suppose, but in terms of visual surprises, that and Uncle Sam in Wonderland is about it.

But when it comes to the sounds of CPAC, that’s a different story. I expected the soundtrack to be a collection of aged radio-rock classics from the glory years of the baby boomer era (AC/DC seems to be especially popular) and I expected to hear a round of applause whenever anything — and I mean anything — negative was said about Obamacare. What I didn’t expect, however, was to hear so much talk about economic inequality. During CPAC’s opening day, in fact, it was referenced, explicitly or implicitly, by one GOP heavyweight after another.

As someone who agrees with the president that (besides global warming) inequality is the “defining issue of our time,” this was encouraging. If both parties are taking inequality seriously, maybe some of the less ideologically charged means to combat it, like increasing the earned-income tax credit or lowering the costs of higher education, might one day become law. Unfortunately, what was also revealed by one CPAC speaker after another is that Republican thinking on inequality is muddled, self-contradictory and, above all else, driven by political necessity rather than actual conviction.

One of the more obvious signs of how unserious Republicans are when it comes to inequality is their seeming inability to decide whether or not it even exists. Rep. Paul Ryan charged that the only reason Democrats were talking about inequality was because “they’re out of ideas” and “cannot talk about economic growth.” But just a few hours later, Gov. Chris Christie — who, like Ryan, is considered a possible future presidential candidate — declared with absolute certainty that “We don’t have an inequality problem.” The real issue is a lack of “opportunity,” said Christie, who had pretended earlier to be speaking directly to President Obama, telling him “no one cares about your opinion on inequality.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/03/08/wingnuts_baffled_by_inequality_why_theyre_totally_confused_about_how_to_talk_about_it/

[CJCRANE]

1. Didn't Santorum say there is no middle class.

I think that's true but not in the way he means it.

More in the way of there being an excluive Upper Class...and a mass of corporate serfs.

[DonViejo]

4. Yes, he did...

Rick Santorum to CPAC: cut the “class-envy leftist language” like “middle class”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024625716

[reformist2]

2. To question the current inequality is to question the free market - and they can't do that.

They're trapped - and doomed - by their own rhetoric and religion.

[TheKentuckian]

3. Because it is actually one of their most fundamental missions and that is a tough sale

when spoken plainly rather than a means to a different end opposed by a "big tent" chock full of folks that have the same goal but are less repugnant in other areas and various folks with various excuses for not calling a spade a spade from political calculation to risk aversion to philosophy over real world application.

Then you run it through an owned media that exist to distract and mislead the public while making more money for the few at the expense of the many and you have the only environment possible to actually sell the sheep on what is actually their slaughter dressed up as everyone who is willing to work hard will be rich.