2016 Hopefuls (R AND D) and Wealthy Are Aligned on Inequality
Appearing at a candidate forum in late January, three likely Republican presidential contenders — Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul — all made a striking confession: They considered “the increasing gap between rich and poor” to be a problem.
But on the question of whether the government should intervene to solve it, Mr. Cruz and Mr. Paul rejected that approach, and Mr. Rubio appeared to agree with them.
When “government takes over the economy,” Mr. Cruz said, “it freezes everything in place. And it exacerbates income inequality.” He proposed lowering taxes and loosening regulations instead.
The responses, even as they reflect an effort to appeal to voters on an issue of increasing importance, put the three men at odds with public opinion. According to a Pew Research Center poll from January 2014, which surveyed about 1,500 adults, Americans not only consider inequality a problem, but 69 percent of them, and almost half of Republicans, say the government should act “to reduce the gap between the rich and everyone else.
It’s not just right-wing presidential aspirants like Mr. Cruz and Mr. Paul whose statements on inequality diverge from public opinion. Hillary Rodham Clinton, though she has been more open to a government role in solving the problem, has yet to mention tax increases as a possible answer. By contrast, more than half of Americans and three-quarters of Democrats believe the “government should redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich,” according to a Gallup poll of about 1,000 adults in April 2013.
more
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/30/business/candidates-and-wealthy-are-aligned-on-inequality.html
