"No poor person ever.................."

[BlueStreak]

"...........gave me a job."

One of my wingnut co-workers told me this last night, and from the context of the conversation, I gather that he got this from Limbaugh. I didn't respond to his comment at all, but it struck me as to the shallowness of the reasoning behind it. Take the business he and I work for as an example. True, the man who owns the factory is a billionaire. The folks who run the business and do the hiring are all educated and well paid.

But, who is it that goes into the grocery store and buys the coffee? Is it only the Billionaires, Millionaires? If that were the case, we wouldn't sell much coffee, would we? No, I should think not.

By and large the consumer base in any "developed nation" is the working class. The folks who get paid by the hour. I'll bet if you check, even the poor buy more coffee than the wealthy. Cheap, generic coffee, I'm sure but it is a demand.

Now, I understand that it takes wealth to build a factory and a distrubtion/retail chain. Okay? But, why can't people seem to understand that when you cripple the purchasing power of the largest segment of society, the working class, whether it's through high taxation, or depressed wages and/or high unemployment, you cripple the entire economy.

Is it just me or do we seem to have two schools of mainstream thought on this issue? One that seems to think high taxes will solve the problem, and the other that thinks cheap and docile labor is the answer?

If so, they are both wrong, IMHO.

Dave