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Recently Senator James Webb Democrat from West Virginia gave the rebuttal to the president's state of the union message.He began with the usual Democratic class warfare, comparing the few executives in the country who make super big bucks to the average job holder, suggesting that average workers have gone backward since his college days.The more the jobs picture improves, the more Democrats paint negatives.According to Economist Michael Darda, real wages have grown more rapidly in this president's first five years than they did in the first five years of the 1990's.In both decades wage gains lagged economic growth-they normally do-but in the last two years, workers have made solid gains. Wages were up 4.5% in 2006, following gains of 3.2% in 2005. Benefits were up by a whopping 39% since 2000 according to the Labor Department.At the other end, tax payments are down considerably.Examining for example a taxpayer with Adjusted Gross Income-AGI of $35,000, his/her Final Net Tax, going back to 2000, before each cut, was $2989. His/her Final Net Tax is now $1792, saving that taxpayer $1197 a year.The positives for workers in wage gains, benefit increases, family income, net worth, reduced taxes and home ownership are probably as good or better than they've ever been. In the case of homes, millions own bigger and better homes than ever before.The stock market now has 100 million investors, the great majority of whom are middle class. You can be sure that the percentage of middle class stock holders in Mr. Webb’s college days was a tiny fraction of that.The conveniences and luxuries of today would dwarf those of the 1960's. Even today's so called poor have more of life's necessities and conveniences than most middle class families had in his college days.A word which liberals stopped using, soon after the tragic assassination of JFK, is persistence. History has never seen a nation like the U.S. that offers such mind-boggling opportunity for those who persist. Examples number in the millions.Jobs For College Grads-The Latest DataIn the last few days we've learned that employers intend to hire 17% more college graduates than they did last year, with sizable jumps in salaries and signing bonuses.Trudy Steinfeld is executive director of career development at New York University. She tells us that salaries "are up about 5% to 10% since last year, and companies are offering bigger signing bonuses -- up to $10,000."Another page or so could easily be filled with all the good things happening in our economy. American workers who get degrees and others who develop above average skills, get better jobs and of course, do better than those who do not. This certainly causes income differences, but that is not income inequality.The more things improve for those who persist, the more the Left and the Mainstream Media resort to class/envy, class/warfare and creating negatives out of positives.When Did This Disease Take HoldThe evolution of class warfare seemed to take hold with the Reagan tax cuts. Since then that silly and deceptive phrase "tax cuts for the rich" has become a phrase that Democrats must use and obsess about, to be fully accepted in the Democratic Party.Tax cuts always reduce taxes in exact proportion to the rate being paid.Under JFK, taxpayers at the top reduced payments $21,000 for every $100,000 paid, under George Bush they reduced payments $4600 for every $100,000 paid, but both were totally fair and both produced great economies and very good gains to workers.Isn’t it time for the Left to drop the tired old refrain of class warfare?Let us instead, make the word persistence, a major feature of our dialogue.
Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com
Mick McNesby is a former tax advisor, consultant and negotiator. He was a frequent guest on political talk shows in Atlantic City, N.J., discussing the benefits of the lower cost of government. He can be visited at conservative-politics-infofind.com
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