Tax cuts for the wealthy? Who else?
Of course, any change in the tax system that allows you to keep a little more of the money you earn is attacked by the Democrats as a tax break for the wealthy. And why not? Their natural constituency is the people who receive tax money, not the people who pay it.
A person who pays $50 a year in taxes cannot receive much of a tax cut. A 100% reduction in the tax rate will only save him $50. But a person paying $20,000 would save $2000 from a 10% cut, and a person paying $200,000 would save $10,000 from a 5% cut. Should we abandon the idea of tax cuts because those who pay huge amounts would benefit most? Well, yes, if you listen to the politics of class envy. But more than half of all tax revenues come from the top 10% of incomes. So a reduction in taxes of course will benefit them, in part. But it will also benefit everyone else, as the resulting economic expansion provides opportunity, and jobs. (Nobody worried about what the minimum wage was, after the Reagan tax cuts, because in that booming economy nobody had to settle for a minimum wage job.)
A front page article in the Wall Street Journal (April 10, 1996) reported that the average American pays more in taxes than for food, clothing, and shelter combined. The government settled for a smaller portion of the GNP when it was fighting the Second World War! We don't just tax the wealthy, we tax drivers, hunters, smokers, and purchasers of every sort of service or product. The middle class family suffers from a decline in purchasing power, not because of inflation, but because of the decline in the portion of income that the worker is allowed to keep. The Liberals are always ready to discover or invent a new group of sufferers, usually children, that somehow escaped (or more likely, resulted from) their incompetent attention previously. They then use this group to demonize anyone who suggests government doesn't have a right to take as much of our money as they want.
The real problem is the underlying philosophy of government. The Liberal sees every problem as justification for another government program, and, of course, the right to take more tax money to fund it. How can we turn our backs on this - whatever - problem? The Conservative sees many of our problems as caused by government, and most problems as a normal part of life, none of the government's business, to be dealt with personally or with private sector solutions. Only a very limited class of problems justify using the government to take money from those who have earned it.
The Liberals see everyone as lacking in compassion, except for themselves. The Conservatives know people are warm-hearted and generous. We know that people who need help will be helped, but by privately and voluntarily supported charities, if only the government will take their hands out of our pockets.