A Students Reading Of The Politics Of Rich And Poor :: essays research papers

A Students Reading of The Politics of Rich and PoorOften times, a political psychoanalyst/scientist will write a book on thepolitics and economics of the time. This writer may also create a work whichemanates views contrary to the opinion of the governing body. Rarely, however,does one start an analyst who will clearly on a swallow floormine his own political party by,in effect, saying, "I told you so." Kevin Phillips, editor-publisher of TheAmerican Political Report, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and chiefpolitical analyst for the 1968 Republican presidential campaign, describes inhis book, The Politics of Rich and Poor Wealth and the American Electorate inthe Regan Aftermath, the consequences of the decisions made by the UnitedStates government while under the presidency of Republican Ronald Regan.Phillips theme of the widening gap between the upper twenty percent of thepopulation, in respect to annual income in actual dollars, with the lowertwenty percent of the population coincides with the belief of the typicalAmerican avarice, during the eighties, leading the country on a rollercoasterride of economic instability and shaky ground. These ideas lie constant andprevalant throughout the seven chapters. His views, though somewhat repetitivein the text, strike the reader with astonishment, especially when consideringPhillips Republican party affiliation.With his thesis in mind, Phillips discusses one-third major factors thatescalate and at the same time submerge the state of the economy in America.These factors include the sudden shift in tax rates, the change magnitude "globalwealth" of America, and the inability of the government under Regan to satisfya "happy medium" for economic growth. All of these factors support Phillipstheme and prove his railway line of an up and down cycle of economic stability.From 1921 to 1925 the top one percent of the populations tax rate wasgradually decreased from the marginally high rate o f 73 percent allthe way to just twenty-five percent. Over four years this elite group ofAmericans received a forty-eight percent decline in taxes. This decreaseopened the door for the super-rich Americans to capitalize and increase theircurrent wealth.As the taxes decreased for this group of the population, others alsobenefited. A surge in corporeal estate investments occured, the stock market valuesrose dramatically, and new technology such as radios and automobiles weresurfacing every day. This bull economy lasted only a few short years. By 1929,the situation was reversed entirely. The economy crashed with unequaledconsequences. The rich citizens who were living "the good life" four years agowere in a flash stuck with paying seventy-three percent of the entire populations