Two Americas: The Over Privileged and The Ignored

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich stated last week that, while a national unemployment figure of roughly 10 percent nationally is alarming enough, the figure is better than double that figure for those Americans without college degrees.

While America stands at a dangerous crossroad with a disparity between the super rich and the rest of Americans having reached the level at which revolutions occur, we see a situation where Rand Paul is elected to the senate in Kentucky, then promptly declares himself to be an advocate of the rich. He states that they create jobs and as a result Americans should be kinder to them.

Paul's senior colleague from Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, recently appeared on "Meet the Press" and needed to be schooled by the program's host, David Gregory, on what constitutes a tax increase. McConnell posited the idea that if a tax cut that those Americans making over $250,000 per year and up is not extended that the result is a tax increase being imposed during a turbulent economic period.

Gregory refused to let McConnell off the hook. He pointed out the difference between the lapse of a tax cut and a tax increase. The removal of a tax cut, while increasing the tax burden of the payer, encompasses what a person would have been paying but for the lessened amount. Hence, removing a tax cut means that a former decreased status has been removed and the obligation level that would have otherwise been payable is now in vogue.