One of my commenters suggested that I was going after Joe the Plumber. Well, he actually said, "this is so typical how the weak intellectually deficient left wing liberals address an issue." This brings up two issues -- first, I did not say that "Joe the Plumber" is a bad guy or was a terrorist or was morally deficient. Instead, I pointed out the facts as they stand. "Joe the Plumber" may not be a plumber nor a contractor since he is not licensed to do either in Ohio. Secondly, I've addressed the issues in several posts (here, here). I addressed these issues long before John McCain made Joe the Plumber a household name.

Trickle-down economics doesn't work and has never worked. Republicans have been unable to create jobs in comparison with the success of the Democrats. Since Truman, Democrats and their policies have consistently been able to create more jobs than Republicans. This isn't my opinion. This is fact.

Creating incentives to get more money into the hands of the middle class stimulates the economy and causes small business to grow. Again, this isn't my opinion. This is fact.

John McCain and the rest the Republican Party have proposed nothing new for our country's economic woes. Their answer to every crisis is tax cuts for the rich. That is their answer. We've learned over the past 27 years that what happens is that the rich get richer and the rest of us are left behind.

Finally, I would like to address the notion that empowering the middle class is something akin to Marxism, socialism or whatever other derogatory term the right wing is using today. The middle class is the fiber of our country. As such, they are the engine that makes industry great. Under Franklin Roosevelt we saw increased taxes on the rich and a government that supported unions. Yes, I mentioned unions. Unions work to increase wages for the middle class. Unions are sometimes the only leverage that the middle class has against management. Unions also work to suppress inflated CEO salaries. So in the "40s and "50s, as a result of these forces, there was a compression of our society. The rich were a little less rich but the benefits of these policies made the poor a little less poor. Anything that benefits the middle class directly is something that I will support because it is good for America and good for our economy.