A recent Associated Press article cited CEO incomes have increased well over 900 percent from 1978 to 2014, yet during that same span labor’s wages have stagnated. It’s interesting to note this widening gap coincides with the resurgence of supply-side economics against government, championed in the early eighties by the Reagan administration and others like the Heritage Foundation and continue to this day.
So what? Have you ever wondered where all that extra money came from? It didn’t grow on trees! The current economic and political landscapes suggest it’s been “pilfered” from the pockets of labor. In practice, these policies actually escalate the very problems so blamed on others. The more that have less only increases the ranks of those needing some support, perpetuating the very programs conservatives strive to curtail or end. It doesn’t make any sense … and who’s fighting against raising the minimum wage?
Gov. Walker of Wisconsin maintains their right-to-work legislation has to do with workers’ rights but it’s really only the continued assault against labor unions. We’ve all heard the conservative mantra: If you want to get ahead you have to work for it. OK, yet the governor believes a few union members should get all the benefits provided by the union without having to pay dues … and why? If it’s that bad, tell them to find another job.
Reagan insinuated that government was the problem and in a way he was right, for it stood in the way of those who seized the opportunity to amass great sums of wealth at the country’s expense. We already have term limits, it’s called voting!
Dennis Doolittle
Arlington
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