It deserves notice that there are a few Republicans who are taking income inequality seriously and see it as something which needs to be addressed.
David Frum wrote an article in Sunday’s NY Times about how regions with high income inequality tend to vote democratic. He pointed out that if Republicans don’t address growing inequality, they will keep losing districts. Politically expedient, yes, but Frum has written an entire book on the need for a more compassionate conservatism.
Atlantic editors Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam also have a book out: Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream. And Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who was reputedly on the shortest of short lists to be McCain’s VP, is credited with coining the term “Sam’s Club Republicans.”
Are these guys purely recognizing that working class whites are a bulwark of the Republican base, and therefore must be helped? Or do they actually recognize a moral or fairness problem with growing income inequality? I don’t know, and I haven’t read their books yet to find out. But either way, they are rare, and should be saluted at the very least for thinking differently.
Plus, I am about to start a series of posts that will attack Republican thinking and policies, so I feel like I should say something positive first.
Thoughtbasket 