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Wow. What a load of hogwash. The idea of the re-distribution of wealth comes from 200 years of laize-faire economic policy in this country that led to the largest economic collapse in the history of this nation, and allowed the creation of monopolies the likes of Standard Oil. When you can buy the lawmakers, everything is legal. That should tell you, as scandal breaks in Washington, why money needs to be removed from the political system.
The creation of wealth comes from securing a job. It helps in the production of products and services, and this creates more business opportunities because a surplus of wealth without a place to spend it means there is no adaquate compensation for the job. They are, economically, where this country was at the turn of the 20th Century. Traditional agrarian lifestyles are being abandoned to work in a metropolis. Within the next generation, the majority of the Chinese will live in Urban areas and work in factories. This is good for international business because whereas in the United States we are buying our 3rd or 4th car per household, they are buying thier first. When living 20 miles away from your job suddenly is commonplace, that car goes from a luxury buy to a necessity of life.
I'm liberal to my core. No zealot like a convert, right? I grew up in a very conservative suburb of Metro Detroit, and my belief system began to change as my world expanded from that small community. We weren't enough for government assistance and we had our own house, but my parents were divorced and the luxury of Catholic school was too much to afford. It took a very generous parish in forgiving a substantial financial debt to keep us out of bankruptcy. My mother worked two, three jobs to make sure my brother and I had clothes on our back and food in our bellies.
Two years after the divorce, Dad decided to skip out on seeing his kids and the bare-minimum child support he was asked to pay. His bill, although no more than $250 a month for two kids, ran to an excess of $8,000. That's a total of 32 months before he started making payments again. Mom was a victim of a company merger and was let go from her job during this time. If not for a private business that was losing my cousin money, there would have been no source of income for our family. My mother raised two sons on annual income of $15,000 dollars a year in one of the richest counties in the country.
Luck and prayers: that's how we stayed out of financial ruin. By the time college rolled around, our funds were non-existent, and because of being cursed by age, I was denied all but $200 in pell grants this year (full time, 12 credits at the local community college is $1600 a year plus books). My brother, 5 years ago, received ten times that amount.
I have no health insurance, and haven't had any since 1998, the last time dad had a job. I have never had a physical.
In 1990, the average for a gallon of milk in this town was $1.09. This year, the average cost is $2.89.
A gallon of gas in 1999 was $0.89 cents. Today, it's $2.39. My mother, by the way, is working at the same job she has had since 1998 and she has received a $1.25 increase in her wages over that time period. That increase doesn't cover the difference in a gallon of gas today from 1998.
For people who live with poverty everyday, it's not some statistic or political tool. It is their reality, just as it's this person's reality to face dead-end jobs, broken schools, and lost hope of a better life. I'm not talking about me. We're a pretty average lower middle-class family.
I'm talking about the people who used to come into my job at Arby's and solicit our customers for some money or sit in the lobby and talk to themselves. The state closed down a mental health facility and most of their patients were re-admitted to the public with no job, no medication, and no family or friends. Our store was filled with victims of drug abuse. Our manager, a recovering addict himself, would go into halfway houses and offer his services to the staff - if any one needed a job, just let him know. If any one of us asked him for money, he would pull out his wallet and give us $20 or whatever we needed to get through to payday. I once saw him cover $200 for two weeks so that one of his employees could keep from being evicted.
These are the people who convinced me that idealism is just that - an idea. Life is much more interesting than that and forgiveness, being their for your fellow man, and yes, government assistance programs are necessary components of a compassionate and free society.
When I go into a restaurant, I want the hostess to be able to count back my change and a well-funded school district and involved parents need to be a part of that. I don't want to walk down the street at 3 AM and be mugged by someone who is either on drugs or just for the love of God, hungry. An educated, employed, and secure public reduces crime. Period. So instead of throwing away victims of crime, or having tougher sentencing guidelines, let's do what works longterm - provide for everyone so that no one becomes desperate. Does that solve all crime? no. But the need to escape the daily lives is the number one reason for drug use. I can think of no one who needs to escape more than those in high-stress jobs at both ends of the socioeconomic scale.
The first wave of Cubans seeking asylum were predominately wealthy and well-educated. 
