Republicans Need to Get Over the Makers vs. Takers Mindset. By Scott Rasmussen. Real Clear Politics, April 21, 2013.
Rasmussen:
Mitt
Romney’s secretly recorded comment that 47 percent of Americans are “dependent
on the government” and “believe they are victims” isn’t the only reason he lost
the presidential campaign. But the candidate himself acknowledged after the
election that the comments were “very harmful.”
He
added, “What I said is not what I believe.”
But
many Republicans still believe it, and the “makers vs. takers” theme has a deep
hold on the party. In private conversations, many in the GOP are whispering
that Romney was right and that his only mistake was saying it out loud.
I can’t
tell you how many times I’ve heard people say something like, “Well, the half
who favor government programs is the half who don’t pay any taxes.”
This is
ridiculous — on many levels.
First,
the overwhelming majority of those who don’t pay federal income taxes pay a whole
variety of other taxes, including state and local taxes, payroll taxes, sales
taxes, property taxes, sin taxes and more. They don’t feel excluded from
sharing the tax burden just because they don’t pay one particular tax.
It’s
also worth noting that these aren’t the people pushing for higher taxes. At
Rasmussen Reports, our most recent polling shows that people who make $100,000
or more each year are more supportive of higher taxes than those who make less.
Second,
the 47 percent who don’t pay federal income taxes include large chunks of the
Republican base. Many senior citizens fall into this category because their
primary income is from Social Security. They don’t consider themselves
“takers.” They paid money into a Social Security system throughout their
working lives and now simply expect the government to honor the promises it
made.
Third,
low-income Americans aren’t looking for a handout. Among those who are living
in poverty, 81 percent agree that work is the best solution to poverty. Most
would rather replace welfare programs with a guaranteed minimum-wage job.
Sharing the mainstream view, 69 percent of the poor believe that too many
Americans are dependent upon the government.
Sixty-five
percent of low-income Americans consider it “very important” for an economy to
provide everybody with an opportunity to succeed. Interestingly enough,
low-income Americans consider that more important than those who earn more.
But if
I had to pick just one number to highlight how bad the 47 percent remark was, it
would be this. Just 11 percent of Americans today consider themselves dependent
upon government. Sure, some receive a Social Security check or an unemployment
check, but that’s not dependence upon government. That’s cash received in
exchange for premiums paid.
If they
want to seriously compete for middle-class votes, Republicans need to get over
the makers vs. takers mentality. We live in a time when just 35 percent believe
the economy is fair to the middle class. Only 41 percent believe it is fair to
those who are willing to work hard. Those problems are not created by the poor.
GOP
candidates would be well advised to shift their focus from attacking the poor
to going after those who are really dependent upon government — the Political
Class, the crony capitalists, the megabanks and other recipients of corporate
welfare.
