Catherine Rampell: Why the White Working Class Votes Against Itself

[Docreed2003]

32. The GOP has been extremely successful in dividing...

The GOP has been extremely effective at division for years. Pitting poor white against poor black and marginally poor against those in poverty, non-union against union...etc. All of this in an attempt to dismantle the Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid/affordable care act/and any other program in this country that was built to protect and care for all citizens. The GOP and opponents to these programs have been using the same tired arguments since the 1930's. Thom Hartman does a great job of highlighting these historical fights, most recently in a segment highlighting JFK's proposal for what would become Medicare and his takedown of its critics.

Between Fox News and the mainstream media, which have become more entertainment sources and less news agencies, corporate consolidation of print media, and bought and paid for politicians who are the modern heirs of the John Birch society, people have been groomed to hate those that they seem to think are getting more than them from the government. Ayn Rand's vision for American is winning. Now what are we going to do to fight that? Because once fundamental changes to SS/Medicare and Medicaid/ACA/Food stamps/welfare are inacted, we may never be able to restore them. I pray our leaders are up for the challenge, and if they refuse to fight for us, that we find fresh blood that will fight for us.