While President George W. Bush and fellow Republicans may be touting the growing economy as proof their policies are working, the Democrats say those corporate-level profits aren’t exactly trickling down to the average American. But it’s not the government’s job to redistribute wealth as far as the free market purists are concerned. Bill Griffeth hosted a debate on “Power Lunch” for the two sides to make their point.
According to Simon Rosenberg, median income for families has dropped $1,000 over the past six years. He’s the president of NDN, a Democratic think tank and advocacy group. The super wealthy may be doing well, he says, but most middle class Americans are feeling the crunch of lower wages and higher taxes.
“I don’t think that’s acceptable as a policy matter, frankly,” says Rosenberg, “or as a country that prides itself on being a democracy.”
Daniel Mitchell disagrees, saying that Americans are more prosperous than six years ago. Democrats, says the Cato Institute senior fellow, want to emulate the high-tax, high-spending Europeans even though the U.S. economy generates much more opportunity for the middle class.