None of this is accidental, notes Kuttner, but rather the result of political choices. Working-class people have lost faith in government, and "when democratic counterweights are weak, the power of money prevails." The burgeoning levels of income inequality Kuttner describes, mostly triggered by recent tax cuts that favored the wealthy, are stunning: "By 2004, more income went to the top 1 percent than to the entire bottom 50 percent." Why aren't more Americans clamoring for change?
Kuttner, who is also an occasional Globe contributor, believes that the electorate has internalized the "bootstrapping" philosophy of Republicans: "People conclude that the rising cost of living is their own personal problem, since the economy is said to be doing just fine." Moreover, the present Republican administration has successfully "starved the beast" of government by simultaneously cutting taxes while boosting military expenditures since 9/11. Faced with massive budget deficits, Democrats are now fighting to simply protect mandatory social spending like Social Security and Medicare from Republican attack. The possibility of new federal expenditures to address long-neglected social needs has been shoved off the agenda.
Kuttner's analysis of how government and corporations have shifted the "safety net" of health care and retirement burdens onto the shoulders of individuals seems depressingly accurate. And while government intervention on behalf of working people is increasingly the stuff of fantasy, government has never been more active helping corporate interests. Kuttner describes in detail the "deregulation craze" (i.e., free markets will solve everything) that started in the late 1970s and continues today.
