How the financial class broke America.

I like to say that Mitt Romney made his millions betting against American workers. It isn’t the greatest Romney-attack line ever. (That belongs to Ted Kennedy who said, “He isn’t pro-choice or anti-choice. He’s multiple choice.”) But it makes a point you can’t hear enough.

Romney had a record of devaluing American workers and work. He offshored and outsourced jobs. Even as he was running for President of the United States, he did not instruct his blind trust to only invest in the United States. He still opposes saving the auto industry because it didn’t punish workers enough. Worst of all, Mitt wants to make all of the Bush tax breaks for the richest permanent.

All of the Bush tax breaks were reckless given the debt and the trillions we need to spend on infrastructure, but it was the second round, passed in the wake of 9/11 as this nation stormed into war, that most harmed the middle class.

By taxing investments and the people who sell investments at a far lower rate than people who work for a living, we insanely incentivized gambling with the American economy. This, combined with the repeal of Glass-Steagall and an administration with no desire to regulate Wall Street, led to the greatest financial crisis in a half century.

Today Robert Reich asked “How Does Mitt Romney Make So Much Money and Pay So Little In Taxes?” He answers in this video:

The short answer: the Bush tax breaks.

When we reward playing with money more than working for it, we guarantee an America that benefits Mitt Romney, the 1% of the 1%, at all of our expense. If you thought an entitled son of the oil industry did some damage to working people, wait until you see what the living embodiment of the financial class does to what’s left of the middle class.

[CC image by Austen Hufford]