"Study": Democrats are the Party of the Rich

[FVZA_Colonel]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/NATION/111230087/1002

Study: Democrats the party of the rich
By Donald Lambro
November 23, 2007

Democrats like to define themselves as the party of poor and middle-income Americans, but a new study says they now represent the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional districts.



In a state-by-state, district-by-district comparison of wealth concentrations based on Internal Revenue Service income data, Michael Franc, vice president of government relations at the Heritage Foundation, found that the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional jurisdictions were represented by Democrats.



He also found that more than half of the wealthiest households were concentrated in the 18 states where Democrats hold both Senate seats.



"If you take the wealthiest one-third of the 435 congressional districts, we found that the Democrats represent about 58 percent of those jurisdictions," Mr. Franc said.
...................................................................................................................................................................

While red flags should be flown up simply because of the involvement of the Herritage Foundation and it's being reported in the Washington Times, if anything else is needed I reccomend this op-ed by Paul Krugman (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/even-more-on-income-and-voting/), and this recent post on TPM Horses Mouth (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/silly_new_wingn.php) for some pretty effective dissections of this claim.

[Kucinich4America]

1. Leave it to the Washingmoonie Times to print such crap

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must take the Bentley down to the corner store to buy some caviar.... :eyes:

[Skittles]

3. hey K4A

why did it take you so long to join us? :hi:

[Kucinich4America]

7. Well, you know, I was too busy playing polo with Prince Charles....

....Partying at the Hiltons' summer house, buying tropical islands, and all that other shit that us Democratic zillionaires do every day.

My new indoor swimming pool is filled with Dom Perignon, ya know. I had to fly all over the world in my Lear jet to find that stuff! :evilgrin:

[Skittles]

8. LOLOL

funny, usually us "elite Dems" are accused of sitting home and collecting welfare :D

[blogslut]

2. Let me shoot that bullshit down right now

The Democrats hold the majority in both the House and the Senate. That means rich or poor, most districts are represented by Democrats.

[Rex]

4. Moonie Times. Might as well be a story from Foxnews.

[Quantess]

5. So, Republicans are the party of the poor and ignorant.

No surprise there!

[bullimiami]

6. exactly my thought. the republican party is the haven for the ignorant and those that exploit them.

[hootinholler]

17. Not quite

Republicans are the party where the few uber-rich take advantage of the poor and ignorant.

This works because the ignorant don't realize they are working against themselves, which is painfully evident at that other site owned by the master ignoramus. I'm SERIES!11!

-Hoot

[Quantess]

18. You said it very eloquently.

No need for the fake-stupid SERIES!!1! charade.
Poor republicans, and there seems to be no shortage of those, are suckered by some forgotten 9-11 hype, and/or how their church told them to vote.

What is that other site owned by the master ignoramus?

[hootinholler]

24. The site from whence the moran come!

That shall not be named.

-Hoot

[CJCRANE]

9. It's chicken and egg:

Are the Democrats the party of the rich or do Democratic policies promote greater wealth creation?

[sam sarrha]

16. distribution......

[China_cat]

10. IF that had even a kernel of truth to it

it would be because most of those 'rich' Democrats started out poor/working class and actually were able to earn what they have...instead of having inherited it with no idea of where it -really- comes from.

Just look at the backgrounds for comparisons.

[Sadie4629]

14. This is from a 2003 article

so it's kind of old news, and some of these guys aren't in the Senate any longer, but I think it's worth sharing. Don't know the backgrounds of a lot of these people, but I can tell you for sure that none of the top three earned their own $$$$.

Senate millionaires
John Kerry, D-Massachusetts: $163,626,399
Herb Kohl, D-Wisconsin: $111,015,016
John Rockefeller, D -West Virginia: $81,648,018
Jon Corzine, D-New Jersey: $71,035,025
Dianne Feinstein, D-California: $26,377,109
Peter Fitzgerald, R-Illinois: $26,132,013
Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey $17,789,018
Bill Frist, R-Tennessee: $15,108,042
John Edwards, D-North Carolina: $12,844,029
Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts: $9,905,009
Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico: $7,981,015
Bob Graham, D-Florida: $7,691,052
Richard Shelby, R-Alabama: $7,085,012
Gordon Smith, R-Oregon: $6,429,011
Lincoln Chafee, R-Rhode Island: $6,296,010
Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska: $6,267,028
Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee: $4,823,018
Mike DeWine, R-Ohio: $4,308,093
Mark Dayton, D-Minnesota: $3,974,037
Ben Campbell, R-Colorado: $3,165,007
Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska: $2,963,013
Olympia Snowe, R-Maine: $2,955,037
James Talent, R-Missouri: $2,843,031
Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania: $2,045,016
Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire: $1,916,026
John McCain, R-Arizona: $1,838,010
James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma: $1,570,043
John Warner, R-Virginia: $1,545,039
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R - Texas: $1,513,046
Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky: $1,511,017
Harry Reid, D-Nevada: $1,500,040
Sam Brownback, R-Kansas: $1,491,018
Thomas Carper, D-Delaware: $1,482,017
Ted Stevens, R-Alaska: $1,417,013
Maria Cantwell, D-Washington: $1,264,999
Barbara Boxer, D-California: $1,172,003
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah: $1,086,023
Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana: $1,080,014
Bill Nelson, D-Florida: $1,073,014
Charles Grassley, R-Iowa: $1,016,024
*These figures are base estimates provided by senators on their financial disclosure forms.

[China_cat]

20. Of course that's not going to apply to 100%.

Nothing ever does. And not 100% of Republicans inherited their money. But the odds stacked in favor of my statement. Democrats are more in touch with the people who actually make this country what it is...working people...because they've been there themselves.

[Perry Logan]

11. Mmm! The smell of cooking stats.

[boobooday]

12. This study is bunkum

Flawed, and wrong.

It tells you nothing about who the rich are actually voting for.

[MiniMe]

13. Flawed study. Just because you live in a blue state doesn't mean you are

a democrat. The richest people are most likely republicans.

[Liberals Rule]

15. So Long As their Legislation Represents the Poor and Middle Class

Like the Ted Kennedy's and John Kerry's have always done, I could care less how rich they are..so long as they represent ALL THE PEOPLE! You won't see a Republican do that ever!

[Quantess]

19. It is not news that republican voters represent the lowest SES among white voters,

and the highest SES among white voters.
If those vile people at the unmentionable site have contrary evidence, then it would be welcome. Sort of like new evidence that the earth really isn't round.

[treestar]

21. Oh, what good news!

Now we can buy the elections! :sarcasm:

[Toots]

22. They are then in effect calling Bush* a LIAR

Bush* said his base was the "haves and the have mores"..Someone is Lying.....

[Girlieman]

23. Education and intelligence have something to do with it.

It also depends on where you draw the line at "wealth." A net worth of a million dollars is just not wealthy anymore, but a county where such people predominate will generally register as a wealthy one. Average incomes can also be very deceptive.

But one fact is pretty clear -- the only people who support the policies of the current manifestation of the republican party are the super duper rich and dumb asses of whatever economic level.