Why the greedy upper class loves the GOP

A response to Slate's Reihan Salam

(Image credit: (Illustration | iStock))

Last week, Reihan Salam took a whack at America's upper class in Slate. His charge? That the upper class uses its considerable political clout to protect itself from competition and keep its own incomes high, thus making life harder on everyone else further down the economic ladder. And he's not wrong!

But Salam is also a conservative, with a conservative's standard desire for low taxes, few regulations, and a skimpy social safety net. And what he conveniently leaves out of his screed is the fact that these preferences are themselves the ultimate expression of upper-class greed and self-dealing.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.