The 2012 Presidential Campaign was a minefield of disparaging rhetoric between candidates Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. However, the most derogatory remarks were leveled at the American population itself, especially by Romney and other conservative Republican leaders such as his then-running mate, Senator Paul Ryan. Ryan has used caustic rhetoric directed towards struggling Americans, characterizing them as lazy, entitled welfare recipients. However, his statements are based on falsehoods and calculated distortions which defend the mega-rich of the US, the financial elite who have capitalized off their own version of corporate welfare.
Nearly every community in the US has a Wal-Mart. However, not many people may know that Wal-Mart rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars in the form of annual government subsidies, which amount to more than $5,000 per worker (Buchheit). Sadly, the average Wal-Mart worker subsists on about $9 per hour, and Wal-Mart's pre-tax profits in 2013 were about $13,000 per employee (Buchheit, internet). Thus, Wal-Mart is, in essence, paid by the government (US taxpayers, which include Wal-Mart workers) to profit from the labors of the working poor.
Moreover, in the context of bitter name-calling and finger-pointing (especially by the "makers"), the bank bailout of 2008 has been conveniently overlooked. The financial bailout cost US taxpayers an estimated $700 billion (Herbst). As a result, big banks will expect taxpayer "subsidies" in the event of a future financial collapse, a welcome prospect for those who insist that the now-decimated middle class benefits from their entrepreneurialism, and failed capital ventures (Herbst, internet).
Finally, like Alice in Wonderland, the privileged few who thrive on the backs of the poor, elderly, and disabled, have a completely distorted perception of reality. Even as they insist that they are the "makers", they live robustly on taxpayer bailouts, subsidies, loopholes, and other forms of financial trickery. Indeed, the "takers" can barely manage to "take" a break from paying bills to survive, in order to survive to pay even more bills.
References
Buchheit, P. (27 Jan, 2014). Paul Ryan is wrong: wealthiest Americans are not "makers", they're mercenary takers. Salon. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2014/01/27/the_20_wealthiest_americans_are_not_makers_theyre _mercenary_takers_partner/
Herbst, M. (28 May, 2013). The bank bailout cost US taxpayers nothing? Think again. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/28/bank-bailout-cost-taxpayers
