The Republican Party's obsessive focus on cutting taxes for the top 2 percent makes a lot more sense when you look at this chart from Ezra Klein:
The outcome of a political fight depends on who is participating and to what degree. Given poorer Americans' tendency to participate less, because of a lack of means and a lack of leisure, our political discourse -- and the priorities of a large cross section of both parties -- are disproportionately attuned to the needs of people who, in this case, aren't having a hard time finding work. Education isn't an exact proxy for class, but it's clear in the chart that having less education means you're more likely to be unemployed right now, and therefore less likely to have money. You don't count if you don't vote, and politicians are only accountable to those who vote.
Again, this makes you question the wisdom of a majority-Democratic Congress defunding a group like ACORN based on scurrilous accusations, a group which was almost exclusively committed to increasing the political participation of people more likely to vote Democratic and support government intervention on behalf of those of fewer means.
