This is the Tom Hartman Program.

Tom Hartman University Book Club reading today from Screw The Undeclared War against the

Middle Class and what we can do about it.

This is from one of the last chapters chapter 13 is title

setting the rules of the game the subchapter gaming the system

if government can create conditions that cause a middle class to emerge

by implementing fair rules for business progressive taxation free public

education

the opposite is also true

government can create a corporateocracy

by deregulating business by cutting taxes on extreme

wealth and by privatizing as much of the commons as possible.

Conservatives call this starving the beast. Here's how you starve the beast beast it put through tax cuts for the rich which cuts back the revenues of the federal government to the point that if you got rid of all the social programs you'd have a balanced budget no more social security no more spending for education no more spending for education, no more

spending for Medicare and Medicaid. Let the government simply keep the Army's

prisons and police. Let's shrink government. That's their philosophy.

When you cut all those social programs you lose the middle class

and in its place create a very small wealthy elite

and a large underclass of starvation wage workers

you lose democracy and instead create corporateocracy.

You change the rules of the game.

We the people lose and the feudal lords win.

Cons have been winning this particular game of star of the beast since Reagan first

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