Mr. Santorum writes a book

[MillCreek]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304422704579571881202454744?mg=reno64-wsj

Interesting ideas from Mr. Santorum as excerpted from the article:

It is a mistake because Mr. Santorum has written a new book, "Blue Collar Conservatives," that shows he grasps two important realities that seem to escape many others. The first is that, outmoded stereotypes notwithstanding, blue-collar Americans, particularly working-class whites in the South and Midwest, today comprise a core element of the Republican Party. The second reality is that, because of the alienation these people feel from both the political and economic systems, the table is set for a new period of populism.

Democrats, Mr. Santorum argues, have alienated many working-class Americans with their focus on race-based politics, and have harmed their economic hopes by failing to recognize the extent to which the breakdown of the family structure has undermined economic prospects of blue-collar Americans.

But he also argues that Republicans haven't taken advantage of the opening by offering policies that speak more directly to those blue-collar Americans in their midst. He wants tax cuts, but directed toward middle-class families and parents with young children in particular. He calls for more spending on infrastructure projects.

Implicitly, Mr. Santorum's analysis recognizes one of the underappreciated trends in current American politics: the extent to which the two parties have undergone an identity switch Increasingly, college-educated and upper-income Americans, once assumed to be a comfortable fit as Republicans, have become core elements of the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, blue-collar whites, once the core of the Democrats, increasingly have become Republicans.

That can be seen in a look back at Wall Street Journal/NBC News polling this year. In all polling conducted this year, half of those who identified themselves as Republicans had family incomes below $75,000 a year. And in the most recent Journal/NBC News survey last month, white working-class voters were more likely to identify themselves as Republicans than Democrats by a 37% to 35% margin.

[Pb]

I don't think there is much taxes left to cut for lower income blue color folks, at least as far the federal income tax goes...

[AJ Dual]

Reduce all corporate income taxes to 10%, since we just pay them anyway as they're all built into the prices of the goods and services we purchase.

And the fed.gov will actually get MORE total tax income at the same time as the level of corporate activity and "on-shoring" goes nuts.

[TommyGunn]

Well, the lower ½ of income earners don't pay an income tax now.   Plus the higher income earners pay a lot...yes let's cut the middle income earners tax so the very rich can pay EVEN HIGHER taxes.  Hey, the libs oughta love it, they claim they're not paying their "fair share" now!

Reduce all corporate income taxes to 10%, since we just pay them anyway as they're all built into the prices of the goods and services we purchase.

And the fed.gov will actually get MORE total tax income at the same time as the level of corporate activity and "on-shoring" goes nuts.

I could go for that! Does Mr. Santorum read this website?   

[Brad Johnson]

It's amazing how jobs and services advance in positive ways when the people and organization providing those jobs and services are not taxed, regulated, or litigated into submission (or bankruptcy).

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

I don't think there is much taxes left to cut for lower income blue color folks, at least as far the federal income tax goes...

I could try agreeing with you, but there's the matter of the $1000-something I had to cough up last month. They could have cut that out. 

[Pb]

Hmm, I guess it is mainly blue collar folks with kids that are tax free or get the EITC then...