Bay City, Michigan 48706
Front Page 03/18/2024 22:53 About us
www.mybaycity.com August 27, 2015
(Prior Story)   Opinion ArTicle 10089   (Next Story)

REDISTRIBUTE WEALTH? Many Americans Think Riches Amassed Unfairly

Public Now More Approving of Unions, Skeptical of Large Corporations

August 27, 2015       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

Printer Friendly Story View

Pope Francis has urged world leaders to redistribute wealth.
 

The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

And hardly anybody likes it much, polls show.

Gallup in April found that 63 percent of respondents believed that wealth in the United States should be distributed more evenly.

A New York Times/CBS News poll May revealed that 66 percent of Americans favored the redistribution of "the money and wealth in this country."

Why this trend toward egalitarian thinking?

Many Americans think that riches are amassed unfairly.

A Pew Research Center survey in January 2014 found that 60 percent of respondents believed that "the economic system in this country unfairly favors the wealthy." Asked about why someone was wealthy, 51 percent said: "Because he or she had more advantages."

The New York Times/CBS News poll reported that 61 percent of respondents believed that "just a few people at the top have a chance to get ahead."

Despite billions of dollars U.S. corporations lavish on public relations toward a positive image, Americans are remarkably wary of these giant economic enterprises.

Gallup in June 2014 found only 21 percent of Americans had a great deal of confidence in big business. By contrast, 40 percent of respondents said they had very little or no confidence in it. A survey done by the public relations industry in 2014 reported that, although Americans valued corporate products, 47 percent of the public said that, when it came to ethics, they had little or no trust in major corporations.

Health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, banks, and energy companies were viewed as the least trustworthy.

The June 2015 Gallup survey found a higher rate of public confidence in unions and, especially, in small businesses. In August 2014 Gallup found that Americans approved of unions by 53 to 38 percent. That was a shift in five years, when 48 percent approved and 45 percent disapproved of them.

The New York Times/CBS News survey found 74 percent of respondents believing large corporations had "too much influence" in American life and politics today. When it came to unions, however, only 37 percent said they had too much influence, while 54 percent said they had too little influence or about the right amount of influence.

What's to be done? Presidential candidates take notice. The government should step in to create more economic equality, several polls show.

Pew Research Center found that 82 percent of respondents favored government action to reduce poverty and 69 percent supported government action ?to reduce the gap between the rich and everyone else.?

The New York Times/CBS News survey reported that, by 57 to 39 percent, Americans favored using government to ?reduce the gap between the rich and the poor in this country.?

Furthermore, most Americans back specific government programs along these lines.

The New York Times/CBS News survey found broad public support for the following programs:

*raising the minimum wage (71 percent);

*increasing taxes on the rich (68 percent); and

*requiring employers to provide paid family leave (80 percent).

Even the more unusual approach of limiting the pay of top corporate executives received the backing of 50 percent.

Other recent polls reveal: *between 71 percent (CNN/ORC) and 73 percent (Pew) of Americans favor raising the federal minimum wage;

*52 percent favor "heavy taxes on the rich" (Gallup);

*54 percent support raising taxes on the wealthy and the corporations (Pew);

*70 percent support federal funding of pre-school education (Gallup). ###

Printer Friendly Story View
Prior Article

February 10, 2020
by: Rachel Reh
Family Winter Fun Fest is BACC Hot Spot for 2/10/2020
Next Article

February 2, 2020
by: Kathy Rupert-Mathews
MOVIE REVIEW: "Just Mercy" ... You Will Shed Tears, or at Least You Should
Agree? or Disagree?


Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

More from Dave Rogers

Send This Story to a Friend!       Letter to the editor       Link to this Story
Printer-Friendly Story View


--- Advertisments ---
     


0200 Nd: 03-14-2024 d 4 cpr 0






12/31/2020 P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm

SPONSORED LINKS



12/31/2020 drop ads P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm


Designed at OJ Advertising, Inc. (V3) (v3) Software by Mid-Michigan Computer Consultants
Bay City, Michigan USA
All Photographs and Content Copyright © 1998 - 2024 by OJA/MMCC. They may be used by permission only.
P3V3-0200 (1) 0   ID:Default   UserID:Default   Type:reader   R:x   PubID:mbC   NewspaperID:noPaperID
  pid:1560   pd:11-18-2012   nd:2024-03-14   ax:2024-03-18   Site:5   ArticleID:10089   MaxA: 999999   MaxAA: 999999
claudebot