Current political terminology

Republicans have developed some favorite words and phrases for this election cycle. For example, when Democrats mention the gross inequality of wealth and income, they are “attacking success”. For social programs that would give the 99% a better chance to compete in the global economy, Democrats are promising “handouts”. Okay. When someone suggests the billionaires (whose immense wealth was either inherited, à la Koch brothers, or skimmed off the stock market by hedge fund managers) should pay proportional taxes, does that constitute attacking success? And someone should explain to Mr. Christopher Mays (letters October 21, 2015) that a free college education is by no means a “handout”. It is an investment by society in what will amount to America’s most important asset in the future, which is an educated citizenry. On the other hand, Republicans’ favorite phrases are “grow the economy” and “create jobs”. This is particularly ironic because, since Ronald Reagan trashed the economy with his ill-advised tax cuts, not a single effort, not one, has been advanced by any Republican to do anything that would actually create a non-defense job or in any way grow the economy. On the contrary, the combination of Republican parsimony and obstructionism has made sure that nothing constructive will be done to create the non-defense jobs that would, indeed,
grow the economy.