Republicans make overtures to middle class in effort to counter Obama, Democrats
By Zachary A. Goldfarb, WashPost, Published: January 29
As President Obama traveled the country Wednesday promoting a new and more populist economic agenda, Republicans were racing to prove that they, too, have a plan to alleviate middle-class anxiety.
In the past few days alone, three senior GOP senators unveiled an alternative to Obama’s health-care law that offers a conservative vision for covering the uninsured, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) summoned experts to a Capitol Hill hearing to discuss new ways to help the poor, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) proposed making childless adults eligible for a lucrative tax credit currently available only to working families.
The challenge for Republicans is convincing voters that their newfound concern is sincere. After three years of budget cuts and fiscal crises that badly damaged the GOP brand, voters not only rejected presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 but also have told pollsters that they view Republicans generally as indifferent to middle-class interests.
That must change if the party hopes for a different outcome in the 2014 midterm elections and beyond, senior Republicans say.
(More here.)
As President Obama traveled the country Wednesday promoting a new and more populist economic agenda, Republicans were racing to prove that they, too, have a plan to alleviate middle-class anxiety.
In the past few days alone, three senior GOP senators unveiled an alternative to Obama’s health-care law that offers a conservative vision for covering the uninsured, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) summoned experts to a Capitol Hill hearing to discuss new ways to help the poor, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) proposed making childless adults eligible for a lucrative tax credit currently available only to working families.
The challenge for Republicans is convincing voters that their newfound concern is sincere. After three years of budget cuts and fiscal crises that badly damaged the GOP brand, voters not only rejected presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 but also have told pollsters that they view Republicans generally as indifferent to middle-class interests.
That must change if the party hopes for a different outcome in the 2014 midterm elections and beyond, senior Republicans say.
(More here.)
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