Entitled to blame the poor

The biblical concept that “much should be expected from those to whom much has been given” has never held universal sway among the wealthy. But comments from Mitt Romney, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Gina Rinehart, the world’s richest woman, suggest that affluent conservatives consider it a terribly outdated notion.

When moneyed people blame the poorest class for its condition, one has to ask which group actually feels entitled. Romney, born into wealth, opined in a recent speech that people below a certain income feel entitled to food and shelter, as though the bare minimum needed for survival is far too much.

McMorris Rodgers said in last year’s town hall meeting in Spokane that she was not even close to well-off when she went off to Washington, D.C., because she was only making $48,000 per year then. (Ironic that someone who has done extremely well for herself working her entire adult life for government frequently disparages bloated government.)

Rinehart, a mega-billionaire and heiress to a fabulous fortune, has been recorded saying that workers of developed nations should be content to earn $2 per day. Most poor and middle-class people work hard to survive. Would it really be criminal for prosperous conservatives to acknowledge that?

Greg Presley

Spokane