Harry Truman on "Trickle Down Economics"

We think of the Right Wing's and Republican's "trickle down economics" as having begun with Ronald Reagan back in the 80's, most of us but the fact is, it's a much older idea than that.

It's especially poignant and applicable to us all now because the latest Republican budget introduced in the last few days calls for much the same tactics of cutting social programs like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid while increasing defense spending and slashing more taxes for the wealthy and corporations, tragically.

Our own Missouri President Harry S. Truman wrote on it, all that long ago.  News flash: he wasn't for it, either:

The reactionaries hold that government policies should be designed for the special benefit of small groups of people who occupy positions of wealth and influence. Their theory seems to be that if these groups are prosperous, they will pass along some of their prosperity to the rest of us. This can be described as the "trickle down theory."

The vast majority of us reject that theory as totally wrong.

We know that there will be more prosperity for all if all groups have a fair share of the wealth of the country. We know that the country will achieve economic stability and progress only if the benefits of our production are widely distributed among all its citizens.

We believe that it is the Federal Government's obligation, under the Constitution, to promote the general welfare of all our people--and not just a privileged few.

The policies we advocate are based on these convictions.

We maintain that farmers, like businessmen, should receive a fair price for the products they sell.

We maintain that workers are entitled to good wages and to equality of bargaining power with their employers.

We believe that cooperatives and small business should have a fair opportunity to achieve success, and should not be smothered by monopolies.

We hold that our great natural resources should be protected and developed for the benefit of all our people, and not exploited for private greed.

We believe that old people and the disabled should have an assured income to keep them from being dependent on charity.

We believe that families should have protection against loss of income resulting from accident, illness, or unemployment.

We hold that our citizens should have decent housing at prices they can afford to pay.

We believe in assuring educational opportunities for all our young people in order that we may have an enlightened citizenry.

Links: 

Truman Library - Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman