Letters to the Editor: The transfer of wealth happens every day – but it is from the poor to the rich

To the editor: Although contributing writer Véronique de Rugy offers several observations to highlight America’s growing affordability problem — many of which she describes as the decline of Walmart’s “inflation-free Thanksgiving meal” — she doesn’t really offer any solutions (“The Real Answer to the Republican Aptitude Problem,” November 13). He declares that wealth transfers (perhaps from the rich to the poor) are not the solution and points out that a constant 3% inflation reduces the value of the dollar by 26% after a decade.

I wonder more about the transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich than I do about the transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor. This happens every day when salaried and hourly workers are paid less than what the billionaires who control the wage earn. This happens every day when Walmart workers have to do it Less than a living wage (SNAP benefits, anyone?) while working full-time or nearly so.

Living wages are something that conservative economists believe shouldn’t exist in a dog-eat-dog market, but I’ll point it out. Economist Adam Smith This idea is fundamental to his work. There was also the vague, but obvious understanding at the time that a person working in a factory could return to the farm if necessary, although this option has largely been lost to modern workers.

Michael Lempel, of Granada Hills

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To the editor: De Rogi’s recent column, in which he advises that “Democrats’ track record is not good” when it comes to affordability, may point to an important difference: For more than 100 years, Democratic economic policy has targeted the needs of working Americans while Republican spending has enabled them to further enrich those with minimal needs. Affordable health insurance, higher education, housing, child care, medicine and public transportation — all fought tooth and nail by Republicans — make our nation healthier and stronger. Tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires do the opposite.

Eric Carey, Arlington, Va.;