Democrashield.com

Time to nip this one in the bud; from The Horse’s Mouth:

The winger bloggers and commentators are starting to push a silly new meme: That Democrats, not Republicans, are the “party of the rich.”

The basis for this? A new “study” done by the Heritage Foundation that was written up in this article in The Washington Times. The study is being touted by Drudge, PowerLineBlog, Blogs For Victory, and others.

The key data point backing up the claim is that Dems “now represent the majority of the nation’s wealthiest congressional districts.” The study arrives at this conclusion this way:

…the study also showed that of the 167 House districts where the median annual income was higher than the national median of $48,201, a slight majority, 84 districts, were represented by Democrats. Median means that half of all income earners make more than that level and half make less.

So 84 of 167 of the wealthier House districts are controlled by Dems. That’s a hair over 50% — supposedly proving that Dems are the new party of the “rich.” But here’s what’s funny about this. Right now, roughly 54% of all House districts are controlled by Dems. So in reality, the percentage of the wealthier House districts controlled by Dems is actually lower than the percentage of districts Dems control overall. What’s more, the households where the median income exceeds the national average are hardly all “rich.” So this chief data point just doesn’t support the claim.

Another point put forth by the study is this: “If you take the wealthiest one-third of the 435 congressional districts, we found that the Democrats represent about 58 percent of those jurisdictions.”

Given that the 58% here is barely higher than the 54% Dems control over all, it’s pretty clear that this is statistically insignificant. Indeed, this niggling difference — combined with the above bogus stat — again suggests that whatever Dem gains have happened among wealthier districts just reflect overall Dem gains.

Dems may indeed have made the most marginal of gains among generally wealthier districts, due to Dem successes in the suburbs and other stuff. But so what? They gained just about everywhere else, too — this just means that wealthier Americans, along with everyone else, have figured out that the GOP made a hash of everything and that the Dems are the better choice. And it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with the small question of, you know, which party’s policies best serve the economic interests of the rich. Pathetically weak stuff.

The Republicans have spent years coddling the richest of the rich. Giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy while giving a tiny tax break to the middle class; deregulating massive corporations and letting them sell us unsafe food and toys; campaigning against the estate tax, which only touches the wealthiest people out there; fighting to cut Medicare and Medicaid and privatize Social Security; fighting Rep. Rangel’s reform of the Alternative Minimum Tax, which unfairly taxes middle-class Americans; fighting against providing universal health care and expanding SCHIP; the list of Republican attacks on the poor and middle class go on and on and on.

This study is a pitiful strawman–trying to equate representing districts with median incomes above the nationl average with being “the party of the rich.” Yet, the study doesn’t take into account either party’s actual policies. The Democrats have been the party of working Americans since the days of FDR, and we’re still fighting for them today–raising the minimun wage, providing cheaper student loans, fighting for universal health care, expanding Medicare and Medicaid and SCHIP and protecting Social Security.

The right wing is going to try to undermine all the work we Democrats have done to help the poor and middle class–but, in the end, all the misleading, unfactual, pseudo-scientific studies in the world churned out by right-wing think tanks won’t change the fact that the GOP is, undeniably, the party of the rich.

So, let’s lay this piece of right-wing nonsense to rest now, before the Republican noise machine picks it up and runs with it.

UPDATED: More here.