Albert R. Hunt, Columnist

Here Come 'Class Warfare' Attacks on Obama

Republicans will have to do more about rising inequality than cry "class warfare."

January 21, 2015 at 5:10 PM UTC

Albert R. Hunt is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was the executive editor of Bloomberg News, before which he was a reporter, bureau chief and executive Washington editor at the Wall Street Journal.

Let's get ready to rumble.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

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Republican Senator Orrin Hatch is correct: Washington is engaged in class warfare and a battle over redistribution of income. The senator from Utah just has the details backwards.

Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, leveled the "class warfare" charge in describing President Barack Obama’s proposed tax hikes on wealthy Americans, which the White House says would generate $320 billion over 10 years to pay for middle class tax cuts and other benefits. In the past, charges of "class warfare" and "punishing success" have helped to thwart quasi-populist initiatives.