…perhaps some history will help.
I kid of course, as too many teabagger conservatives care not one bit about history.
April 8, 1789–three weeks before George Washington will be sworn into office for the first time–James Madison stood up in the House of Representatives and introduced a tax bill. It was the first bill ever introduced under the new form of government outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The very first order of business in the very first session of Congress was a bill to make sure that the economy was placed in a more sure-footed path, and that manufacturing would be promoted. The means to do that was duties, and tariffs on a whole range of products from rum, beer, molasses, sugar cocoa, and coffee. There was a clear sense of the need for revenue, and while there was a lively debate about the taxes, the bill passed.There is today in Washington far too few with the foresight of Madison, or the others who like him forged a new nation. For all those Tea Party types who carry a copy of the Constitution while spouting about the Founding Fathers there remains a vast disconnect between real leadership, and the shallow end of the political divide.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 
We used to have ~30% of our US workforce involved in manufacturing, today it is ~9%.
Taxes on the most wealthy Americans were 92% under Dwight D Eisenhower(R), 77% under John Kennedy(D) and 35% today. In the previous generation minimum wage was 50% of US average income. Today it is maybe 34%. The bottom line is the wealthy are getting wealthier, the gap is increasing with no end in sight.
Our form of representative government still works, but instead of working for the average American, they are fully beholding to the Corporate interest.
Maybe some individuals have already read the book” “Who Stole the American Dream?”, by Hedrick Smith
A wonderful book to discuss.