Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a fellow Republican hopeful — surprising many with his sudden disdain for free market capitalism after vowing to defend it — attacked Romney for the wealth he earned at Bain Capital. In the current political landscape, envy-based rhetoric is commonplace and often effective despite its dubious nature. That is, this type of rhetoric incites an us-them mentality in all those who are persuaded by it.

Greatly reliant on emotion and regardless of fact, this rhetoric leads those persuaded to believe that someone’s success is only possible by the exploitation of some other less successful person at the hands of the more successful.   

President Barack Obama has used envy politicking to increase support for many of his ideas. In one policy proposal, Obama asked Congress if the United States should ‘keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires’ or ‘put teachers back to work so our kids can graduate ready for college and good jobs.’

Adherents to the president’s envy fueled class warfare rhetoric forget that the wealthy likely pay the majority of teachers’ salaries and benefits in every state through taxes, and after graduation, many students will be employed by corporations run by wealthy people. 

In 2009, Americans earning $100,000 a year or more contributed about $600 billion in federal income tax revenue. This figure represents about 70 percent of all federal income tax revenue, and despite Obama’s insistence that ‘it’s only right that we ask everyone to pay their fair share,’ the combined income of those earning $100,000 or more a year only represents 43.2 percent of all income.   

By the president’s own ‘fair share’ assertion, it follows that these well-to-do Americans should only be responsible for 43.2 percent of all federal income tax revenue, yet they contribute just more than 70 percent.  

While the president can appeal to the emotions of some by pitting teachers and people’s children against the rich without regard for the facts, the tax figures show that the rich are already footing most of the public sector bill. Then, it is fair to say that the rich are a net positive force in society, not villains.  

Romney understands this. Before entering politics, Romney co-founded an asset management company called Bain Capital and led the company between 1984 and early 1999. In a primary race among conservative Republicans, one would not expect this to become a target. But Gingrich has given us the unexpected. In various interviews, Gingrich accused Romney and Bain of making money by bankrupting smaller companies. 

Admittedly, under Mitt Romney’s watch, 22 percent of Bain’s investments went bankrupt, and because Bain specialized in buying troubled companies, some workers were laid off and some pensions were cut. These actions were taken to prevent entire troubled companies from going under. Thus, some otherwise lost jobs were saved by Mitt Romney and Bain Capital, and at the same time, Bain Capital made great profits. This is a great example of the free-market working properly. 

Gingrich should expect blowback from those who advocate for free market solutions, namely the conservatives that make up his base. 

Michael Stikkel is a sophomore computer engineering major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at mcstikke@syr.edu.