The Dec. 20 editorial made the case that the rich wage war on the middle class — and that the rich are winning.

The editorial effectively used statistics to advance the case that the “rich” and their political toadies successfully seek selfish advantage to the detriment of the middle class. The middle assumes increasingly higher risks and experiences wilder income swings with contract employment, higher health costs, etc., when politicians shield the rich.

I might, if I weren’t careful, simply put black hats on the wealthy.

The white hats would then go on the progressive left, supposedly championing equality, income redistribution and soak-the-rich tax plans.

I found myself not so much putting the black hat on a different bunch of villains as now considering that two powerful groups deserve the black hats of villainy.

The country suffers from the misbehaviors of its ruling class, Democrat and Republican alike. Each party has weakened the economy while seeking to cocoon its own natural constituency. Democrats recruit from the middle class, enlisting them instead into passive entitlement groups helplessly dependent on Big Government for subsidies and benefits.

Republicans have, until very recently, (yea, tea party!) helped the rich shift financial burdens to the middle class to strengthen the wealthy against the tyrannical soak-the-rich dreams of Democrats.

The Fair Tax will shield us from the manipulations of these parasites. Politicians will lose tax favors to trade for votes or contributions because a simple national sales tax replaces every single federal tax in existence.

Lenny Hoy,Greenwood