Conservatives don't address wages

In his column which appeared in the May 13 Southeast Missourian, David Limbaugh expressed a sentiment about Donald Trump which can only be described as bewildered arrogance. Seeming to ignore the fact that Trump beat his 16 conservative rivals, Mr. Limbaugh states, "... team Trump better reconsider its apparent decision to continue to snub and insult the conservative base."

A few points to consider:

In the years from 1946 to 1981, the median wage in the United States doubled.

Since the introduction of supply-side economics by Ronald Regan in 1981, the median wage has only increased by 15 percent.

Information gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that after adjusting for inflation, the median male worker who was employed year round and full time earned 5 percent more in 1973 than did a similarly situated worker in 2014.

Research conducted by the PEW Research Center shows that since 1981 the percentage of adults living in middle income households declined from 59 percent to 50 percent.

Mr. Limbaugh's conservative base has not addressed these problems. As pointed out in a recent issue of the Economist magazine, "the Republicans have long made fools of distressed working class whites by offering them God, the flag and tax cuts to the rich... . None of Mr. Trump's 16 rivals spoke convincingly to the concerns of wage distressed workers, none had a thoughtful answer to them."

If conservatives want to win future national elections, they need some new ideas for reversing these trends.

JOHN PIEPHO, Cape Girardeau