Clark Durant, Michigan Senate Candidate: Wealth Gap 'Should Be Wider'

Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Clark Durant, speaking at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., said Thursday that the gap between the rich and poor should grow.

"I think it should be wider," said the Republican candidate, according to the Grand Rapids Press. "Does anybody think Steve Jobs should not be (sic) in the 1 percent? He made life better for the 99 percent of the rest of us. You want to create opportunities for people with their unique gifts," added the former Michigan Board of Education president. He also said Occupy Wall Street protesters should "go find a job."

The Huffington Post's Michael McAuliff and Alexander Eichler reported that income dramatically shifted towards top earners between 1979 and 2007. The top one percent of earners saw their incomes grow by 275 percent while Americans in the bottom fifth of earners saw their incomes increase by less than 20 percent.

Durant is running in a Republican primary that includes former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who lost the 2010 gubernatorial nomination. Hoekstra raised $1 million in the third quarter to Durant's $750,000.

Either candidate would face Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who is running for a third term.

The Huffington Post's Michael McAuliff reported that Democrats think that a Durant nomination could work in their favor because of his tea party support.

UPDATE: Clark Durant's campaign sent out the following statement on his comments late Friday:

Thank you for challenging my statement about 'widening the gap'. I do not believe in widening the income gap between rich and poor, and my life's work in the inner city of Detroit demonstrates that far more than any sound bite. At Calvin College my 'widening the gap' remark, in its context, sought to challenge the students to think outside the box when they hear stock statements that pit one group of people against another. We need a country that embraces all, and rewards innovators, entrepreneurs, job creators, and hard-working people of all sorts. Innovators like Steve Jobs and Henry Ford, a part of the 1%, make life better for us all. But instead of just one, what if we had 100, 1,000, or 10,000 such innovators? And that was my point at Calvin College. I'm for innovation, and a commitment to a rising tide that lifts all boats for all Americans. I believe in the 100%.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[heartlander64]

03:14 PM on 11/14/2011

If Big is better, and success is measured in billions, when the economy gets tuff,
why is there so much 2 year old type demanding blood from turnips, employees,
while claiming they have get used to austere budgeting. Claiming to be realists,
these types seem to forget a main tenet of conservatism is "personal" responsi-
bility in preparing for hard times. Am I confusing the two sets of rules for business
and individuals in reverence to the "Golden Calf"?

[gypsy508]

01:43 PM on 11/14/2011

No offense to Steve Jobs appreciators but he didn't really make life itself better. If anything he made it more annoying.

[walkerjptj]

07:43 PM on 11/13/2011

It will be if OB keeps giving it away.

[The Intellectual]

11:03 AM on 11/13/2011

The system isn't rigged and it is easy to move from lower class to middle class it is a little hard to move to upper class but that is how it should be. People shouldn't be rewarded for doing nothing. I am 25 I have moved from lower class to middle class no problem. I also don't have a college education past getting my AA. I make more than double the median income and I have accomplished this in the past two years. If you work hard and bust your butt you will succeed. I was a foreman for a construction company until the economy collapsed, so when I was laid off I went and waited table for two years. I didn't sit on unemployment and think I was to good for waiting tables. While I waited tables I got my Bail Bonds License and now am a Bondsman. Jobs are out there and work is out there. Things are a little harder but that is why you need to make youself even better. It is competition the better man wins. The playing field shouldn't be leveled to reward laziness it should be kept to reward hardwork and success.

[MAX1]

05:06 PM on 11/13/2011

So what's your take on the growing income gap in America?

[The Intellectual]

06:58 PM on 11/13/2011

I think it shows a lot less people in the United States strive to become successful people. I think it shows a lot more people in the USA are more interested in having a secure job and going the safe route instead of taking risks and reaping the rewards of those risks. People who are wealthy took risks at some point with their Capital. When opening a business these people put a lot of money, sweat, and tears into the operations of that business. They could fail or they could succeed and if they succeed they will make some great money most likely. More and more people are not willing to take that risk. That is why I think the Gap is getting bigger not because the field is stacked against one side.

[JohnSawyer]

06:42 PM on 11/13/2011

It's not about rewarding laziness. It's about helping people who, no matter how hard they try to keep or find a job, pay the medical expenses for themselves and/or their family, keep themselves and their family in a home, etc., things go wrong and they're unable to, for a period of time. And it's also about not allowing the conditions to prevail which do, indeed, stack the deck against them. Every detail of your singular experience can't be extended to everyone--it's not logical to do so. It's the old logical fallacy that so many people have, in which they believe their limited experiences automatically apply to nearly everyone else. The world is more complicated than that.

[ritamary]

10:12 AM on 11/13/2011

Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Clark Durant, another teabagger psycho. Bring it on! He can live on in the annals of history with Christine O'Donnell and Sharron Angell.

[Dennis OMalley]

08:48 AM on 11/13/2011

If there were jobs to be had, I'm sure many of the OWS protesters would get one of them. That is one of the many issues they are protesting. If Wall Street firms want to stop this thing, they should do some recruiting out there.

[The Intellectual]

11:06 AM on 11/13/2011

There are plenty of jobs to be found. Many people feel they are entitled to a certain wage and entitled to a certain job. Many in this OWS crowd believe many jobs are bellow them. They do not think they should wait table because they have a degree in Studio Art they feel they should be working a $60k a year job.

[Owsla]

01:38 PM on 11/13/2011

BS. I have been applying at $8-11 an hour jobs since I've been unemployed and have still been unable to find one. Stop assuming that just because you were able to find a job, that everyone else can.

[MAX1]

05:07 PM on 11/13/2011

Sustained and prolonged unemployment numbers don't make your case too strong.

What's your take on those figures?

[kokobell616]

08:23 AM on 11/13/2011

For a republican in Grand Rapids this was probably the greatest phrase he could make. Home of blackwater, an amway security detachment. This I am sure played well to the audience at a christian college.

What frightens me the most is the reckless way in which they (conservative christians) interpret the king james bible.

Seemingly not ever to be taken as a whole. Pick and choose the phrases that best suits your moment.

Could be why they (christians) say to read one piece at a time and not to read it straight through.

I smell toast

[JeffsQuestForTruth]

05:33 AM on 11/13/2011

They blatantly say that they are against the average American and are so cocky about it.

The fact that at least 43% of this country is going to vote against their self interest is an astounding feat in deception and fear mongering and strategy.

But they have played their hand a bit too much. More and more people are starting to realize how much the GOP and Tea Party will hurt them and hurt this country.

[taddles]

03:59 AM on 11/13/2011

"I think it should be wider," said the Republican candidate"

What a dim bulb.

[TheEmptyMonty]

11:47 AM on 11/16/2011

At least he's honest?

[tmrn31m]

01:55 AM on 11/13/2011

What a pompous deranged position. He would have americans visiting the rich with pitchforks just so they can eat.

[MissusJones]

11:34 PM on 11/12/2011

Well, I can think of plenty of one percenters who don't deserve to be there. A lot of people on Wall Street. Corporate CEOs who don't do a good job and reward themselves with millions in bonuses. Defense industy billionaires who got rich from the unnecessary war in Iraq.

[Value Investor]

10:47 PM on 11/12/2011

You will never be in the 1% dreaming and doing nothing else. The 1% made things happen that changed the basic life of everyone in this nation. Everyone else is simply jealous that they don't have the energy and ambition.

[yumitori]

01:22 AM on 11/13/2011

Well, I will certainly agree that investment bankers and sub-prime lenders whose poor decisions and risky speculation brought about the mortgage crisis have 'changed the basic life of everyone in this nation.'

That is not something for them to be proud of, and certainly nothing that I for one am jealous of.

I do not object to anyone becoming wealthy, but I do object to them doing so illegally, unethically or immorally. And I most certainly object to anyone who damages our economy through their greed or attempts to subvert our government and our democratic process.

[RavenRaving]

02:43 AM on 11/13/2011

I agree with @yumitori, and would like to add that a man who stole $100 is in jail for 15 years. Banksters who stole a billion not only stay out of jail, but keep their jobs and get million dollar bonuses.
I'd also like to point out to @valueinvestor that America now has one of the lowest levels of social mobility of all first world countries. So if you were not born rich or priviledged, chances are you will not be joining the 1%.

[ritamary]

10:15 AM on 11/13/2011

yumitori, very well said. Thank you! f&f

[silver sister]

04:13 AM on 11/13/2011

Or the millions to donate to guarantee no-bid contracts to make millions ,to donate to guarantee no-bid contracts to make millions to...................

[Value Investor]

07:26 PM on 11/13/2011

You're in fantasy land.

[Yasgur]

10:32 PM on 11/12/2011

Clark Durant surely must be aware that there ARE NO JOBS in Michigan. However, he has 1% backers (the DeVos and Prince families); he's not going to drop a deuce where he eats, so to speak.

Former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, with his old C Street ties, has ringing endorsements from "popular" politicians such as Michele Bachmann, Governor John Kasich of Ohio, Congressman Steve King of Iowa, and our own Benevolent Overlord, Rick Snyder. With friends like that ...

Both of these guys have serious ulterior motives. I hope Senator Stabenow mops the floor with the eventual GOP nominee. She's certainly got my vote.

[Value Investor]

11:06 PM on 11/12/2011

More than 85% of the people have jobs in Michigan. If there were no jobs, the unemployment rate would be 100%.

[Yasgur]

02:09 AM on 11/13/2011

You know what I meant, but I'll rephrase for the sake of argument.

Michigan has no *new* jobs.
Your 85% figure does not reflect:

+ U-6 (Real Unemployment) of 20.3%
+ Underemployment of 24.9%
+ The loss of 14,200 jobs from 8/2011 to 9/2011
+ Overall population loss for the state of >54,000 per the 2010 census

So, yes. A large percentage of the people (who are left) in Michigan have jobs. But when you take into account real unemployment and underemployment, we're not talking about employment that pays a living wage. And, again, Michigan has no *new* jobs. Even when the auto industry adds jobs, they are simply calling laid-off employees back to work.

[valluhree]

08:36 PM on 11/12/2011

Is anyone as puzzled as I am? How is a country more economically stable and secure when a few hold the majority of the wealth, but the majority lives in relative poverty compared to them? Isn't a country better off when the middle class is more prosperous, as it was in the past?

Can anyone help me out here?

[Value Investor]

10:53 PM on 11/12/2011

Why didn't you invent Microsoft, the PC, the I phone etc ? Than you would change the lives of all Americans and be in the top 1%.

[joyf1]

11:39 PM on 11/12/2011

I don't believe Valluhree wished she was in the 1%. It's sad when our heroes are the ones that invent "stuff". Heroes were Jonas Salk who saved a generation of children and I was one of them.

[Dad24]

01:20 AM on 11/13/2011

Why did the Bush Administration give huge tax breaks to millionaires and go to war without paying for it. He changed the lives of almost all Americans for the worse.

[MissusJones]

11:30 PM on 11/12/2011

And why do people who are not in the 1% fight for the 1% to keep all the wealth?

[zelduh]

03:38 AM on 11/13/2011

Because they are not very bright.

[dayzee10]

09:52 AM on 11/13/2011

Because they are retealibanbaggericans who answer to their masters

[TruEngineHearing]

08:11 PM on 11/12/2011

hmmm... that may not be the successful position to take in conversations at middle-class dinner tables - especially in conceal-carry states. But hopefully he'll have lots of free time real soon to figure out a way to stop the smirks and wisecracks...