Thus the early years of the Clinton Administration (think of the unsuccessful health-care-reform plan) were devoted to clients and the later years (think of the elimination of Aid to Families with Dependent Children) to the public interest.

NEWYORKER: Evening the Odds

And this makes sense, because in general, the middle class are more dependent on things like mortgage interest and state and local tax deductions than their wealthy brethren, and the elimination of those deductions would have punished those taxpayers to a greater extent than they would have benefited from the 20% reduction in their tax rate.

FORBES: Days Before Sequester, Bowles and Simpson Offer A Second Plan For Fiscal Sustainability