[michaelt]

Believe me, politicians also want citizens to get higher paying jobs, so they can pay more taxes.

If you've got a system that can reliably take a citizen earning $40,000/year and turn them into a citizen earning $140,000/year, governments from all over the world will beat down a path to your door. Over a 40 year career that's an extra $4 million in taxable income.

[gregjor]

Nothing about government policies in my lifetime tells me either party or any administration makes increasing individual incomes a priority. Instead they created a system that puts young people in debt to pay for devalued degrees, then don't allow discharging that debt in bankruptcy. Telling everyone to go to college to get a degree just led to an example of Goodhart's Law -- people optimized for getting a piece of paper rather than optimizing for learning anything or at least graduating with some career skills.

I can think of many other examples of the government fleecing citizens into poverty (medical care, just to give one), enriching a few corporations and wealthy individuals at the expense of the general welfare. A government that cared about its citizens making more money wouldn't have hundreds of thousands of them living on the streets. If the government actually prioritized increasing tax revenues I can point them to some very rich companies and individuals not paying their share.