Tax cuts for the rich? That's just Econ 101 baby. But a robust social safety net? I'm gonna need to see double-blind trials published in the Chicago Journal of Rapacious Capitalism.
Econs are weirdly wedded to theories that have long been debunked.
I'm assuming you've read Desmond's "Poverty, by America?" I'm finishing it now and it's fantastic. He points out the disconnect between popular econ theory and what research actually says.