text: Any party expecting its program to be taken seriously as a left-of-center alternative to conservatism must surely propose one of two Either it must promise to increase in the aggregate the quantity and quality of public services ( and the taxes needed to pay for them ) , or else it must promise , within an unchanged total of taxes and spending , to redirect the flow of resources so that the less well-off get more .
  
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  The less well-off earn less than a dollar .