Hillary floats higher taxes trial balloon [Reader Post]

On Thursday Hillary Clinton echoed a familiar theme among redistributionist Democrats- that wealthy Americans aren’t paying enough taxes.

“The rich are not paying their fair share in any nation that is facing the kind of employment issues [America currently does] — whether it’s individual, corporate or whatever [form of] taxation forms,” Clinton told an audience at the Brookings Institution, where she was discussing the Administration’s new National Security Strategy.

She stated that she wasn’t speaking for the administration

“I’m not speaking for the administration, so I’ll preface that with a very clear caveat,” she said.

That is politician-speak for “Obama made me do it.” Hillary has just floated the upcoming Democrat policy. Higher taxes are on the way. She went on to cite Brazil as an example of how high taxes are working so well.

“Brazil has the highest tax-to-GDP rate in the Western Hemisphere and guess what — they’re growing like crazy,” Clinton said. “And the rich are getting richer, but they’re pulling people out of poverty.”

Sure they are. I have been to Brazil many times. Clinton’s out of her mind.

If you’ve ever flown to Sao Paulo, you must travel a distance from the airport to the actual city. On the way you pass right by a shanty town in which the dwellings are constructed principally of cardboard and wood scraps. One is warned never to stop on that road- not for any reason.

The number of homeless, abandoned street children is frightening. It rips at your heart when you see them for yourself.

The biggest social challenge for the Brazilian government and society is the lack of education, housing, health care and nutrition for the homeless children. Thousands live on the streets, abandoned by parents unable to afford to raise them. These children often abuse drugs, commit crimes and resort to prostitution to survive. The government has developed programs through the Ministry of Social Assistance to combat the poverty and starvation of these homeless children.

“150 000 children under five die every year because of hunger” Frei Betto, adviser to Lula said. He felt the child mortality rates “a scandal”.

According to UNICEF about 42 percent of Brazilian children live in poverty. Also approximately one eighth of all Brazilian children live on the streets. The Brazilian government has kept a tight reign on social spending to meet its debt payments despite a firm commitment to end poverty and hunger. Only a fraction of the national budget is allocated to programs benefitting children.

Another view:

The poorest and most vulnerable groups among Brazil’s rural poor people are women, young people and indigenous peoples. Households headed by women account for 27 per cent of poor rural people. Either because their husbands migrate to other parts of the country in search of work, or because they are single parents, women bear responsibility for running the family farm as well as their households. And child labour is still common among poor households in Brazil.

Let’s put this in perspective. Poverty in the US:

For example, according to the government’s own data, nearly two thirds of households defined by Census as “poor” have cable or satellite television. Eighty five percent have air conditioning.

Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, and cable or satellite TV reception. He has a VCR, a DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family’s essential needs. While this individual’s life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.

As for the rich and their “fair share”:

The top 25% of income earners pays 85% of the Federal income taxes.

There is a major problem with taxation and Democrats; they always want to kill those who are the most productive- those who do fairly well and work the hardest. Let’s take John Kerry for example. Kerry adds nothing to the economy. He doesn’t have a business and employs no one on a private level. He is not personally responsible for anything related to business and employment.

In 2004 Kerry reported an income of less than $400,000. He paid about $90,000 in taxes. Kerry has a net worth of somewhere between $165 million and $626 million and his wife is worth something approaching a billion dollars.

So together Kerry and his wife are worth $1.5 billion or so and he pays about $100,000 a year in taxes.

That is the problem. Kerry and his wife are not paying their fair share. Neither are the Kennedy’s, the Speilberg’s, Bruce Springsteen, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Jane Harman and lots more. Look for a future post for the solution to this problem.

Nancy Pelosi is worth at least $18 million and last year she paid- actually I have no idea what she paid because I cannot find anything that discloses her tax returns. I’d love to know exactly what her claimed income is and exactly how much she pays in taxes.

But make no mistake- what Hillary did was the open the door for Obama and the Democrats to begin an effort to raise taxes in a big way. It’s coming. And it will punish most severely those are the engine for growth in this country.

DrJohn

DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.

DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.

Except for liberals being foolish.