Clinton = Higher Taxes

In An Effort To Appease Liberals "Hungry" For Redistribution, Clinton Will Pledge To Raise Taxes

CLINTON IS EXPECTED TO REVERSE HER POSITION ON THE CAPITAL-GAINS TAX RATE TO APPEASE HER PARTY'S LIBERAL BASE

Today, Hillary Clinton Will Release A Policy Proposal On Capital-Gains During A Speech In New York City. "Instead, Clinton is said to propose multiple levels of long-term. For assets held at least two years, the tax would be more than 28 percent, the Wall Street Journal reports, up from today's 23.8 percent. If assets are held for five years, the rate would be lower than that. (We may learn how much lower on Friday, when Clinton is set to release a tax-policy blueprint.)" (Paula Dwyer, Op-Ed, "Clinton Would Complicate The Capital-Gains Tax,"Bloomberg, 7/23/15)

According To The Clinton Campaign, The Goal Is To "Change Behavior, Not Increase Revenue." "The campaign didn't estimate how much in additional taxes the proposal would raise. The official said the primary goal is to change behavior, not increase revenue." (Laura Meckler and John D. McKinnon, "Clinton To Push Revamp Of Capital-Gains Tax Rates," The Wall Street Journal, 7/20/15)

Clinton's Adjusted Rates Would Be Higher Than The 28 Percent Proposed Earlier Than Obama And Perhaps Be As High As The Regular Income-Tax Rate . "For those held just a little longer-likely two or three years-the current capital-gains tax rate of 23.8% for top earners would rise. The Clinton rate, which hasn't been finalized, would be higher than the 28% President Barack Obama proposed earlier this year for the highest earners … The Clinton campaign hasn't ruled out taxing such investments at the regular income-tax rate.." (Laura Meckler and John D. McKinnon, "Clinton To Push Revamp Of Capital-Gains Tax Rates," The Wall Street Journal, 7/20/15)

Clinton's Proposal Is A "Change Of Heart" From Her Previous Position On The Capital-Gains Tax

Clinton "Hinted" At Her "Change Of Heart" On Capital Gains Earlier This Year."Clinton, who will say on Monday that the best way to increase the size of the U.S. economy is to increase middle-class people's incomes according to her campaign, hinted at her change of heart on capital gains at a campaign event in April." (Luciana Lopez, "Clinton To Propose Capital Gains Tax Reform: Campaign Document," Reuters, 7/13/15)

Clinton's Plan "Appears To Be A Shift" From Her Position In 2008 When She "Vowed Not To Raise Capital Gains Tax Rates Above 20 Percent If At All.""Clinton's plan to revamp such rates appears to be a shift from her position in 2008, when she last sought the party's nomination and vowed not to raise capital gains tax rates above 20 percent, if at all." (Susan Heavey, "Clinton's Capital Gains Tax Plan To Urge Focus On Long-Term Growth," Reuters , 7/20/15)

• Clinton Said That She Wouldn't Raise The Capital Gains Tax Rate Above 20 Percent, "If I Raised It At All." ABC NEWS' CHARLIE GIBSON: "The question was about capital gains tax. Would you say, 'No, I'm not going to raise capital gains taxes?'" CLINTON: "I wouldn't raise it above the 20 percent if I raised it at all. I would not raise it above what it was during the Clinton administration." (Hillary Clinton, 2008 Democratic Primary Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 4/16/08)

During A 2008 Primary Debate Clinton Stood By Legislation Signed By Bill Clinton That Lowered The Maximum Taxation Rate On Capital Gains From 28 Percent To 20 Percent. "In a primary debate that year, she stood by legislation signed by her husband, Bill Clinton, in 1997 when he was president. That law lowered the maximum taxation rate on capital gains, which are the profits made on selling capital assets such as shares or real estate, from 28 percent to 20 percent. In 2003, the maximum rate was lowered further still to 15 percent under President George W. Bush." (Luciana Lopez, "Clinton To Propose Capital Gains Tax Reform: Campaign Document," Reuter s, 7/13/15)

Clinton Claimed She Was "Agnostic" About A Tax Rate Change On Capital Gains And Dividends That Was Enacted In 2003. BLOOMBERG ANCHOR: "Are there any of the President's tax cuts that you would maintain, let me ask you one specific, the 15 percent tax rate [on] capital gains and dividends, very important to folks on Wall Street right now, folks right now in your state." CLINTON: "Oh I know, I'm asked about it often, and, what I tell the people who ask me is look, I'm agnostic about that." (Bloomberg News' "Taking Stock," 3/15/07)

Clinton's Tax Hike Proposal Is Just Another Way She Is Trying To Meet The Demands Of Liberals Who Are "Hungry For Social Spending And Redistribution"

By Raising Capital Gains Tax Rates, Clinton Will Meet The "Key Demands Of Liberals Who Are Hungry For Social Spending And Redistribution." " By raising tax rates on medium-term capital gains, Clinton will raise a bunch of tax revenue, and she will raise it overwhelmingly from high-income individuals. These are key demands of liberals, who are hungry for social spending and redistribution." (Matthew Yglesias, "Hillary Clinton's Capital Gains Tax Reform, Explained," Vox, 7/20/15)

Clinton, In A "Pander" To The Left, Is Hoping To "Demonstrate To Elizabeth Warren's Fan Base That She Can Soak The Rich And Limit Wall Street's Winnings." "She wants to discourage short-term thinking (that's good), raise tax revenue to fund new government programs (unlikely), and demonstrate to Elizabeth Warren's fan base that she can soak the rich and limit Wall Street's winnings, too (a pander)." (Paula Dwyer, Op-Ed, "Clinton Would Complicate The Capital-Gains Tax,"Bloomberg, 7/23/15)

ECONOMISTS HAVE EXPRESSED "DEEP SKEPTICISM" TOWARDS CLINTON'S PLAN AND SAID IT WON'T BENEFIT WAGES OR IMPACT CORPORATE INVESTMENT

Former Senior Tax Economist For Bill Clinton's Administration, Lenoard Burman, Said His General Impression Of Clinton's Tax Plan Was "Deep Skepticism." "'My general impression is deep skepticism,' Leonard Burman, director of the non-partisan think tank the Tax Policy Center and a former senior tax economist in President Bill Clinton's Treasury Department, said in a telephone interview." (Jonathan Allen, "Clinton's Capital Gains Tax Plan Aims At Long-Term Investment," Reuters , 7/23/15)

• Burman: "I Don't See The Logic" In Clinton's Tax Hike Proposal. "'Frankly, I don't see the logic in trying to encourage people to hold assets for longer than they want to,' he said. He said there were already strong incentives for individuals to hold onto assets, and the dividends they can produce, for a long time. He also noted that vast amounts of assets are held by entities, including non-profits, foreigners and retirement funds, not subject to the individual capital gains tax. (Jonathan Allen, "Clinton's Capital Gains Tax Plan Aims At Long-Term Investment," Reuters , 7/23/15)

Empirical Studies "Struggle" To Confirm The Idea That Tax Rates On Investment Income Are An "Important Driver" Of Investment Activity. "Empirical studies also struggle to confirm the idea that tax rates on investment income are an important driver of real investment activity. A recent, statistically sophisticated study of the 2003 dividend tax cut by Danny Yagan, for example, finds that 'the tax cut caused zero change in corporate investment.'" (Matthew Yglesias, "Hillary Clinton's Capital Gains Tax Reform, Explained," Vox, 7/20/15)

"Changing How Things Are Taxed At The Investor Level Will Make No Difference At All" To The "Time Horizons Over Which The Corporations Will Invest.""Changing how things are taxed at the investor level will make no difference at all to that: nor will they make any difference at all to the time horizons over which the corporations invest. This is a non-solution based on an ignorance how the markets work. How unusual that Hillary should fall for it…"(Tim Worstall, "Hillary Clinton's Capital Gains Changes Won't Make A Blind Bit Of Difference To Short-Termism,"Forbes , 7/20/15)

Economists Christophe Chamley And Kenneth Judd Concluded That The "Socially Optimal Level Of Investment Taxation Is Zero" And That "People Who Derive All Their Income From Wages Benefit In The Long Run From Not Taxing Capital Income." "The economics-y reason is a result in theoretical macroeconomics stemming from work by Christophe Chamley and Kenneth Judd that shows that under appropriate assumptions, the socially optimal level of investment taxation is zero. The result involves a lot of math, but the intuitive idea is that the less you tax investments in capital goods, the more capital goods you get. And the more capital goods you have, the higher your wages will be. Consequently, even people who derive all their income from wages benefit in the long run from not taxing capital income." (Matthew Yglesias, "Hillary Clinton's Capital Gains Tax Reform, Explained,"Vox, 7/20/15)

Clinton's Capital-Gains Tax Rate Hikes Are "Not Going To Make A Blind Bit Of Difference" In Countering The Short Term Nature Of Decision Making In The Marketplace. "The aim being to make people invest for the longer term, and counter what is seen as the dreadfully short term nature of most decision making in the marketplace. It's not going to make a blind bit of difference of course for the suggestion itself ignores a very basic economic fact about investment markets: they are forward looking." (Tim Worstall, "Hillary Clinton's Capital Gains Changes Won't Make A Blind Bit Of Difference To Short-Termism," Forbes , 7/20/15)

Via: GOP

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Questions Rarely Asked—and Never Answered

It Can't Happen Here?

What does it take to warn Americans about unchecked pension growth, socialized medicine, vast increases in entitlements, higher taxes, and steady expansion of government? In other words, what is it about Detroit, Italy, or Greece that we do not understand?

In the last five years, the Obama administration has raised taxes on the top income rates, implemented Obamacare, added millions to the disability and food stamp roles, grown the size of the federal work force, run up the national debt, and vastly expanded the money supply, along with insuring near zero interest rates. Are there any historical examples where these redistributive efforts have brought long-term tranquility and prosperity?

To put it another way, does anyone ask basic questions about human nature anymore? If one gives more incentives to obtain government support while unemployed, why would not fewer people be working? If the food stamp, unemployment, and disability rolls are markedly up, and if it is almost impossible to verify that recipients are also not working for unreported cash wages (we hear mostly of government efforts to add more to these programs, rather than to audit those already on them), why would one seek a “regular” job that would lose such subsidies and make all one’s income reportable? (We know two basic truths about the IRS in the age of Obama: first, it goes after political opponents in partisan fashion, and second, it gives away billions of dollars in federal income tax rebate credits to those who did not deserve them.)

If you allow illegal immigrants to enjoy full government subsidies, driver’s licenses, in-state tuition discounts, sanctuary cities, participation on juries, and all without fear of deportation, then why (a) would people not flock here illegally from Mexico, and (b) why after arriving would they go through the hassle of seeking citizenship when residency provides almost all the same benefits?

Via: PJ Media

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Obama: GOP Blocking My Efforts To Redistribute Wealth

The president has powers to fight income inequality, President Obama argued in an interview broadcast Sunday, adding that Republicans in Congress have hobbled his efforts to do it.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week" program, Obama acknowledged that the wealthiest Americans have benefited disproportionately from the economic recovery of recent years. But he was quick to add that much of that trend is due to globalization, technology and, not least, the GOP's opposition to his economic agenda – all factors he suggested are beyond his control.

"I think the president can stop it," Obama said, when asked about the growing income gap. "The problem is that there continues to be a major debate here in Washington, and that is, how do we respond to these underlying trends?"

Via: The Hill

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Obama Calls for Economic Equality in America Changed by King

ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING "REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH"

President Obama, speaking from the same Washington stage where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a defining speech of the civil rights movement, said that even as the nation has been transformed, work remains in countering growing economic disparities.

“To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency,” said Obama, appearing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where 50 years ago today King called on Americans to make good on the country’s founding promise of equality for all.

Speaking shortly after bells rang across the U.S. in commemoration of the start of King’s 1963 speech, Obama’s remarks served as the culmination of a week-long remembrance of a peaceful “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” that helped galvanize the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

King, Obama said, had done more than advance the cause of civil rights for black Americans -- he changed America.

“Because they kept marching, America changed,” Obama said of those who marched on Washington 50 years ago. “‘What King was describing was the dream of every American,’’ he said, ‘‘the chance through honest toil to advance one’s station in life.’’

Obama, 52, the nation’s first black president, has worked throughout his campaigns and government service to transcend issues of race. Yet this address centered on a problem still confronting a nation riven with economic disparities.

Via: Newsmax

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President Obama: Redistributionist in Chief and ACORN's president

The truth is still the greatest threat to Obama and the greatest hope for the American dream.

It's incredible, but true, that a redistributionist ACORN guy could be elected President of a center-right nation like the United States.

It's true because the truth about Obama and his socialist views and ACORN connections was not generally known and the liberal media establishment wanted it that way.

Audio (www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFSY2dnTSZQ)of Obama:

"...I definitely welcome ACORN's input. You don't have to ask me about that. I'm going to call you even if you didn't ask me.

"When I ran Project Vote, voter registration drive in Illinois, you know, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it. Once I was elected, there wasn't a campaign that ACORN worked on down in Springfield that I wasn't right there with you. Since I've been in the United States Senate, I've been always a partner with ACORN as well. I've been fighting with ACORN, alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career."

It should not be a shock that Obama lied about his redistributionist views. He previously lied about his involvement with the ACORN political party in Illinois, known as the New Party. See www.wnd.com/2012/06/obama-member-of-acorns-3rd-party/, where it is reported that "[t]he socialist-leaning New Party had such a close relationship with the controversial group ACORN that at one point the two shared an office address, fax lines and email addresses" and the New Party "sought to elect members to public office with the aim of moving the Democratic Party far leftward to ultimately form a new political party with a socialist agenda."

As an Illimois state senator in 1998, Barack Obama told an audience at Loyola University in Chicago the truth: He actually believes in redistribution.

A video is available at http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/19/video-rnc-jumps-on-obamas-redistribution-quote/.

But President Obama, running for reelection, rejecting the charge that his economic plan amounts to a redistribution of wealth.

During a "60 Minutes" interview by Steve Kroft last December, President Obama claimed that his real goal is to rebuild a strong middle-class America, not to redistribute wealth.

"What's happened to the bargain?" Obama said in an interview with CBS correspondent Steve Kroft. "What happened to the American deal that says, you know, we are focused on building a strong middle class?

Kroft specifically asked Obama about his mention of "income inequality" in a recent speech. "People will say this is socialist Obama," said Kroft. "And he's come out of the closet," Kroft added.

Obama rejected that as nonsense and insisted that income inequality has nothing to do with socialism. "Everybody's concerned about inequality," Obama said. "What's happened to the bargain? What's happened to the American deal that says, you know, we are focused on building a strong middle class?"

Video is available at http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/19/video-rnc-jumps-on-obamas-redistribution-quote/.

To be elected in 2008, Obama blatantly lied about his relationship with ACORN.

If the truth had been generally known, Obama would have lost.

The truth is still the greatest threat to Obama and the greatest hope for the American dream.

Via: Renew America