Hillary Clinton: 'The rich are not paying their fair share'

From Politico.com

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a rare foray into domestic politics today, offering her view that — given America's high unemployment — wealthy Americans don't pay 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.

Clinton said the comment was her personal opinion alone. "I'm not speaking for the administration, so I'll preface that with a very clear caveat," she said.

Clinton went on to cite Brazil as a model.

"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."

Both Clinton and Obama campaigned for president on promises to allow the Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans expire this year, a plan that is now part of Obama's budget. The move will effectively raise taxes sharply on people earning more than $250,000.

The Administration's new formal strategy document makes the case that domestic economic strength is crucial to influence abroad.

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From Gene Schwimmer

But, as with any "fact" a Clinton or an Obama apparatchik cites, you need to look it up for yourself. Which I did. Brazil's GDP grew 2.0% in the last quarter. The average rates for 2007, 2008 and 2009 were 1.61%, 0.39% and 0.96%, respectively.

For those who may be wondering, our own GDP growth in the last quarter was 3.00%. But I digress. The point is: Either (1) Hillary didn't know Brazil's actual growth rate; (2) she did know, but lied about it or (3) she knew and considers 3.00% GDP growth "growing like crazy."