Alfonse D'Amato

Hillary's a progressive for political expediency

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Is Hillary Clinton trying to take a page from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s playbook? Let’s take a look at her record as a senator, and you’ll see that she is anything but progressive, and certainly not liberal.

Her campaign for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016 is facing serious challenges from the left. Bernie Sanders, a liberal Democrat from Vermont, now trails her by only 10 points in New Hampshire, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, is watching from the wings.

This has forced Clinton to move left. She began her presidential campaign by taking a swipe at Wall Street. In a recent speech, she came out swinging at the business elite, saying, “Prosperity can’t be just for CEOs and hedge fund managers. Democracy can’t be just for billionaires and corporations.”

It’s rather ironic to hear the newly minted millionaire Clintons tout policies like “income inequality.” It’s much more believable coming from a socialist like Bernie Sanders. But this is yet another instance in which Hillary’s rhetoric doesn’t match her history, and particularly her performance as a senator.

A glaring example of her inconsistency is on one of the great tax dodges of modern times, which has further enriched fabulously wealthy hedge fund managers, who routinely avoid paying the same tax rates on income as millions of other Americans are forced to do. This comes from the so-called “carried interest” loophole that money managers can take advantage of. Most Americans see their “earned income” taxed at rates as high as 39.6 percent, yet hedge fund managers’ income is taxed at a lower capital gains rate of 15 to 20 percent.

How? In a convoluted accounting maneuver, it is magically converted into “carried interest,” which is eligible for the lower tax rates. The carried interest financial managers receive from handling clients’ funds is taxed as capital gains, and not as ordinary income. Capital gains are taxed at lower rates than ordinary income in an effort to motivate people to invest capital for longer periods of time.

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