On taxes, Hillary should put her money where her mouth is

By Ethel C. Fenig

So, Hillary Clinton believe s the rich are selfish if they don't want to share their wealth by paying higher 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 Institute, where she was discussing the administration's new National Security Strategy.

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

Does the very rich Secretary of State Clinton act on her personal opinion by putting her money where her mouth is? Because the Clintons are quite rich indeed. According to an estimate in the Atlantic, the Clintons are very rich--worth an estimated $38 million. Richer than me; richer than you?

Despite being born to a poor Arkansas family and essentially raised by his grandparents after his father died in an automobile accident and his mother more or less abandoned her son while she did her thing for extended periods of time, Clinton managed to obtain an Ivy League law degree thanks to his hard work and innate intelligence. (Clinton's story has some striking parallels to that of the current president.) Hillary, an equally hard worker with basic smarts, from a solid middle class family, managed to do the same.

Clinton was born with no inheritance, and he made little significant money during 20 plus years of public service. After his time in White House, however, he made a substantial income as an author and public speaker. Clinton received large advance from autobiography. His wife, the secretary of state, has also made money as author.

According to their released tax returns from 2000-2008

The Clintons paid $33,783,507 in federal taxes - 31% of their adjusted gross income.

These seemingly impressive figures mean that less than 1/3 of the Clintons' income went to the US Treasury in taxes. Is that what she means by fair share? In England, with its Clinton role model socialized medicine, over half of the Clintons gross income would have been devoured by taxes.

So Hillary, set an example. Pay your fair share of taxes. Pay more. Pay up.