Hillary Slams Bill (Gates)
Hillary Slams Bill (Gates)
Desperate to compete with Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) before a black audience in Harlem yesterday, Hillary came up with a doozy: "It is not rich people who made this country great," she said. "It is hardworking Americans who have worked hard to lift themselves and their children up."
ADVERTISEMENT Who knew"hardworking Americans...have worked hard." I jest about Hillary's redundant delivery, but her comment (as it's presented to us by the Post) is humorless - a rhetorically ham-handed play at class warfare. There is a distinction to be made between those who inherit great wealth and those who create it, but Hillary's so eager to toss the crowd red meat she doesn't make it. Is she really saying a guy like Bill Gates hasn't made this country greater, or that once he achieved a certain level of wealth - like the good Senator herself - that he somehow became less valuable or less important than the average "hardworking American?"
Clinton's sloppy statement flies in the face of some vital economic realities, not the least of which are that rich people do in fact pay the lions share of taxes in America, and the wealthy also happen to be among the most productive in terms of innovation, capital investment, and job creation.
So many rich people did, in fact, help make this country great (not to mention the most philanthropic in the world), every bit as much, if not more, than many of us working stiffs. If Hillary wants to engage in class warfare she should tighten up her rhetorical salvos and aim them at low hanging fruit like the astronomic salaries and bonuses of certain corporate executives.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20070109/cm_rcp/hillary_slams_bill_gates_1
Desperate to compete with Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) before a black audience in Harlem yesterday, Hillary came up with a doozy: "It is not rich people who made this country great," she said. "It is hardworking Americans who have worked hard to lift themselves and their children up."
ADVERTISEMENT Who knew"hardworking Americans...have worked hard." I jest about Hillary's redundant delivery, but her comment (as it's presented to us by the Post) is humorless - a rhetorically ham-handed play at class warfare. There is a distinction to be made between those who inherit great wealth and those who create it, but Hillary's so eager to toss the crowd red meat she doesn't make it. Is she really saying a guy like Bill Gates hasn't made this country greater, or that once he achieved a certain level of wealth - like the good Senator herself - that he somehow became less valuable or less important than the average "hardworking American?"
Clinton's sloppy statement flies in the face of some vital economic realities, not the least of which are that rich people do in fact pay the lions share of taxes in America, and the wealthy also happen to be among the most productive in terms of innovation, capital investment, and job creation.
So many rich people did, in fact, help make this country great (not to mention the most philanthropic in the world), every bit as much, if not more, than many of us working stiffs. If Hillary wants to engage in class warfare she should tighten up her rhetorical salvos and aim them at low hanging fruit like the astronomic salaries and bonuses of certain corporate executives.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20070109/cm_rcp/hillary_slams_bill_gates_1
posted by presgore19 at 4:29 PM
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