The Patriot Post® · Hillarynomics: Higher Tax Rates and More Solar Panels

Anyone who doubts Hillary Clinton is a socialist need look no further than her economic plan for America. Put simply, her proposals will continue Barack Obama’s path of economic ruin rather than turning the nation toward economic prosperity.

Earlier this month, Hillary made a few economic pronouncements, including bashing Republicans for “trickle-down economics” (a.k.a. capitalism). She also blamed GOP presidents for creating messes for Democrats to clean up, yet she never once mentioned the mess she and her own party created.

Hillary’s initial prescription to solve our nation’s economic woes is to raise the minimum wage, spend more tax dollars on infrastructure and put more women into the workforce. Surely her comments perked up the ears of progressives, but anyone who understands basic economics knows her proposals do nothing to create jobs in a struggling economy.

Now she’s proposed two more facets of her economic agenda, and let’s just say that they are equally terrible.

First, The Wall Street Journal reports Hillary proposes to “nearly double the top tax rate on long term capital gains to 43.4% from 23.8%.” She “wants to overthrow ‘quarterly capitalism,’ the supposed tendency of companies to be preoccupied with earnings reports and stock prices at the expense of investment that pays off over time.” She wants to apply the normal top income tax rate of 39.6% plus the 3.8% ObamaCare surtax to investments sold in less than two years. Sounds terrible, right? Well, it gets worse.

The Journal also notes Hillary’s proposed tax rate on capital gains would be higher than the rate in the 1970s or even during FDR’s New Deal: “She wants to create a sliding scale of higher tax rates that gradually decline depending on how long investors wait to realize a capital gain. For two years, the rate would rise to 43.4%, falling to 39.8% for year three and 35.8% in year four. Investments would have to be held for more than six years to qualify for the 23.8% rate.”

Hillary argues a higher tax on capital means more revenue for the government without torching the economy. But what she and other leftist proponents refuse to acknowledge is that higher taxes imposed on capital gains leave less capital for individuals or private companies to invest in technology, equipment, facilities and, more importantly, jobs.

If she were to be elected as the next president and succeed at implementing her plan, economic growth would slow even more, incomes would stagnate and people would essentially have to wait to cash in on their investment(s) — or be punished. In her twisted view, there is something wrong with individuals and corporations turning a profit. It’s as if because the individual or business was successful it isn’t fair to everyone else. Yet somehow it’s perfectly fair for her to haul in several hundred thousand dollars per speech? And not everyone can make a 10,000% profit on cattle futures.

The second facet of her economic proposal is — you guessed it — climate change. Let’s just say that her proposal is much like Obama’s, but on steroids.

On Sunday, she promised two national goals if elected president. First, she would “set the United States on a path toward producing enough clean renewable energy to power every home in America within a decade.” Second, she would “initiate a process that would bring the total number of solar panels installed nationwide to more than half a billion before the end of her first term.” We truly hope she never sees that first term, because all that proposal will do is line the pockets of cronies in the solar-power industry. But hey, she’s got to repay a favor — the two largest solar contractors in America gave generously to the Clinton Foundation.

Meanwhile, Hillary couldn’t resist the opportunity to blast the GOP on the climate. She claims Republicans answer questions about climate change by deflecting, “I’m not a scientist.” But she did no better, saying, “Well, I’m not a scientist either, I’m just a grandmother with two eyes and a brain.” She forgot to mention she stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Of course, the “science” behind climate change isn’t science at all; it’s an agenda. Hillary and her fellow climate alarmists need to take the blinders off of their eyes and use what’s left of their brains.

Additionally, she promises to fight back against the Republicans’ attempt to dismantle the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, though she says she’ll try to help those in the coal industry who have or will lose their jobs due to leftist environmental policies.

Gee, that’s terrific. Who in their right mind would believe she will “try to help those in the coal industry”? Remember Benghazi? The last thing most Americans want to hear from Hillary is that she is here to help. Especially since her economic policy proposals for higher tax rates and a landscape plastered with solar panels do nothing but hurt Americans and their prosperity rather than helping them.