Hillary Clinton is playing a dangerous game

[NorthCarolina]

Friday, Nov 20, 2015 05:59 AM EST

Hillary Clinton is playing a dangerous game: How her anti-Bernie talking points could cost her — and America — big time

Hillary Clinton is starting to remind progressives why the name Clinton brings up such a mixed bag of emotions, and why it’s so hard to believe Clinton’s pivot to the left this campaign season. Lately, the “progressive who likes to get things done” has gone after her main competition, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for his advocacy of a single-payer healthcare system, which is a staple of progressive policy, found in many other industrialized states like Canada and Taiwan. Taking a page out of the GOP handbook, Clinton and her campaigners have gone into fear-mongering mode about the fact that such a plan would cause an increase in taxes on the middle class.

“Hardworking, middle-class families need a raise, not a tax increase,” said Clinton during the second Democratic debate, while a senior adviser to a pro-Clinton organization tweeted: “Hillary Clinton was the only one who ruled out raising taxes on the middle class – others talked about raising taxes to 70 and 90 percent.” Of course, this is nonsense. Sanders only stated the fact that the top rate was over 90 percent under Dwight Eisenhower. He was quite clear when he said: “We haven’t come up with an exact number yet, but it will not be as high as the number under Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was 90 percent. I’m not that much of a socialist compared to Eisenhower.” (Plus, people seem to forget that he is talking about a progressive tax, with top rates only on income over a certain level, not all of the income an eligible individual earns.)

Indeed, the Clinton campaign is starting to sound more and more like Republicans. Chris Christie said something similar last month (albeit more crudely): “The socialist says they’re going to pay for everything and give you everything for free, except they don’t tell you they’re going to raise your taxes to 90 percent to do it.”

“Pants on Fire,” ruled PolitiFact, calling it a “grossly misleading characterization.”

http://www.salon.com/2015/11/20/hillary_clinton_is_playing_a_dangerous_game_how_her_anti_bernie_talking_points_could_cost_her_and_america_big_time/

Nowhere to go but right.

[Scuba]

1. Her campaign will be rolling out a new slogan next week: "Country First"

[el_bryanto]

11. Lost my vote - Country Music sucks. Disco forever! nt

[peacebird]

2. She is center right by nature, only todays "center right" was a moderate Republican in the 70's

I find it interesting that she is actively veering hard right at this stage of the game. Yesterdays speech by HRC was pure neocon warhawk.

[onehandle]

3. Salon, which is in financial trouble, has latched onto the 'Not Hillary' Party train for the...

CLICKY-CLICKY.

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[leftofcool]

7. Only at Salon (the anti-Hillary rag)

Only at Salon is raising the middle class income without us paying more taxes a right wing concept. I don't know about any other middle class folks but I wold love a raise in my income without having to pay more in taxes that I just can't afford. Raise the taxes on the rich, not the middle class who already have to struggle.

[pangaia]

4. When I heard that lying accusation about Sanders

'suggesting raising taxes to 70-90%,' I just about screamed.!!

I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if you held a gun to my head.
FORTUNATELY, IF by some mere chance of fate she DOES 'win' the primary, I don't have to vote at all. I live in New York.

[CharlotteVale]

5. I've never needed reminding!

[JaneyVee]

6. No, Salon, it's called being realistic.

God forbid Hillary explains the detail and nuance that Bernie is dancing around. Let me know when Bernie admits he will have to raise taxes on the middle class instead of constant deflecting.

[Ouray]

10. Sure, raise taxes, at the expense

of losing our "insurance" and gaining a benefit called health care.

Which means not having to pay thousands to reach the deductibles before the insurance kicks in their share.

That's on top of paying premiums.

I'll take that.

[JaneyVee]

13. I already pay high taxes and have health insurance.

How about we just expand Medicaid to cover more people.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. A political basic: your taxes and your health insurance matter only to you, the rest of us care

about our taxes and our insurance. From your bio, I assume you have lovely DGA health insurance, so like me you have never been in the boat most are in for insurance because of our wealthy Unions and healthy rates of compensation.

[Armstead]

17. Stigmatize universal health coverage? Great idea

People who are really poor generally can get some form of coverage. Medicare should be made stronger.

But that's only one facet of the problem. Many people with moderate, or good, incomes are getting screwed by insurance costs. As are businesses who also have to shoulder the costs.

Public health coverage based on income should be a universal right to everyone.

[pinebox]

22. Medicaid is a STATE issue NOT Federal

And you seem to forget that.
Otherwise no states would have opted out for expanding Medicaid. People in red states would suffer just as they currently do because of the same exact issue.

[Rose Siding]

15. "We haven’t come up with an exact number yet" -BS

If he doesn't flesh out his own policies, he leaves it to others to define them.

[restorefreedom]

8. a good way to lose a general

is to insult and alienate the supporters of your competition so they just say "screw it" on election day.

if hillary is the nom, the repubs will have something big to vote against. if she doesn't give dems of all candidates something to vote FOR, get used to saying "president trump" or "president rubio"

[MisterP]

21. of course if left and indeps say "screw it" they can just be blamed for 2018!

[restorefreedom]

26. sounds like the dws playbook. nt

[Bread and Circus]

9. Sounding like a Republican is correct but don't tell the Democratic voters that...

[FlatBaroque]

12. She must do this

because she is UNELECTABLE.

[WillyT]

16. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[UglyGreed]

18. K/R

[olddots]

19. maybe she wants to be in Rubio's cabinet

naw that would be too obvious .

[EndElectoral]

20. A campaign of obfuscation

[WillyT]

23. Kick !!!

[Cheese Sandwich]

24. She's definitely made the pivot to right wing talking points

She tried to push Bernie as far left as possible, to crowd him out, and then use the right wing points to push him off the edge.

But he put his anchor down with that FDR speech, so that's as far as he's going to move. And that's a great place to take a stand. I think it's encouraging.

[coyote]

25. It's funny how nobody ask how we are going to finance 2 trillion dollar wars, or

Bailing out Wall Street to the tune of 1.5 trillion. However when it comes to helping the people, then it's "how are we going to give all this stuff for free?" or "how are we going to finance it".

[mmonk]

27. Nowhere to go but away.