Be Like Brazil - Tax More!

First Pelosi and now Clinton.

I don't get it. I really don't.

During a recent event, Hillary Clinton went on record lamenting the "fact" that the rich are not paying their "fair share" in taxes. She then went on to make what I think is an incredibly silly comparison to Brazil.

Here are the two statements she made.

The first statement:

"The rich are not paying their fair share in any nation that is facing the kind of employment issues (the United States is), whether it's individual, corporate, whatever the taxation forms are."

Seriously? The "rich" here in the US pay 40% of the entire US tax burden. As it stands now, after all is said and done, only 51% of wage earners in the US pay (net) taxes. The remaining 49% either have no tax burden at all or are refunded all taxes paid. And the "rich" here are the top 1% (one percent!!!!) of wage earners.

So, you got 1% of a population paying 40% of the total tax burden for that population. How much more of a percentage would be considered "fair"?

The second statement:

"Brazil has the highest tax-to-GDP rate in the Western Hemisphere and guess what -- it's growing like crazy."

Why do I think that is an incredibly silly statement?

Consider the following points:

The highest tax rate in Brazil is 27.5%.
The highest tax rate in the US is 35% (soon to increase to 43%).
The GDP of Brazil is around $1.58 trillion.
The GDP of the US is around $14.6 trillion.
The Tax:GDP ratio of Brazil is around 38.8%.
The Tax:GDP ratio of the US is around 28.2%.
The Debt:GDP ratio of Brazil is around 14%.
The Debt:GDP ratio of the US is around 94%.

Then consider that the tax code in Brazil places a greater burden on salaried workers and a significantly lesser burden on wealthy business owners.

Finally, this statement implies that higher taxation equates to greater economic growth.

Ask any economist that knows their craft. Higher taxation equates to lower economic growth, not greater. Not to mention that with higher taxation, you also get greater tax avoidance and unemployment.

Why do our elected leaders seem so completely obtuse to something that makes this much common sense?

I don't get it. I really don't.