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Clinton-Kaine poised to raise payroll tax on all Americans if elected

The Hillary Clinton-Tim Kaine ticket has doubled down on a payroll tax hike. Kaine endorsed a payroll tax increase during Tuesday’s debate. He said:

“We have to keep it [Social Security] solvent and will keep it solvent. We will look for strategies like adjusting the payroll tax cap upward in order to do that.”

And:

“We are going to stand up against that push to privatize social security and look for ways to keep it solvent going forward, focusing on the payroll tax.

Hillary Clinton has also given a thumbs up to a payroll tax hike, though it is rarely mentioned in the media. Her remarks took place in Iowa at a major forum on Jan. 12, 2016:

Moderator: “Democrats have introduced a plan that Senator Sanders supports that you’ve come out against because it is funded by a payroll tax. If that were to reach your desk as President, would you veto it in order to make good on your tax pledge?”

Hillary Clinton: “No. No.”

Here is the video clip of the above exchange. The payroll tax increase she green-lighted would hit all wages under $118,500.

So Clinton said she would not veto a payroll tax increase on all Americans should such a bill reach her desk. Didn’t Hillary promise not to sign any tax increase on any American earning less than $250,000? Yes, she did, but she admitted she will break that pledge.

Clinton was against a payroll tax hike before she was for it. In 2008 she criticized her then-opponent Barack Obama for endorsing a payroll tax hike. Here she is on April 16, 2008 during a debate hosted by ABC News:

“I’m certainly against one of Senator Obama’s ideas, which is to lift the cap on the payroll tax, because that would impose additional taxes on people who are educators here in the Philadelphia area, or in the suburbs, police officers, firefighters and the like.”

Taxpayers of all income levels should consider themselves warned: If given the chance, a Clinton White House would raise payroll taxes in a heartbeat.

For more information about Clinton-Kaine tax increase plans, visit ATR’s dedicated website, HighTaxHillary.com