On campaign trail, Clinton zeroes in on GP pay

Striking a populist chord with voters, the presumptive Democrat nominee said it was unfair that fund managers pay a lower tax rate than truckers. 

In one of her first public appearances since announcing her candidacy for president over the weekend, Hillary Clinton is targeting fund manager pay as an example of growing income inequality in the US. 

“There’s something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers that I saw on I-80 as I was driving here over the last two days,” Clinton said at a campaign stop in Iowa, a key state candidates use to build momentum in the early stages of the race.

Clinton was presumably referring to carried interest, which Democrats have battled Republicans on for years to raise taxes.

Various bills to change the tax designation on carry to ordinary income (which stands at 39.6 percent for top earners) have been put forward repeatedly over the past six years, but none have garnered enough support to become law.

The former first lady, senator and secretary of state may use a populist strategy to build support for tax reform.

“But I think it’s fair to say that as you look across the country, the deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top, and there’s something wrong with that. There’s something wrong when CEOs make 300 times more than the typical worker,” she said in Iowa on Tuesday.