Capitol Hill Buzz: Past gripes don’t stop GOP hit on wealth
May 28, 2015, 1:30 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hypocrisy runs rampant in Congress and campaigns, and this week it’s the Republicans’ turn to engage in a practice they’ve often denounced: class warfare.
The Republican National Committee produced interactive charts highlighting the wealth of Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton.
“Here is how the Clintons’ $30 million income stacks up against everyday Americans in each state,” the report says. In Florida, for instance, it would take 417 average household incomes to match the Clintons’, the RNC says.
A valid point, perhaps. But it seems at odds with Republican complaints about Democrats who point fingers at the wealthy. For example, when President Barack Obama proposed a new tax on persons making more than $1 million a year, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called it nothing short of “class warfare.” Graham is seeking the 2016 presidential nomination.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., the party’s 2012 vice presidential nominee, agreed. “Class warfare may make for good politics,” Ryan said at the time, “but it makes for rotten economics.”
You can’t say the RNC lacks a sense of humor, however. A big headline on its Web site reads, “Clinton’s Latest Fundraising Hypocrisy.”
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The Pelican State is also the Seersucker state, Sen. Bill Cassidy would have you know, and it’s time to don that most summery of suits.
National Seersucker Day is June 11, the Louisiana Republican announced Thursday. He wants to revive a lapsed Capitol tradition in which several lawmakers wear seersucker suits on designated summer days.
“Seersucker is more than fabric,” Cassidy said in a statement. “It’s a symbol of American-made products that create manufacturing, shipping and sales jobs across the country.”
“Seersucker was invented in Louisiana,” he said, “but now belongs to all Americans.”
Lawmakers-in-seersucker never achieved huge numbers. But it transcended party, gender and region. Among the more faithful wearers of seersucker suits in the Capitol was Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
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