Middle Class Families: The Only True Americans?

Fair Share Surcharge

A recently-released Factsheet on Hillary Clinton’s website outlines one of her new tax policies seeking to aid the middle class, something she calls the “Fair Share Surcharge.” It will be imposed on people making over 5 million dollars each year, and is loosely based on a proposal introduced by Barrack Obama in 2011.

In reading this factsheet, a particular quote stood out to me. The quote was, “It’s outrageous that multi-millionaires and billionaires are allowed to play by a different set of rules than hard-working families, especially when it comes to paying their fair share of taxes.”  I found this quote rhetorically significant because of the way that it humanizes the middle class by illustrating them as families. Contrarily, millionaires and billionaires are referred to as simply that, rather than “hardworking families making millions or billions of dollars.”

The Roles of Ingratiation and Enthymeme

I believe that this example represents a greater rhetorical theme in Clinton’s rhetoric. In my first post, I outlined the way in which Clinton’s rhetoric about the middle class closely incorporates family values. By constantly referring to the middle class as “families” who are “hard-working,” and “American,” she seems to be attempting to ingratiate them. Referring to her fair share surcharge, Clinton said, “That’s what American families need – not another giveaway to the super wealthy.” I think this quote perfectly evidences her attempts to ingratiate the middle class. Through enthymeme, it suggests that the super wealthy aren’t true American families. This seems to be a stellar tactic, and is further carried out in her new advertisement.  If she continues to use this rhetorical strategy, I think it will be easier for middle class voters to look past her status as a multi-millionaire who can’t truly relate to them.