Secretary Clinton stresses importance of 'equitable' taxes

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to stray into the presidential campaign on Monday saying she has been "preaching" around the world about fair taxation, especially concerning "elites."

Early on in her speech, Clinton stressed that she was "out of politics now." She then said on visits to other countries she regularly stresses the importance of a fair tax code.

"One of the issues I have been preaching about around the world is collecting taxes in an equitable manner, especially from elites around the world," Clinton said at a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative according to The Guardian. "It is a fact that around the world the elites of every country are making money.

"There are rich people everywhere, and yet they do not contribute to their growth of their own countries."

Clinton's comments are similar to ones made by President Obama and Vice President Biden, who have repeatedly attacked Mitt Romney and Republicans as proponents of tax cuts for the rich at the behest of the middle class. Obama has repeatedly advocated for extending the Bush-era tax cuts for income up to $250,000 a year and allowing the tax cuts on income above that to expire.

The comments are particularly notable because as Secretary of State, Clinton has worked to stay away from getting into presidential politics. As is customary, she did not appear at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., earlier in the month.

In the same speech Clinton also said it was important for the wealthy to invest more.

"They don't invest in public schools and public hospitals and other kinds of development internally," Clinton said. "So it means for leaders telling powerful people things they don't want to hear. It means being transparent about budgets and revenues and bringing corruption to light."

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