Rudy blasted Hillary’s tax hike plan yesterday calling it an “astounding, staggering tax increase.” Good for him.

Hillary’s been out proclaiming her government redistributionist message of “shared prosperity.” Her growth-paralyzing solution? Increase taxes on Americans making more than $200K a year. This is France before Sarkozy stuff.

Incidentally, Hillary’s tax hike plan would slaughter somewhere around 25 million small, owner-operated businesses. How’s that for sound economic policy?

To his credit, Rudy stepped up to the plate and has taken her on. So far he’s the only major GOP candidate to do so. (Although in fairness, Fred Thompson did attack Democratic tax and spend redistributionism in his Stamford, CT speech last week.)

In New Hampshire just a few days ago, Senator Clinton also attacked President Bush’s “ownership society.” Playing that tired, old, class warfare card, Hillary says it has widened the gap between rich and poor. “Fairness just doesn’t happen,” she said. “It requires the right government polices.”

This is yet another example of income leveling—standard, garden variety, lefty liberal, anti-growth, class-envy rabble-rousing.

History is clear—free market capitalism works. It rewards successful work, investment, and risk taking. But Hillary remains unconvinced. She takes a different tack—she wants to punish successful, hard working Americans. Forget about rewarding them.

This presidential contender wants to confiscate profits from energy companies and other corporations. And as Rudy reminded everyone yesterday, Hillary is on record as saying about the tax cuts, “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.”

Sounds like socialism.

Her message is nothing new. It’s an Old Europe prescription for economic stagnation that snatches the capital out of capitalism.

We’ve seen this show before. It’s a Mike Dukakis message. It’s Walter Mondale redux. (And on foreign policy, she is lurching to the nut-root left and adopting a McGovern message.)

By the way, Hillary’s got company in her redistributionist tax hike plan. Both Edwards and Obama are calling for a big tax increase on U.S. families earning over $200K.

This is why I believe the Democrats are dooming themselves to defeat in 2008.