"It is becoming clear that Hillary Clinton will try to convince voters that she can solve a very vexing problem, income inequality. The notion that our capitalistic system has gone corrupt and the feds must punish those making money that will be in the forefront of the 2016 campaign. This year the feds will gather more tax money than ever before, about $3 trillion. Since taking office President Obama has proposed 442 tax increases, not counting 20 others associated with Obamacare. Americans earning more than $400,000 must pay close to 40% of their income to the federal government. The Social Security tax has increased from 4.2 to 6.2%, and itemized deductions are being phased out for high wage earners and profitable businesses. In fact, the USA has the highest tax rate on business in the world. So taxes are through the roof on affluent Americans and business profits. But for the rest of Americans, things are not so bad. The bottom 60% of wage-earners pay just 2.7% of federal income taxes. The bottom 40% actually get money from the feds; they receive earned-income tax credits. The burden on business and investors drives down job creation and economic expansion. I know small business people who will not hire because the feds are all over them with taxes and regulations. Yes, there is a big gap between the rich and working-class Americans. But how much more can the government take from the affluent without crashing the entire economy? That's the real question of campaign 2016. One more thing: If Hillary Clinton is going to continue the punishing taxation that Barack Obama has imposed, we need to know that because the result is likely to be the same stagnant take-home pay. The only way that salaries will go up in America is for private industry to expand, creating more jobs and more competition for workers."

The Factor invited professor and former Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee to weigh in. "I'm going to give you a 'D' on history," Goolsbee said, "because the income tax rate under Ronald Reagan was 50%, while the rates now on the highest income people are below the average rate for the era after World War II. There was a strong recovery in the 1990s when tax rates on the wealthy went up, and if cutting taxes at the top were a great generator of growth, then it would have worked under George Bush when rates were cut as much as ever." The Factor put forth a different version of recent history, saying, "From 1982 to 1990, the biggest expansion in American history, taxes on the top 1% of wage earners dropped by 30%."

An upcoming book by reporter Peter Schweizer alleges that Bill and Hillary Clinton accepted large donations from foreign governments that received favors from the U.S. government. Fox Business host Melissa Francis elaborated on the accusations. "People have long looked at the money machine behind the Clintons," she began, "and whether it influenced her decision making, which would be dirty. Someone needed to dig in and try to connect the dots by saying on this day the Clinton Foundation accepted money from this government and on the next day she made a decision at the State Department that was not in America's interest. Schweizer, who is a respected investigative journalist, purports to have done this." The Factor added, "The author will have to back up his facts and the Clinton Foundation records are public."

Western European countries are faced with a huge influx of desperate immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East, some of whom are dying at sea. The Factor placed part of the blame squarely on the Obama administration: "America has abdicated its leadership, causing mass chaos in countries like Libya, Syria, and Iraq. America is the moral leader of the world, but President Obama doesn't want that mantle." Williams and Mary Katharine Ham reacted to that contention. "We clearly provided leadership when we promoted the end of Qaddafi," Williams protested, "who was a despicable despot. Are you for nation building? Why couldn't the Libyans take care of building their own country?" Ham agreed with the notion that President Obama is not comfortable with American leadership. "The issue isn't so much what President Obama does or doesn't do, but there isn't a real vision. The object seems to be to survive from day to day politically, which leads to us abdicating our responsibility to lead in the world."

FNC's Brit Hume analyzed the presidential race and Hillary Clinton's focus on income inequality. "What Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are trying to sell," he began, "is what the Democratic Party has been trying to sell to the American public for years. It is helpful to the Democrats that there is now a large segment of the electorate receiving federal benefits and is therefore likely to vote for the candidate who will continue those benefits. But that's not everyone - the elderly who receive Social Security are increasingly trending Republican." Hume predicted that Clinton will pay a political price for amassing great wealth in recent years. "She lacks the common touch that some rich Democrats have had in the past. It didn't bother anybody that the Kennedys or FDR were rich, they were still accepted as champions of the poor."

An Ohio cop was caught on tape refusing to shoot a murder suspect, even when the suspect charged the officer and begged to be shot. Megyn Kelly analyzed the officer's heroic restraint. "The perp led police on a chase through three counties," she reported, "after he had allegedly murdered his girlfriend. The cop knew that this guy was looking to die in a 'suicide-by-cop' and was attacking police with his car. He charged the officer several times and even stuck his hand in his pocket, but Officer Jesse Kidder refused to do what the suspect was begging him to do. He would have been absolutely justified in shooting this guy, but he exercised restraint."

Jesse Watters spent part of the weekend getting his hands dirty at the annual Earth Day festivities in Washington. Here's what some people told him about saving the planet: "Take shorter showers and turn the faucet off while brushing our teeth" ... "Help pick up trash around your house" ... "Solar powered airplanes would work" ... "We need to control population." Watters characterized the attendees thusly: "It was a young crowd and most of them were there for the free concert. That was smart because no one really cares about 'global warming,' it's not a priority. All the performers on stage flew in on private jets and took SUVs to the concert."

Carlos Heros, New London, CT: "O'Reilly, your Talking Points challenging white suppression was spot on. But if I said that in my college classroom, I would be labeled a racist."

Dale Baker, Panama City Beach, FL: "Bill, you said there are still some places in America where blacks are not treated equally. That's bull."

Nathan Riggers, Nezperce, ID: "As a wheat farmer, the constant drumbeat of food scares is disheartening. Suzanne Somers says eat eggs instead of tuna. Thirty years ago, eggs were considered poison. These diet fads always pass."

Bill Nesting, Redding, CA: "O'Reilly, Suzanne must be doing something right. She's older than you and looks like your daughter."

George Boone, Asheville, NC: "Bill, I am 93 with all my marbles and a diet very similar to yours. My Haagen-Daz preference is Strawberry or Chocolate Chip!"

Email your local sheriff with this suggestion: Have non-violent inmates get out and help clean up litter on roadsides and in empty lots. Everyone would benefit.