Obama Skewers Senate Republicans for Blocking the Buffett Rule

Politicususa

By: Jason Easley

April 16, 2012

After Senate Republicans blocked the Buffett Rule, President Obama took them to task and continued riding a wave of fairness towards reelection.

After only one Republicans voted with Democrats in favor of the Buffett Rule, President Obama said in a statement,

Tonight, Senate Republicans voted to block the Buffett Rule, choosing once again to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest few Americans at the expense of the middle class.

The Buffett Rule is common sense. At a time when we have significant deficits to close and serious investments to make to strengthen our economy, we simply cannot afford to keep spending money on tax cuts that the wealthiest Americans don’t need and didn’t ask for. But it’s also about basic fairness—it’s just plain wrong that millions of middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires. America prospers when we’re all in it together and everyone has the opportunity to succeed.

One of the fundamental challenges of our time is building an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. And I will continue to push Congress to take steps to not only restore economic security for the middle class and those trying to reach the middle class, but also to create an economy that’s built to last.

The only Republican who voted with Democrats in favor of moving the bill forward was Susan Collins of Maine. All other Republicans, including those who are in close contests to keep their seats like Scott Brown, voted against increasing taxes on those who make over a million dollars per year.

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Weekly Address Of President Obama: It’s Time For Congress To Pass The Buffett Rule (VIDEO)

One of the fundamental challenges of our time is building an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules.

And as many Americans rush to file their taxes this weekend, it’s worth pointing out that we’ve got a tax system that doesn’t always uphold the principle of everyone doing their part.

Now, this is not just about fairness.  This is also about growth.  It’s about being able to make the investments we need to strengthen our economy and create jobs.  And it’s about whether we as a country are willing to pay for those investments.

In a perfect world, of course, none of us would have to pay any taxes. We’d have no deficits to pay down.  And we’d have all the resources we needed to invest in things like schools and roads and a strong military and new sources of energy – investments that have always bolstered our economy and strengthened the middle class.

But we live in the real world, with real choices and real consequences. Right now, we’ve got significant deficits to close.  We’ve got serious investments to make to keep our economy growing.  And we can’t afford to keep spending more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans who don’t need them and didn’t even ask for them.

Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest men in the world.  But he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.  That’s just the way the system is set up.  In fact, one in four millionaires pays a lower tax rate than millions of hardworking middle-class households.

As Warren points out, that’s not fair and it doesn’t make sense.  It’s wrong that middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires.

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New Digital Calculator Compares American’s Tax Rates to Mitt Romney’s

CHICAGO, IL — Today, Obama for America released a newdigital calculator that individuals can use to see how their tax rate stacks up against Mitt Romney’s – and then see what the Buffett Rule would do to make the tax code more fair so that we can help reduce the deficit and grow the economy.   The calculator highlights President Obama’s efforts to close loopholes and end special tax breaks that let some of the wealthiest pay a lower tax rate than many middle-class families.  Mitt Romney defends a system that rewards people like him at the expense of the middle class and the economy as a whole by allowing him to pay a lower tax rate than the average middle-class American.

The digital calculator helps Americans see how if the Buffett Rule were enacted, everyone would pay their fair share, helping to  reduce the deficit  and continuing investments in programs that create jobs, grow our economy and strengthen the middle-class.

To use the calculator and read more about the Buffett Rule, please click here:http://barackobama.com/buffett-rule

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Buffet Rule Tax Day Push

Political Animal

April 09, 2012 8:45 AM

Buffet Rule Tax Day Push

By Ed Kilgore

Usually the week leading up to April 15, the federal income tax filing day, belongs to conservatives who have the change to score uncontested goal after goal against an unloved and unlovable tax system, and more broadly, the public commitments that make it necessary.

But this year, it looks like Democrats will for once try to take the initiative with a “tax fairness” campaign that will have the added benefit of directing public attention to Mitt Romney’s balance sheet. Here’s Jonathan Wiesman’s description:

President Obama and Senate Democrats will kick off a coordinated pressure campaign on Republicans next week ahead of a tax day vote on legislation to enact the president’s “Buffett Rule,” which would ensure that the rich pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes.

Mr. Obama will travel to Florida on Tuesday for a speech on the Buffett Rule, named after the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett, who has made a point of saying that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. The Obama campaign will hold Buffett Rule events in other swing states that day, and Senate Democratic leaders have encouraged Democratic senators to get involved with those campaign efforts….

The push comes ahead of a procedural vote on April 16 that will decide whether the Senate will even debate the bill, and Democrats give it little chance of reaching the necessary 60-vote threshold.

Wiesman’s article goes on to debate whether the Buffet Rule specifically, or “fairness” generally, is a winning election-year economic message.

I think this sort of argument falls prey to the amazingly persistent and pernicious idea that whole issue areas “belong” to one party of the other. No, it doesn’t make much sense for tax fairness to become an overriding issue for Democrats this year. But it makes even less sense for Democrats to fall mute or try to change the subject every time Republicans talk about taxes.

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