White House Lays Out Case for Buffett Rule [View all]

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Last edited Tue Apr 10, 2012, 08:38 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.rollcall.com/news/white-house-lays-out-case-buffett-rule-millionaires-tax-213696-1.html

The White House released a new report today backing President Barack Obama’s proposed Buffett Rule to impose a minimum 30 percent tax on incomes of more than $1 million in advance of a speech on the subject by the president this afternoon in Florida.

Along with an embargoed conference call Monday with reporters, the report makes the administration’s argument that the Buffett Rule is needed to ensure the rich can’t pile up tax loopholes so that they can pay a lower tax rate than the middle class.

The wealthiest .1 percent of Americans paid more than half of their income to the federal government in 1960, according to the White House, and pay barely a quarter now. And the 400 richest taxpayers pay just 18 percent on average — less, in many cases, than middle-class earners, especially when payroll taxes are taken into account.

“What this is is a basic principle of fairness,” said Jason Furman, the principal deputy director of the National Economic Council. “It’s come at the expense of middle-class families.”

Buffett Rule
http://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/buffett-rule

Have a question about the Buffett Rule? Want to know more where your tax dollars are spent? Join us on Wednesday, April 11th at 3:00 p.m. EDT, for a session of Office Hours on Twitter with Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. Ask your question now using the hashtag #WHChat.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/09/white-house-office-hours-buffett-rule

White House makes case for Buffett Rule
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/10/pf/taxes/obama-buffett-rule/index.htm