Budget Busting Buffett Gimmick

Democrat Senators Hold Stunt Vote On Buffett Tax To Do Anything To Avoid Producing A Budget

THE SENATE’S BUFFETT TAX GIMMICK WOULD INCREASE THE DEFICIT BY OVER $790 BILLION

The Version Of The Buffett Tax That The Senate Will Vote On Today Will Actually Make The Deficit Worse. “Now we learn that the Buffett tax the Senate is expected to vote on early next week will make the deficit worse. That’s because both Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats have made it clear that their new ‘fairness’ tax is to offset the revenue loss from another provision related to the Alternative Minimum Tax.” (Editorial, “The Buffett Tax Loss,”The Wall Street Journal, 4/13/12)

• According To The Joint Committee On Taxation, The Senate Bill Will Add $793.3 Billion To The Deficit. “The Joint Tax Committee-the official scoring referee on tax bills-calculates that the combination of AMT repeal for the middle class and the Buffett tax would add$793.3 billion to the debt over the next decade. As Mr. Obama has said, ‘This isn’t politics, this is math.'” (Editorial, “The Buffett Tax Loss,”The Wall Street Journal, 4/13/12)

Obama’s Budget Contends That The Buffett Tax Could Replace The Alternative Minimum Tax. “And he is proposing that the Buffett rule should replace the Alternative Minimum Tax, which now burdens middle-class Americans rather than stopping the richest Americans from paying too little as was originally intended.” (Office Of Management And Budget, “Cutting Waste, Reducing The Deficit, And Asking All To Pay Their Fair Share,” The White House, 2/13/12)

• “ [B]ut Congressional Tax Experts Later Showed That The Buffett Rule Could Not Raise Enough Revenue To Replace The AMT.” “A few months ago, the Obama administration offered the rule as a substitute for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), but congressional tax experts later showed that the Buffett Rule could not raise enough revenue to replace the AMT.” (Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West, “Q+A: The ‘Buffett Rule,’ A Minimum Tax On The Rich,” Reuters, 4/16/12)

THE BUFFETT TAX IS A DISTRACTION FROM OBAMA’S FAILURES ON THE ECONOMY AND THE DEBT

President Obama: “ There Are Others Who Are Saying, ‘Well, This Is Just A Gimmick. … Well, I Agree.” OBAMA: “There are others who are saying, ‘well, this is just a gimmick. Just taxing millionaires and billionaires, just imposing the Buffett Rule won’t do enough to close the deficit.’ Well, I agree.” (President Obama, Remarks By The President On The Buffett Rule, Washington, D.C., 4/11/12)

Foster’s Daily Democrat : The Buffett Rule Is “About Distracting Voters From The Obama Administration’s Mishandling Of The Economy.” “Buffett, schmuffett, President Obama’s Buffett Rule has nothing to do with fairness, despite what Vice President Joe Biden might say today when he visits Exeter. The Buffett Rule is about class warfare as is much of the president’s re-election bid to date (i.e. the alleged war on women). It is also about distracting voters from the Obama administration’s mishandling of the economy.” (Editorial, “Buffett Rule Is A Hoax On Voters,”Foster’s Daily Democrat, 4/12/12)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel : “The Buffett Rule Would Raise Less Than $50 Billion Over 10 Years – A Drop In The Bucket That Would Do Little To Solve The Nation’s Long-Term Problem With Red Ink.” (Editorial, “Buffett Rule Is A Political Gimmick That Won’t Work,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , 4/11/12)

• MJS : “Obama Has Had Several Chances To Show Leadership On The Tax Issue, And, So Far, Has Failed To Do So.” “Obama has had several chances to show leadership on the tax issue, and, so far, has failed to do so. He offered only tepid support for his own deficit reduction commission – led by Erskine Bowles, who worked in the administration of President Bill Clinton, and Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming.”(Editorial, “Buffett Rule Is A Political Gimmick That Won’t Work,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , 4/11/12)

The Washington Post : The Buffett Tax Is “No Solution To The Real And Much Larger Problem” Of The Unsustainable National Debt. “ So writing the Buffett Rule into law is – as the administration acknowledges – no solution to the real and much larger problem of generating enough revenue to fund the government and begin to deal with the burgeoning debt.” (Editorial, “The Limits Of The ‘Buffett Rule’,” The Washington Post, 4/13/12)

• The Washington Post : The Buffett Tax Allows The President To Avoid Talking About His “Inadequate” Budget Plan. “But even Mr. Obama’s original plan was inadequate; it’s not feasible to fix the nation’s fiscal problem by taxing only quarter-millionaires, either. Now his emphasis on the Buffett Rule allows him to minimize talking even about that. How much easier it is to rail against millionaires who fail to pay their fair share than to say that the pain will have to be more widely shared.” (Editorial, “The Limits Of The ‘Buffett Rule’,” The Washington Post, 4/13/12)

Politico’s Jim VandeHei: “It’s Total Gimmickry. It’s One Percent Of What You Need To Actually Take Care Of The Deficit.” VANDEHEI: “It’s total gimmickry. It’s one percent of what you need to actually take care of the deficit. There’s a big danger for President Obama in that they become so insanely political in an insanely political culture. Almost everything they do now is either — is targeted at a very specific subset of voters that they want to win. Everything is going to be about Hispanics and women. Watch – every single day, you’re going to see some event, some message, aimed directly at them. Not about having a serious policy debate.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 4/12/12)

• VandeHei: “He’s Not Offered Tax Reform When He Could Have Offered Tax Reform. Did Not Offer Budgets When He Could’ve Offered Budgets.”VANDEHEI: “He’s not offered tax reform when he could have offered tax reform. Did not offer budgets when he could’ve offered budgets. You might love the guy and there’s many things that I get that people like about him as president, but in this season, he has made the calculation to be extremely political because they think it’s going to be a close election and they need to target these demographics.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 4/12/12)

The Buffett Tax Will Do Nothing To Put America Back To Work

“ The Buffett Rule Has Nothing To Do With Helping You, Or 13 Million Other Americans Looking For Work As Of March, Find A Job.” “On the seventh and final page of its background report on the Buffett Rule, out this morning, the Obama administration finally dives into what it calls ‘the economic rationale’ for imposing a new minimum tax rate on millionaires. If you’re an unemployed American, that placement should be your first red flag. The second should be the rationale itself. Once you read it, you’ll realize the Buffett Rule has nothing to do with helping you, or 13 million other Americans looking for work as of March, find a job.” (Jim Tankersley, “The Buffett Rule Won’t Get You A Job,” National Journal, 4/10/12)

The Buffett Tax Would Affect Thousands Of Companies “Whose Owners Pay Individual Income Taxes On The Earnings, Not Corporate Taxes.” “The Buffett rule would apply to individual income tax rates. It would not apply to the taxes that corporations pay, although Obama has separately proposed to increase taxes on some corporations including some that do work abroad. Yet the proposal would still affect thousands of companies, from the local bakery to hugely profitable law firms, whose owners pay individual income taxes on the earnings, not corporate taxes.” (Alan Fram, “Obama’s Buffett Rule Impact On Taxes, Jobs,” The Associated Press, 4/16/12)

80 Percent Of Swing State Independent Voters Would Prefer The President Focus On Creating Economic Opportunity Rather Than Inequality. “But Obama’s push on tax fairness may be falling on deaf ears in the swing states where the November 6 election will likely be decided. In 12 battleground states, 80 percent of independent voters lacking strong views on either Obama or Romney said they prefer a candidate who focuses on creating economic opportunity rather than reducing income inequality, according to a poll by the moderate Democratic group Third Way released on Monday.” (Samuel P. Jacobs, “Obama Puts Taxes At Center Of Campaign Fight,” Reuters, 4/9/12)

THE BUFFETT TAX IS A “HOAX” THAT HAS MORE TO DO WITH OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN THAN THE FACTS

Foster’s Daily Democrat: “Buffett Rule Is A Hoax On Voters” (Editorial, “Buffett Rule Is A Hoax On Voters,” Foster’s Daily Democrat, 4/12/12)

• “The Buffett Rule Makes For Great Stump Speeches In An Election Year. But As Tax Policy It Leaves Much To Be Desired.” (Jeanne Sahadi, “Buffett Rule: Not Ready For Prime Time,” CNN Money, 2/15/12)
• “Tax Experts Say Creating A New Alternative Minimum Tax For The Wealthy Might Make For Good Political Argument, But It Is Less Compelling As Policy.” (Annie Lowrey, “The Buffett Tax Rule Is Really More Of A Guideline,” The New York Times, 2/16/12)

Obama’s Claims About The Tax Code Are Contradicted By His Own National Economic Council’s Paper On The Buffett Tax. “Yet according to the NEC’s own white paper, millionaires and billionaires pay nearly twice as much of their income in taxes – both personal income and payroll taxes – than do middle-income taxpayers. The nearby chart, found on page 3 of the NEC report, shows that while the average (or effective) tax rate for the top 1 percent and top 0.1 percent of taxpayers has clearly fallen over the past 50 years, it still hovers around 26 percent. By contrast, the average tax rate for the middle fifth of taxpayers was 14 percent in 2010, according to the NEC.” (Scott A. Hodge, “White House’s Own Data Contradicts Claims On ‘Buffett Rule’,” The Tax Foundation, 4/12/12)

• The National Economic Council Shows That “The Tax Burden On The Typical Middle-Income Taxpayer Is Roughly Half As Much As The Typical Wealthy Taxpayer.” “What the NEC data indicates is that the tax burden on the typical middle-income taxpayer is roughly half as much as the typical wealthy taxpayer; and this includes both personal income taxes and payroll taxes.” (Scott A. Hodge, “White House’s Own Data Contradicts Claims On ‘Buffett Rule’,” The Tax Foundation, 4/12/12)

FactCheck.org: “In Their Zeal To Pass The ‘Buffett Rule'” Obama Is Leaving A “False Impression” Of The U.S. Tax Code. “In their zeal to pass the ‘Buffett Rule,’ President Obama and Vice President Biden leave the false impression that many, if not most, millionaires (people who earn $1 million or more a year) are paying a lower tax rate than the middle class. The fact is that even without the Buffett Rule ‘more than 99 percent of millionaires will pay’ a higher tax rate than those in the very middle of the income range in fiscal year 2015, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.” (Eugene Kiely, “Obama And The ‘Buffett Rule’,” FactCheck.org, 4/13/12)

• FactCheck.org: “Warren Buffett Is The Exception, Not The Rule.” (Eugene Kiely, “Obama And The ‘Buffett Rule’,” FactCheck.org, 4/13/12)
• FactCheck.org: “Furthermore, Imposing The Buffett Rule Wouldn’t Raise As Much Money As You Might Think Listening To The President And Vice President.” (Eugene Kiely, “Obama And The ‘Buffett Rule’,” FactCheck.org, 4/13/12)

FactCheck.org: Analysis By The Tax Policy Center Finds Only About 4,000 Taxpayers With Incomes Over $1 Million Pay Less Than The Average Middle Class Tax Rate.“The Tax Policy Center did an analysis of the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012. Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the center who spent 22 years at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, wrote that even without the Buffett Rule, only about 4,000 of those with $1-million-and-above incomes will pay less than the 15 percent effective federal tax rate that middle-income households will pay in fiscal year 2015.” (Eugene Kiely, “Obama And The ‘Buffett Rule’,” FactCheck.org, 4/13/12)