Obama's Buffett Rule campaign hits dead end

[hypocritexposer]

At times it seems President Obama believes the Buffett Rule -- his proposal that Americans making more than $1 million a year pay at least 30 percent in federal income taxes -- is the only solution needed to solve the nation's staggering fiscal crisis. But with a Senate vote coming Monday in which the measure faces united Republican opposition -- plus no future in the House -- this week is likely to mark the end of the Buffett Rule as a major part of the Obama agenda. That's not just because of the political opposition; just as important, the Buffett Rule is running into a dead end because a significant part of the political class in Washington has finally admitted the idea is little more than a gimmick that would do nothing to fix the country's problems.

Of course, conservatives and Republicans have thought that all along. But in recent days, the trouble for Obama has been far broader, as commentators and politicians -- faced with nonpartisan estimates that enacting the Buffett Rule would raise about $4.7 billion in revenue per year, less than a drop in the bucket of a $1 trillion-plus annual deficit -- admitted that there's just not much there.

Washington Post liberal columnist Dana Milbank opened the floodgates mid-week when he published a piece that began, "President Obama admits it: His proposed 'Buffett Rule' tax on millionaires is a gimmick." Milbank didn't give the president the full benefit of context -- Obama was trying to make the case that the Buffett Rule was worthwhile, even if it would have little effect on the deficit -- but Milbank's column started a wave of anti-Buffett talking points.

"It's total gimmickry," added another prominent voice in journalism, Politico executive editor Jim Vandehei. Speaking on MSNBC, Vandehei noted that the Buffett Rule is "one percent of what you need to 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...He's not offered tax reform when he could have offered tax reform. Did not offer budgets when he could have offered budgets."

Some Democratic politicians agreed. "I do question a little bit the priority of doing this right now," said former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, now running for a Senate seat. Kaine likened enacting the Buffett Rule to "tripping over dollar bills to pick up pennies." Then Chris Coons, the Democratic senator from Delaware, made clear that, while he will vote for the Buffett Rule, he favors making some sort of exception for small business owners -- "some carve-out where if they're investing, if they're creating jobs, they don't face a doubling of their tax rates."

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jay Carney was facing skepticism in the press room about the president's claims. "The president said in September that the Buffett Rule or millionaires taxed would help stabilize the debt and deficits," one reporter asked last Wednesday. "In a conference call, the White House said the other day that it was not intended to go toward paying down the debt and deficits; that's handled in the budget. Today the President said, it's not all we have to do to close the deficit but it will help us close the deficit. So just to be clear, the White House policy on this is what?"

Carney defended the Buffett proposal as "a basic matter of fairness and economic good sense."

The next day, a note of snarkiness crept into the briefing, when a reporter, noting that the president had scheduled talks with several local news stations around the country, asked, "Jay, what's left for President Obama to say about the Buffett Rule in his four interviews this afternoon?" Carney didn't have much of an answer.

Finally, the president himself had to acknowledge the growing skepticism, even as he insisted that the Buffett Rule is needed. "There are [people] who are saying, well this is just a gimmick," Obama said Wednesday in the passage quoted by Milbank. "Just taxing millionaires and billionaires, just imposing the Buffett Rule won't do enough to close the deficit. Well, I agree. That's not all we have to do to close the deficit. But the notion that it doesn't solve the entire problem doesn't mean that we shouldn't do it at all."

By the end of the week, the Buffett Rule initiative had been overtaken by the flap over Hilary Rosen and her remarks about Ann Romney. But even without the new distraction, the Buffett Rule was in serious trouble. It wasn't going to pass Congress, no matter what happens in the Senate, but by a combination of the president overplaying his hand and the Washington commentariat gradually discovering the essential emptiness of the Buffett idea, what once seemed like a winner for the Obama campaign became an idea that few were taking seriously any more.

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/obamas-buffett-rule-campaign-hits-dead-end/481296

 

[Tam]

Funny how all of Obama's sales speech on the Buffett Rule is how people like him should be paying more in taxes, they should be paying THEIR FAIR SHARE. But did you notice when his Income Tax returns came out they proved he will not be affected by the tax hike from the Buffett Rule?

 

[Steve]

Like Obama's Budget,.. the republicans should put this up for a vote...

Obama, After His 2012 Budget Was Voted Down 97-0 and His 2013 Budget Was Voted Down 414-0 BY EVERY DEMOCRAT, Has Chutzpah To Demonize GOP Budget As 'Radical'

House Republicans pushed a version of President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget to the floor for a vote, and it was it was unanimously defeated, 414-0.

maybe now is the time to write the buffet rule up and let the liberals vote it down.

 

[Steve]

Funny how all of Obama's sales speech on the Buffett Rule is how people like him should be paying more in taxes, they should be paying THEIR FAIR SHARE. But did you notice when his Income Tax returns came out they proved he will not be affected by the tax hike from the Buffett Rule?

sadly Obama isn't even in the same class as those who he claims to be Rich.. so he would more then likely pay less taxes once the AMT is eliminated..

so in reality Obama would not be effected by this tax increase.. and neither would Buffet... when your rich enough to make billions.. you can manipulate your income.. and use your already earned money to live well... and avoid taxes..

Both the Obamas and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, were hit by the existing alternative minimum tax, which mostly snags upper middle class folks with big deductions for state and local taxes. The Obamas' total tax bill was boosted $12,491 as a result of the AMT. The Bidens, with a gross income of $379,035, paid income tax of $86,892, for an effective tax rate of 22.9%. Of the Bidens' total tax, $6,805 was due to the AMT.

Say goodbye to the much-loathed Alternative Minimum Tax and hello to the Buffett Rule. Sweet relief.

sweet relief in that The buffet rule is actually a tax break for the Rich...

A tax break for Obama of $12,491.00

A tax break for Biden of $6,805.00

so the reality is.. a "few" would pay more.. those who sold off land,.. a business or home...

but most wealthy would end up paying less... No wonder they are so set on the buffet rule...

 

[hypocritexposer]

President Obama and his wife, Michele, gave a total of $48,000 in tax-free gifts to their daughters, according to tax records made public on Friday.

The president and his wife separately gave each daughter a $12,000 gift under a section of the federal tax code that exempts such donations from federal taxes.

http://conservativebyte.com/2012/04/obama-kids-get-48000-tax-free/

 

[Steve]

in 2010 the current alternative minimum tax (AMT) will generate $102 billion or 10.4 percent of all individual income tax revenue. If the 2001-06 tax cuts are made permanent without a corresponding AMT fix, by 2019, the AMT will generate 13.1 percent of individual income tax revenue or $271 billion.

The AMT, if not changed, will take about $1 trillion over a decade from millions of wealthy taxpayers,

The Administration will work to ensure that this rule is implemented in a way that is equitable, including not disadvantaging individuals who make large charitable contributions. And he is proposing that the Buffett rule should replace the Alternative Minimum Tax,

Alternate AMT: What caught my eye in the budget document, and which was reiterated in the Office of Management and Budget press conference this afternoon, was that the Buffett Rule would replace the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

... all this is is a tax break for the wealthy.. those who now make over $200,000 a year and are hard hit by the AMT.. (like Obama and Biden)

how long will it take the liberals to realized this is actually a tax break for the rich? :? :???: :shock:

a trillion dollar tax break!

 

[Steve]

maybe some brave liberal can explain how this went from Obama paying his fair share to Obama paying LESS taxes?

The buffet rule would result in

A tax break for Obama of $12,491.00

A tax break for Biden of $6,805.00

 

[Whitewing]

I just hope OT and I live long enough to see his grandkids having to pay dearly for Obama's deficits. :lol:

"Grandpa, Tam's granddaughter says you actually voted for that idiot Obama. Tell me it's not true and I'll punch her in the nose".

 

[hypocritexposer]

I just hope OT and I live long enough to see his grandkids having to pay dearly for Obama's deficits. :lol:

"Grandpa, Tam's granddaughter says you actually voted for that idiot Obama. Tell me it's not true and I'll punch her in the nose".

OT is counting on giving obama another 4 years, to prove himself.

 

[Larrry]

I just hope OT and I live long enough to see his grandkids having to pay dearly for Obama's deficits. :lol:

"Grandpa, Tam's granddaughter says you actually voted for that idiot Obama. Tell me it's not true and I'll punch her in the nose".

OT is counting on giving obama another 4 years, to prove himself.

Like a four year coffee break isn't enough, he wants to add another four. Heck this isn't even a normal coffee break it is like he is drinking latte's at Starbucks.

Wait I take that back, he isn't on a coffee break. If he was nothing would be happening. He is spending way too much time screwing up this country.