Senate Vote Blocks Buffet Rule

Statement by the President

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.

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Politics In Action: S. 2230

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

S. 2230 – Paying a Fair Share Act

(Sen. Whitehouse, D-RI, and 13 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly supports Senate passage of S. 2230, which would set a minimum tax rate for taxpayers with annual income greater than $1 million.  S. 2230 will ensure that the Nation's wealthiest people are not able to use tax preferences and shelters to reduce their tax rate below what middle class families pay.

Over the past fifty years, the average tax rate paid by the very highest-income Americans has fallen to a near low – even as their share of the Nation's income has risen to one of the highest levels in close to a century.  As a result, one in four taxpayers with annual income greater than $1 million today pays a lower tax rate than millions of hardworking middle-class households.  S. 2230 would address that most basic source of unfairness by limiting the degree to which the most financially fortunate can take advantage of tax expenditures and preferential rates on certain income.

The Administration believes that S. 2230 would not only make the Nation's tax system more fair, but will also help the economy by closing inefficient tax shelters and loopholes and by allowing the Nation to continue making the vital investments that strengthen the economy and provide economic security for middle class families.  All Americans are being asked to come together to make the sort of shared sacrifices that will allow the Nation to continue making crucial investments in areas that will help the economy grow and create jobs, such as education, research, and infrastructure.  In such a time, the Administration believes that continuing to allow some of the wealthiest Americans to use special tax breaks to avoid paying their fair share simply cannot be justified. 

'We Urge Members to Vote for This Common Sense Approach'

Statement  by the Press Secretary on Senate Action on the Buffet Rule

The President proposed the Buffett Rule to ensure a very basic principle of fairness: millionaires shouldn’t pay less in taxes as a share of their income than middle class families pay. The President believes our system must ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share, while protecting 98 percent of Americans from seeing their taxes go up at all.  And we can’t accept the Ryan Republican approach that hands out massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of investing in the things we need to grow our economy, create jobs and help the middle class. In the next few weeks, Members of Congress will get a chance to vote on the Buffett Rule, and show the American people whether they are willing to make sure the middle class gets a fair shake. We urge Members to vote for this common sense approach.

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