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Obama Urges Passage of "Buffett Rule"

Cara Palmer |
March 31, 2012 | 9:30 a.m. PDT

Executive Producer

In his weekly address Saturday, President Obama urged Congress to raise taxes on millionaires, by passing a plan he calls the “Buffett Rule,” which proposes that people with an annual income of $1 million or more should pay taxes on that income of at least 30 percent.

President Obama invoked a vision of the United States as a place in which “everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules,” a vision not upheld currently:

“Today, the wealthiest Americans are paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years. Warren Buffett is paying a lower rate than his secretary. Meanwhile, over the last 30 years, the tax rates for middle-class families have barely budged.”

The new tax plan that was the subject of President Obama’s address is named for Warren Buffett, “the billionaire investor who has complained that rich people like him pay a smaller share of their income in federal taxes than middle-class taxpayers,” according to the Associated Press.

Obama stated in his address:

“We don’t envy success in this country. We aspire to it. But we also believe that anyone who does well for themselves should do their fair share in return, so that more people have the opportunity to get ahead – not just a few.”

In his remarks Saturday, the president encouraged listeners to pressure their members of Congress to pass the Buffett Rule. He said, “tell them [Congress] to stop giving tax breaks to people who don’t need them and start investing in the things that will grow our economy and put people back to work. That’s how we’ll make this country a little fairer, a little more just, and a whole lot stronger.”

The Senate will vote on the plan April 16.

 

Watch President Obama’s Weekly Address:

 

Reach Executive Producer Cara Palmer here or follow her on Twitter.



 

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