Tag: Buffett Rule

Popularity Of Millionaire Tax

Polls show the millionaire tax and spending cuts are popular.

In general, people are in favor of President Obama’s proposal to increase millionaires’ taxes, but are still more in favor of spending cuts, as shown by an Associated Press-GfK poll. This gives Republicans an advantage over Democrats in the ongoing battle over the economy.

The poll shows that while the President’s proposed millionaire tax is generally popular, the plan does not effectively change the partisan views of public towards the $1 trillion yearly deficit.

Republican and retired New Jersey Mike Whittles said in support of the tax proposal, “Everybody should be called to sacrifice.” Still, Whittles said, he’d prefer spending and government waste reduced first.

Obama’s plan to impose at least a 30 percent income tax for millionaires was favored by 65 percent of the people polled by AP-GfK, while only 26 percent were opposed.

However, 56 percent as opposed to 31 percent approved of cuts in government spending rather than higher taxes — a small shift from the previous year’s poll.

Overall, people had a more optimistic view of Democrats than Republicans and positivity towards Obama as the presidential election approaches. Democrats received 54 percent favorable responses while Republicans had only 46 percent, corresponding with the results of a January 2011 poll.

Obama’s plan has little chance of passing in Congress despite Democratic support. Still, the proposal unifies Democrats in their opposition to GOP plans to lower top income earners’ taxes.

The 2012 taxes proposal was nicknamed the Buffet Rule since billionaire Warren Buffet is a supporter of higher taxes for the wealthy. The wealthy GOP candidate Mitt Romney released his tax returns to show he paid 15 percent.

Nearly two-thirds of independents and two-fifths of Republicans approve of Obama’s proposal. In addition, 60 percent of whites and 50 percent of conservatives back the plan, groups who generally support the GOP, and also 60 percent of those who earn more than $100,000 a year.

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Obama’s Proposals To Increase Tax Revenue

President Obama proposed that a unpopular category of taxes be replaced with one that raises 2012 taxes for the 1% of the wealthiest Americans.

His proposals asked for higher tax rates on estates, fund managers, and the gas and oil industries. Bush era cuts would be allowed to expire, and taxes on dividends for the wealthiest citizens would rise to ordinary levels.

The proposals put forth are the first phase of the White House plan to deal with a projected shortfall in tax revenue expected to occur after the presidential elections.

Incomes over $1 million would be taxed at a 30% rate as suggested by Warren Buffet. This proposal (The Buffet Rule) would negate the alternative minimum tax adopted in 1969. The plan was considered to be irrelevant because it was never indexed to take inflation into account. The result was a tax on middle class Americans that was complicated by many deductions and credits which forced Congress to take many temporary steps to fix the problem.

The loopholes may have made sense if the tax system had been completely revised. The wealthy needed  to pay their fair share of taxes, and not attempt to avoid their fair share of tax responsibility, which is what the old rules allowed. Republicans regard Obama’s attempt as a form of class warfare, choosing instead to focus on reducing spending as opposed to agreeing with the democrat insistence on raising taxes by eliminating tax cuts.

The president was in favor of allowing the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 to expire for individuals earning more than $200,000 annually and $250,000 for households. Upper income earners would see their deductions limited.

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