President Obama continues to seize the initiative from the Republicans and change the terms of the debate even if he is unlikely to prevail in the short run. This is a strategy many like Robert Reich have been urging for Obama to adopt.
Obama to call for new minimum tax rate for millionaires
President Obama plans to call Monday for a new minimum tax rate on millionaires as part of a comprehensive rewrite of the U.S. tax code to force the wealthiest Americans to pay the same share of income in taxes as middle-class families.
In a twist on Obama’s long-standing assertion that the wealthy should do more to tame the soaring national debt, the proposal would target the top 0.3 percent of taxpayers, many of whom currently reap huge benefits from lower rates on capital gains and dividends, which form the bulk of their earnings.
While the idea has little chance of winning congressional approval, it could help shape a populist message for Obama and other Democrats heading into the 2012 presidential campaign.
An unnamed White House source said this proposed new minimum tax for millionaires was going to be called the “Buffett Rule” after Warren Buffett who wrote a OpEd in the New York Times titled "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich" In his OpEd Buffett pointed to the preferential low tax rates of the types of income the wealthy tend to have, Dividends and Capital Gains.
Obama is tossing this highly embarrassing hot potato right into the Republicans rancid little laps, who will sputter Randian platitudes in defense of the current increasing inequality. This will be a problem for Republicans next year because Americans are NOT with the Republicans on this one.
Here's why: