Sen Sheldon Whitehouse talks with Rhode Islanders last year about improving the economy. (Photo by Bob Plain)
The Buffett Rule is back in play inside in the beltway.
Author of last year’s signature piece of progressive legislation in Congress, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse announced today that his 2012 Paying A Fair Share Act, aka the Buffett Rule bill, will be a component in Senate Democrats plan stave off the sequester.
It’s a common-sense addition to any deficit-reduction plan, and I’m glad it has been adopted by Senate leadership,” Whitehouse said in a statement released today. “I would have preferred to focus even more on loophole-closing in our effort to replace the sequester, and I hope to have an opportunity to improve the plan as the process goes forward.”
The Buffett Rule, so named because billionaire Warren Buffett has mocked the US income tax code because he pays a lower rate than his secretary, would guarantee that millionaires would pay at least 30 percent in taxes. It would raise more than $50 billion over ten years and affect a very small percentage of Americans.
