President Obama urges Congress to pass 'Buffett Rule' for rich

[cal04]

Source: USA Today

President Obama used his Saturday radio address to demand that Congress pass the so-called "Buffett Rule" requiring millionaires to pay at least the same percentage of income taxes as middle class Americans.

(snip)
"We have a deficit that needs to be paid down," Obama said. "And we also have to pay for investments that will help our economy grow and keep our country safe: education, research and technology, a strong military, and retirement programs like Medicare and Social Security."

(snip)
So every Member of Congress is going to go on record. And if they vote to keep giving tax breaks to people like me -- tax breaks our country can't afford -- then they're going to have to explain to you where that money comes from. Either it's going to add to our deficit, or it's going to come out of your pocket. Seniors will have to pay more for their Medicare benefits. Students will see their interest rates go up at a time when they can't afford it. Families who are scraping by will have to do more because the richest Americans are doing less.

That's not right. That's not who we are. In America, our story has never been about what we can do by ourselves -- it's about what we can do together. It's about believing in our future and the future of this country. So tell your Members of Congress to do the right thing. Call them up, write them a letter, pay them a visit, and tell them to stop giving tax breaks to people who don't need them and start investing in the things that will help our economy grow and put people back to work.

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/03/obama-urges-congress-to-pass-buffett-rule-for-rich/1#.T3b0HI6sTUg

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/31/weekly-address-passing-buffett-rule-so-everyone-pays-their-fair-share
WEEKLY ADDRESS: Passing the Buffett Rule so that Everyone Pays Their Fair Share

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Sadly

we're going to have to wait until the next Congress (assuming we can take the House back) and do alot of rules-changing in order to get something like that through.

[goclark]

2. Put it on the table Mr. President ~ tell um

IMO, it needs to be said again and again.

[larkrake]

3. he could hold up military cuts for taxes on the rich, what a smart man.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

4. The Grover Norquist Congress will never do it, however...

...it's important for him to lay all this out to draw a sharp line of contrast...so voters have a clear choice between fairness and sanity or greed and insanity.

[xtraxritical]

5. VOTE A STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC BALLOT be happy and sane again!

[lonestarnot]

6. Can we at least chew them for a while.

[AdHocSolver]

7. Note to Mr Buffett: How about giving some campaign support to progressive Democrats.

Talk is cheap. How about putting some money where your mouth is?

Mr. Buffett can rant about the unfairness of it all while doing nothing to affect the make up of a Congress that works to keep the status quo.

Another point of reality: Rich people don't invest "their" money. Rich "investors" use other people's money that they control through banks, pension funds, and insurance companies to "gamble" in a largely rigged stock market. The executives then take their "winnings" in the form of stock options and bonuses, whether or not the executives' gambling pays off for the people who actually put up the money.