GOP Votes To Protect The Rich From Taxes

(Cartoon above is by Joel Pett in USA Today.)

It is common knowledge these days that the rich (and the corporations) don't pay as big a tax rate as middle class Americans do. A perfect example is Republican presidential candidate Willard Mitt Romney, who pays from 13% to 15%, depending on the year, while making over $20 million a year (without working a single day). There are thousands of others who pay no taxes at all, even though they make over a million a year.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the unfairness of this, and presidents of both parties (from Reagan to Obama) have said it should not be. They believed that the rich should not be allowed to pay a smaller tax rate than those in the middle class. But the congressional Republicans disagree. They think it's just fine for the rich to pay a smaller rate, and in fact, they would like to lower that tax rate for the rich even further.

President Obama has proposed a bill commonly called the "Buffett Rule". This bill would insure that the rich pay their fair share in income taxes (at least about 30%). On Monday, that bill came up for a vote in the Senate -- well, at least they had a vote on whether to bring it up for a vote (since the Republicans are filibustering it). It would have taken 60 votes to end the GOP filibuster and bring the bill to a vote.

The bill's sponsors were not able to get those 60 votes, because the Republicans (with the lone exception of Susan Collins from Maine) all voted to kill the bill. The final vote was 51 to 45. This doesn't come as a real surprise, since the Republicans have consistently voted to protect the rich from having to pay their fair share of taxes. They constantly whine about the deficit being too large, but they want to lower it on the backs of hurting Americans (the poor, the elderly, the children, the unemployed, etc.) -- not by making the rich pay a fair tax rate. Here's what President Obama had to say about it:


Senate Republicans voted to block the Buffett Rule, choosing once again to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest few Americans at the expense of the middle class.


The Buffett Rule is common sense. At a time when we have significant deficits to close and serious investments to make to strengthen our economy, we simply cannot afford to keep spending money on tax cuts that the wealthiest Americans don’t need and didn’t ask for. But it’s also about basic fairness—it’s just plain wrong that millions of middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires.


One of the fundamental challenges of our time is building an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. And I will continue to push Congress to take steps to not only restore economic security for the middle class and those trying to reach the middle class, but also to create an economy that’s built to last.


This is not going to help the Republicans come the November election. That's because numerous polls have shown that a clear majority of American's support the "Buffett Rule", including a majority of Republicans. A new CNN/ORC Poll shows the following percentages of Americans in favor of the president's proposal:

All Americans...............72%

Men...............70%
Women...............73%

Republicans...............53%
Independents...............69%
Democrats...............90%

Under 50...............74%
50 and older...............67%

College...............69%
No college...............75%

Under $50,000...............79%
Over $50,000...............67%

It seems that the only group where a majority opposes the "Buffett Rule" is among congressional Republicans. You can bet the Democrats will be beating this drum all the way to election day.