Obama pushes for Buffett tax rule in Florida
(CBS/AP) BOCA RATON, Fla. - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that the choice facing voters this November will be as stark as in the milestone 1964 contest between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater - one that ended up with one of the greatest Democratic landslides in U.S. history.
White House Buffett Rule: A look at the numbers
White House pushes Buffett rule on taxes
© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The president made his comments during a blitz through Florida, and right before his general election foe was essentially decided. Republican Rick Santorum dropped out of the presidential contest, making it clear that Obama would face off against Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.
Obama is using his Florida swing to call again for Congress to raise taxes on millionaires, a populist pitch on an issue that he hopes will help define the differences with nominee-to-be Romney.
White House Buffett Rule: A look at the numbers
White House pushes Buffett rule on taxes
The president outlined his support for the so-called Buffett rule at a university speech in Boca Raton, Fla., arguing that wealthy investors should not pay taxes at a lower rate than middle-class wage earners.
The push for the Buffett rule, named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, comes ahead of a Senate vote next week and as millions of Americans prepare to file their income tax returns. The plan has little chance of passing Congress, but Senate Democrats say the issue underscores the need for economic fairness.
Speaking at Florida Atlantic University, Obama criticized the Republicans current budget plan.
"You can't pay down a deficit by taking in 4.6 trillion less money especially when denying you will make all of these cuts," said Obama. "More than a trillion of tax cuts they propose will go to people making 250,000 a year which is an average of 150,000 dollars for every millionaire and billionaire."
Earlier in the day, Obama told donors at the first of three campaign events in this battleground state "this election will probably have the biggest contrast that we've seen maybe since the Johnson-Goldwater election, maybe before that." The events were expected to raise at least $1.7 million.
In his 1964 race against Barry Goldwater, Johnson carried 44 of 50 states and won 61 percent of the popular vote, the largest share of any candidate since 1820.
Running on a record that included the Great Society, Johnson portrayed Goldwater as a dangerous extremist. He was aided by Goldwater's GOP convention speech, in which the candidate proclaimed, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."
In a reception at a gated community in Palm Beach Gardens, Obama said Democrats would ensure the rich pay their fair share, while focusing on investments in education, science and research and caring for the most vulnerable.
By contrast, he said, Republicans would dismantle education and clean energy programs so they can give still more tax breaks to the rich.
Obama did not mention Romney by name, but the economic fairness message was the theme of his day - and aimed squarely at the wealthy former Massachusetts governor.
Obama was capping his day at a large rally-style event in Hollywood, Fla., that was to include a musical performance by singer John Legend.
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Lets ask the 2/3 of the millionaires who support this rule...
Lets talk to 1/2 the republicans who support this rule...
LOL!
Hey Obama,
The top 1% are pay for 40% of "The Stash"
The top 10% are pay for 70% of "The Stash"
The Irony.
LOL!
The Buffett tax rule? Really?
Buffett made most of his money as a slum lord for section housing via Government Handouts and is currently behind over a million dollars in back taxes........
So we should all do that right?
LOL!
The Buffett tax rule? Really?
Buffett made most of his money as a slum lord for section housing and is behind over a million dollars in back taxes.
The Irony.
But who in their right mind would stick up for the rich as a strategy, when the crisis is in the middle class?
Seems to me that Obama would win just by countering Romney.
The president will talk about investing in eductaion. Meanwhile more than ever is being spent on education and our kids are dumber than ever. And let's say we invest in more education and college for everyone mortgaged on the backs of parnets losing their retirment and students mortgaging the futures for a college education, for what. Supposedly smarter grads to fight over fewer jobs. Warehousing people in substandard schools only delays the inevitable day when they will graduate and bartned or wait tables. Okay so how does a more educated population use what they learned if there are no jobs. Well, at least the liberal profs will have their hand at corrupting student values to believe the gov't will provide everything they need. It's all BS and this president has totally failed to deliver what he said he would. Now he is in full damage control hoping the voters can be conned again. Judging from many of the comments on here he might succeed and that would be sad.
If things don't go well he always has war to fall back on. In Iran and or Syria, he'll play the patriot card. Or, he and the media will stoke the fires of racial division. Notice the N-word is being used more on the news. Whether it is a war oversea or a war here. He'll get his deflection one way or the other. But most people don't see any of it. Obama is dangerous and getting creepier by the day and yet a lot of people will blindly yell, "yeah!" In 1945 Germans woke up and asked themselves, "we supported what? What were we thinking!" He ain't a naz i but he loves the power no less. Someone's pulling his strings.
What a hypocrit you are, first it's don't tax the rich because they create jobs So where are all these good paying jobs the rich are supposed to be creating, after all they got taxbreaks. The only jobs the rich are creating are offshore in slave wage countries. Guess you haven;t figured out the rich don't care about the U.S., they're only worried about filling their pockets. Now how can good jobs be generated, with the rights insistance on taxbreaks for offshoring jobs.