President pushes Congress on Buffett rule

Updated 11:54 a.m. ET

(CBS News) In his weekly address, President Obama called on Congress to pass the "Buffett rule" tax plan and challenged lawmakers who don't support it to "explain" how they would pay for lower tax revenue.

Mr. Obama talked about the tax plan, which raises taxes on people making more than $1 million per year, as Americans file their taxes before the April 15 deadline. The plan got its name from billionaire Warren Buffett who has been an outspoken proponent of raising taxes on the wealthy and who said he has been favored with a lower tax rate than his secretary.

"Every Member of Congress is going to go on record," the president said, referring to the Senate vote scheduled for April 16. "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."

The Republican-led house is unlikely to take up the measure.

You can watch the president's address by clicking on the video player above.

The president previously pushed the issue to the forefront of his agenda during his State of the Union address, where Buffett's secretary, Debbie Bosanek, attended the address as a guest of the president.

In today's address, the president said it's "not fair" that the wealthy enjoy deductions and a low capital gains tax rate that can result in paying a lower tax rate than the middle class.

"Do we want to keep giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans like me, or Warren Buffett, or Bill Gates - people who don't need them and never asked for them? Or do we want to keep investing in things that will grow our economy and keep us secure?" Mr. Obama said.

"Because we can't afford to do both."

Republican opponents have called the Democrats' rhetoric "class warfare" intent on punishing success. The president disputes that claim, and said the deficit reduction should include the wealthy paying "their fare share."

"That means we have to make choices," Mr. Obama said. "When it comes to paying down the deficit and investing in our future, should we ask middle-class Americans to pay even more at a time when their budgets are already stretched to the breaking point? Or should we ask some of the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share?"

In the Republican weekly address, House Speaker John Boehner focused on energy where he charged the Democratic-led Senate and the president to address high gas prices.

"About the only thing the president has pushed the senate to do is to prevent the construction of the Keystone pipeline," Boehner said.  

Watch Speaker Boehner's address in the video below.

[tbright1965]

I like the idea of a Buffet rule. However, the implementation proposed by the president goes in the wrong direction.

The problem is not that Buffet doesn't pay enough in taxes. The problem is that his secretary is taxed too much.

So I propose a Buffet rule that would lower the total tax bill of his secretary and everyone like her. No citizen should have to pay higher than 18% of their income in their total federal tax bill. The sum of payroll, income and capital gains taxes, not to mention all the excise taxes we pay should not exceed 18% of all forms of income.

Now that's a Buffet rule I could get behind.

Of course that might mean some spending cuts since the Federal Government can't seem to get spending back down to the historical 15-18% of GDP.

As long as you folks, from both parties are unable to produce a balanced budget with the resources taken from the American people, we the people would be fools to seek higher taxes on anyone.

The last thing you give an addict is more of their addiction. The problem is not a revenue problem, it's a spending problem. Until you address the spending, you will not address the problem.

Please, don't fall for the idea that the problem is we don't tax the rich enough. Be brave enough to look in your own house (and senate) and see the problem for what it really is, out of control promises to spend and take care of "we the people" without any sustainable means of keeping those promises.

Fix the spending.

[rightontarget]

by ObamasLiberalSpeedBumps April 2, 2012 9:01 AM EDT
No, we're against the Liberals on Welfare who've never worked a day in their life or paid taxes. That happens to be the forty seven percent of the American people that don't pay taxes.
********************************************************

Not only are you arrogant but you are also an IDIOT! Not all of the people who don't pay taxes are on welfare. Many people who are on welfare ARE working but just don't earn enough to support their families and need assistance. Often circumstances occur where people need assistance to get on their feet again. Not everybody on welfare is a "liberal" either. I really hope that some catastrophe befalls you that will knock you right off your high horse. I have worked all my life and so did my parents. My mother became ill putting my parents in over 80,000.00 worth of unexpected debt and that is AFTER Medicare AND the supplimental Blue Cross/ Blue Shield they had. You know absolutely nothing about real circumstances so just go back to your corner and shup up!

[eeinst]

How can GOP pretends to care for federal deficit while they continue to borrow 700 billion dollars from China to pay for super rich tax cut loophole like Mitt Romney?

How can GOP pretends to care for federal deficit, when they subsidize 4 billions dollars a year to oil industry that make record profits of 131 billion dollars a year in 2011?

How can GOP continue to support their elites agenda, while they're cutting education funding, health prevention, etc. that are meaningful to American people?

Is GOP on the side of working people?

[audemus]

Republicans don't like the idea of the Buffet rule because it would set a dangerous precedent, namely everyone, including their rich buddies, would have to pay their fair share in taxes. The Republican party is not about fairness, it's about privilege, and it's about protecting that privilege on the backs of the working poor, an over-burdened middle class, and those desperately clinging to the very programs and assistance the Republicans target, just to stay alive. Anyone who supports this twisted agenda has blood on their hands, and will one day have to answer for it.

[Dmorris_Engage_America]

The fact is that many high-income earners do pay higher percent of their income in taxes than their secretaries. http://******/yyLJDp

However, the tax code definitely helps pick winners and losers. Even for wealthy people within the same tax bracket the tax code gives an advantage to some and not others. http://nyti.ms/zTzlAK

The only way to improve tax fairness is to rebuild the tax code from scratch. By using the Bowles-Simpson deficit-plan as a guideline Congress can simplify the tax code, improve fairness, and spur economic growth; three things we desperately need. http://******/noTDPF

[nearl451]

If you can't raise taxes on these people, who can you raise taxes on?

It is becoming crystal clear that Republicans expect to balance the entire budget predominantly on the middle and lower classes....either by skewing the tax code that way or cutting budget items targeted to lower or middle class.

Just let ALL theBush era tax cuts expire end of this year (high and low income) and be done with it.

[nearl451]

Class Warfare is alive and well. The Influencial classes for the last 30 years have won.

Nothing wrong with some shared responsibility at this point.

[extremegop]

The community bulls hipper needs to tell his buffoon buddy to stop lieing, get his checkbook out and pay his "back taxes"!

[Scott_EngageAmerica]

The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) says that the Buffet Rule will raise close to $47 billion between 2012 and 2022.

But, just recently the CBO reported that that if laws remain unchanged the federal budget deficit for this year will be $1.1 trillion (http://1.usa.gov/xju6K9). That number is in addition to total debt over $15 Trillion and projections that by 2021 federal debt will be over $20 trillion (http://1.usa.gov/wt4DPi).

Clearly, our debt problem is a spending problem, and tax increases for "fairness" won't help.

[nearl451]

A stepin theright direction will not hurt. Besides, there is still a serious shortfall in Revenue relative towhen tax rates were proper - Year 2000- and the economy was booming.

Surespending mustbe cut too. But draconian cuts are not goingtohelp the economy in the least. They may spur ANOTHER recession.

[gep1955]

Obama has submitted two budgets in three years. Both were voted down 100% to zero. Even the democrats can't vote for what this wacko wants to spend.

[californiadreaming1]

Obama is a broken record, he just goes on and on and over and over again about the same things. He has no idea of how to implement a "Buffet Rule", nor does he offer one. Our economy is still close to falling apart, and all he cares about is a rule he wants to incorporate which will not gain anyone significant revenue. Instead he wants to play class wars - stir up the pot to make people angry. But angry about what? The Buffet Rule has nothing to do with getting anyone a job or getting them health coverage. It's all about Obama's personal agenda. It's always really about what Obama wants - not about what is best for us.