Obama: We could call the Buffett Rule the "Reagan Rule"

Updated at 11:47 a.m. ET

(CBS News) Opposed to the "Buffett Rule"? What about the "Reagan Rule"?

Facing sharp opposition to his proposal to level the tax playing field, President Obama changed rhetorical tactics Wednesday and said that his so-called "Buffet Rule" on taxes could be renamed the "Reagan Rule" since the Republican icon supported the basic concept -- which he called America's fair share plan.

"It's time for Congress to stand up for the middle class and make our system fairer by passing the Buffett rule," Mr. Obama said from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House as he pushed a proposal to ensure the wealthiest Americans don't pay a lower tax rate than middle class Americans.

He stood flanked by millionaires and their secretaries -- essential stand-ins for billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has complained that his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does -- to continue his push for the policy, which would compel wealthy Americans to pay at least a 30 percent tax rate. The Senate plans to vote on a version of the proposal next week.

"Some years ago, one of my predecessors traveled across the country pushing for the same concept," Mr. Obama said. This president gave another speech where he said it was 'crazy' -- that's a quote -- that certain tax loopholes make it possible for multi-millionaires to pay nothing while a bus driver was paying 10 percent of his salary."

Mr. Obama added, tongue-in-cheek, "That wild-eyed socialist, tax-hiking, class warrior was Ronald Reagan."

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"And if it'll help convince folks in Congress to make the right choice, we could call it the Reagan rule instead of the Buffett rule," he said. The president joked that Reagan's position on the issue "might disqualify him from the Republican primaries these days."

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Not everyone would agree that Reagan would be on board with the Buffett rule -- the conservative Washington Examiner's Philip Klein argues Reagan's "fair share plan" was about simplifying the tax code while the Buffet rule adds more complexity to it.

Still, Reagan did stress "fairness" in the economy -- a concept Mr. Obama has seized on and that Republicans have largely cast as "class warfare." Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Tuesday slammed the president for "campaigning on fear, division and class warfare," charging that the Buffett rule amounted to a "gimmick."

Mr. Obama said today that the rule is "not simply an issue of redistributing wealth."

"That's what you'll hear from those who object to a tax plan that is fair," he said. "This is not just about fairness. This is also about growth, this is also about being able to make the investments we need to succeed, and it's about we as a country being willing to pay for those investments and closing our deficits. That's what this is about."

White House officials this week conceded the Buffett Rule would only produce $47 billion over ten years in additional tax revenue for the government, CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reported. That amounts to just 0.6 percent of the $7 trillion in spending projected for that period. Still, a White House official called that a "meaningful amount of money" that more importantly addresses "a basic principle of tax fairness."

[wwalkerjr]

IMHO...How much money a person makes should NOT be a basis for how much tax they should pay.

Why can't we all pay the same amount? Why does one group have to pay more? Why do certain groups get government assistance?

I've never recieved welfare, food stamps, unemployment, medicare or medicaid... Come to think of it, I don't utilize any goverment assistance programs, and haven't my entire life...


SO Why O Why do I have to pay for you? I've been working since I was 14. I've always supported myself.

Why can't we take the total due and split it? Even if you are on assistance you should still have to pay taxes....

Did you know that only 36% of Americans actually pay taxes (approx 114M out of 336M people)

There is no fairness, NOTHING IS FAIR IN THIS COUNTRY. There is always someone that benefits more than the others.

MAYBE SOMEDAY I'LL BE THE ONE TO BENEFIT (UNTIL THEN ILL KEEP DREAMING)

[mizRicki]

CBS journalists should show the complete speech that Reagan was giving. Obama took a few lines of the speech and is trying to spin it to influence the voters. Reagan was talking about the 14 different tax brackets, but as usual, Obama and his team believe the voters don't "understand" what he is saying. Come on America, are you really that st u pid? I would hope not, but then again I believe journalists should actually do their jobs and report acurately

[dng888]

Each according to his need each according to his ability.

Karl Marx

[Maerzie]

Didn't taxes get up to 91% under Reagan??

[Americas-Conscience]

Don't stop their in your delusions.
Why not 110% or 200%?

[dng888]

Each according to his ability each according to his need.

Karl Marx

[Ourdoc1]

Better to be called the Romney Rule, put in place to stop people like Romney from making 24 million a year and only paying 14% tax...

[stephand]

2009 Federal Income Taxes paid by income levels:
Top 1% earned 16.9% of all income but paid 36.7% with average rate of 24%
Top 5% earned 31.7% of all income but paid 58.7% with an average rate of 20.5%
Top 10% earned 65.8% of all income but paid 70.5% with an average rate of 18.1%
Top 25% earned 43.2% of all income but paid 87.3% with an average rate of 14.7%

We have a very progressive tax system in line with the president's philosophy. This is just political...

[nonpolitico]

Have the Washington buffoons "advising" Obama not looked across the world??
Asia/Pacific are intent on the game. Their ploy?
They are incentivising the rich to work in their back yard.
It is cheaper for business to locate in, (say) Singapore, the the USA.
(You can bet that Buffet knows this), and that, if Obama brings in his "Soak the rich" policies, many, many organisations will literally fly away to more finance friendly countries. You never know, Wall Street could find Bejing more welcoming than Washington"
Yet more Socialist shortsightedness from a US President out of touch with his employers!

[TimeToEvolve]

Reagan would not even be a Republicon now. He only thought of the idea of corporate global domination and could never have dreamed where his disaster would take us.

[stephand]

To quote Reagan: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem". This is 100% tea party, not democrat!

[facelessdrone2005]

That's what he said ... that's not what he did. Name any governmental agency or program cut by Reagan, or any other Republican. The problem with Republicans is that they talk a good talk, but they don't walk the walk. Bush Jr. increased the Earned Income Credit (welfare) while creating a new agency (Homeland Security) and cutting taxes without cutting spending. Other than Ron Paul, when the Republicans talk about being fiscal conservatives, I just tune them out as a bunch of liars. After 30 years of lying, I am voting for Democrats. I don't like their policies but at least they are honest about them. And the last President to come close to balancing the budget was Clinton, a Democrat.

[christoph415]

Reagan Rule? One word to you, President Obama .. BRILLIANT! The GOP has memory loss of the tax hikes that the "great Ronald Reagan" imposed on this country.

[Americas-Conscience]

Sue, But the went to pay for important things like defending the nation and economic growth.
What has Obama's 6 plus trillion gone to except failed socialist engineering programs and we still have nothing to show for it.
You have to be crazy to try and compare the two.

[Americas-Conscience]

"Sure"

[northpark2]

Dont want to raise taxes on the wealthy? I'll just pay 15% in taxes then, thanks! Now I wont be able to buy maketable securities with that extra cash...you see Im middle class and need to hire a roofer to repair my house. Look at that a middle class guy just hired someone though a tax break!

[retm-w]

The middleclass may do that, but the rich invest their's offshore not on the American worker.

[Zann-Zel]

Tax increases are jobs, they aren't money....they are the opposite....less money, less jobs.
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If tax decreases created jobs - we'd have plenty right now!

[Zann-Zel]

That was to George I think....I keep getting interupted by work today!