In addressing the nation’s deficit, President Obama proposed a debt-reducing policy called the “Buffett Rule” that, if implemented, would raise taxes on America’s wealthy.
The “Buffett Rule” would tax individuals earning $1 million or more at least the same percentage of their income as the middle-class taxpayers. The tax policy is named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has been advocating higher taxes for the rich.
In an op-ed article for the New York Times on Aug. 14, Buffett wrote that he paid lower taxes than his secretary.
Executive-in-Residence of the finance department Bill Longbrake agrees that taxes should be raised but does not think Buffett’s claim should be taken too seriously.
“The president has picked up on something to finance his job bill,” said Longbrake, “but he’s given a more emotional content to [the rule] as opposed to a factually correct one.”
The Republican Party is likely to resist the bill. They propose cutting spending instead of raising taxes.
Tyser Teaching Fellow David Kass supports the tax raise, but he believes right now is not the appropriate time.
“My personal suggestion is income tax increases be held off until the economy is recovering,” said Kass. “And then phase-in and do what we need to do at a reasonable rate to go towards a balanced budget.”