The Buffett Rule - Key Messages

• The Buffett Rule requires that millionaires pay at least the same tax rate as many middle class Americans. It would require that the highest-earning Americans pay at least a 30 percent effective tax rate. Those who do not work but generate millions of dollars in income from investments, like Mitt Romney, are given tax breaks that even middle-class households don’t receive.
• The current tax code perpetuates income inequality.  The rich are capturing far more than their share of income. During 2010, the first year of the economic recovery, 93 percent of the income gains went to the top 1 percent. Income was stagnant for everyone else - the 99 percent. The tax code makes this income inequality even worse because many 1 percenters pay a lower tax rate than working families.
• Making the rich pay their fair share reduces cuts to programs that those on the economic margins rely upon.
• This is not about class warfare, but about fundamental American values. Americans cannot allow our government to let millionaires avoid paying their fair share, while telling our seniors to live on less, ignoring dilapidated infrastructure and closing down schools.
• Poll after poll show Americans overwhelmingly support the Buffett Rule.

"This Congress could hold a vote on the Buffett Rule, so that we don't have billionaires paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries, the vast majority of Americans believe it's common sense, and if we're serious about paying down our deficit, it's as good a place to start as any."
— President Barack Obama, March 6, 2012