por admin » Mar Abr 17, 2012 5:53 am
El Senado no aprobo el aumento de impuestos a los millonarios o Buffett rule.
POLITICS Updated April 16, 2012, 7:28 p.m. ET
'Buffett Rule' Tax Plan Fails in a Senate Test Vote
By NAFTALI BENDAVID
WASHINGTON—The Senate on Monday blocked the so-called Buffett Rule, a measure designed to ensure that high earners pay at least 30% in federal income tax, on a near-party-line vote highlighting the split over a key element of President Barack Obama's election-year message.
The measure drew 51 votes, with 45 opposed, short of the 60 votes needed to advance.
Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas was the only Democrat to oppose the measure; Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to support it.
The vote came three days before the House is due to vote on a Republican proposal to cut small-business taxes by 20%.
Together, the moves show that both parties are eager to use tax policy to advance their arguments ahead of the fall election, with both shaping easy-to-understand proposals that the other side derides as simplistic and ineffective.
MarketWatch.com columnist David Weidner makes a stop on Mean Street to discuss the fate of the so-called 'Buffett Rule' and the taxes paid by President and Mrs. Obama in 2011. Photo: Reuters.
Mr. Obama has described the Buffett Rule as a 30% minimum tax on households making over $1 million, but the Senate proposal includes a phase-in for people making between $1 million and $2 million.
The current top marginal tax rate is 35%, but many high earners pay a lower rate because of deductions and other tax preferences. The president has been pushing the idea in travels around the country. Democrats say it crystallizes their contention that Republicans are protecting the rich while advocating budget cuts and other policies that, in the Democratic view, would hurt those less-well-off.
"It is a little bit ridiculous that we have people making these enormous incomes paying lower tax rates than people who are solidly in the middle class and working hard to get by," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.), the bill's main sponsor.
Democratic Senate candidates have seized on the issue, including Rep. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin and Bob Kerrey in Nebraska. The Democratic Party bought ads on Facebook and Google urging passage of the Buffett Rule and has started an online petition.
Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor locked in a tight race for Senate, told a Charlottesville radio station he favors the Buffett Rule but added, "I do question a little bit the priority of doing this right now," given the other issues Congress faces.
The push for the measure began when Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, began saying publicly that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, a sign that the tax code has "coddled'' the very wealthy.
There are many ways to slice the argument that millionaires pay lower taxes than the middle class. Republicans cite a Joint Committee on Taxation report last September, which found that some 0.2% of households made more than $1 million in 2011 but paid 22.5% of all individual income taxes. A White House report released last week said 1,470 families making more than $1 million a year paid no federal income taxes at all.
Republicans say it is a bad idea to raise taxes on investors and job creators, especially in a fragile economy. They note that the $47 billion that would be raised by the Buffett Rule over the next decade amounts to less than 1% of the deficits projected to accrue over those years.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) attacked Mr. Obama for promoting the measure, saying it was a distraction from more pressing matters, such as a broad tax overhaul.
But the idea is popular. Polls suggest that more than 60% of voters support raising taxes on millionaires. And Democrats wanted to remind voters of the wealth of GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, who reported a 14% tax rate for 2010.