Obama pushes `Buffett rule` tax rise plan
Baku, April 11 (AZERTAC). US President Barack Obama has renewed calls for a new tax on wealthy Americans as he seeks to define his position for the upcoming election.
Mr Obama called for the rich to pay a "fair share", ahead of a vote in the US Senate on the so-called "Buffett Rule".
The rule is named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has said he should pay a higher rate of tax than his secretary.
The Senate proposal puts a minimum 30% tax on earnings over $1m (£631,000).
While the US tax rate on top earners is 35%, many wealthy investors earn investment income, taxed at 15%, and pay an overall smaller percentage of their earnings in taxes.
At a speech at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, Mr Obama framed the Buffett rule in terms of fairness.
"Right now, the share of our national income flowing to the top 1% has climbed to levels last seen in the 1920s," Mr Obama said. "And yet those same people are also paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years."
Mr Obama also pitched his larger economic policy as a long-term benefit for the economy, saying investments in areas like education and research were not "made as part of some scheme to redistribute wealth from one group to another".
"They`ve been made by Democrats and Republicans for generations because they benefit all of us, and lead to strong, durable economic growth," Mr Obama said.
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