US Senate vote blocks Buffett rule
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The Senate has voted to block the “Buffett rule”, setting the stage for an ideological fight between Republicans and Democrats that will play out all the way to the presidential election in November.
Democrats failed to get the 60 votes needed to close debate and move to a vote on the bill itself, known officially as the Paying a Fair Share Act, with senators voting 51-45 largely along partisan lines.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Barack Obama, president, attacked Senate Republicans for blocking the proposal and “choosing once again to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest few Americans at the expense of the middle class.” He has been pushing for a minimum tax on millionaires, billed as the Buffett rule in a nod to billionaire investor Warren Buffett`s assertion that he should not be paying a lower tax rate than his secretary, as he does under current tax law.
The rule would require people earning more than $1m a year to pay a tax rate of at least 30 per cent. This is a key plank of Mr. Obama`s re-election campaign and a point of sharp contrast with Mitt Romney, his presumptive Republican rival and a former private equity executive with an estimated fortune of $250m.
Republicans have dismissed the proposal as a political gimmick and Mr. Romney`s campaign has been pushing back against the proposed rule, dubbing it “economically ignorant” and a “war on capital.”
Introducing the bill to the Senate on Monday afternoon, Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, said that it would “restore fairness to a system that has favored the interests of the wealthy for too long.”
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