Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine isn’t sold on the so-called “Buffett rule,” legislation that would raise taxes on millionaires even President Obama makes a strong sales pitch for it in Virginia.
Speaking on a Charlottesville radio station, Kaine said the Buffett rule, named after billionaire Warren Buffett who once famously complained that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, would hardly make a dent in the closing the nation’s growing deficit.
“Tripping over dollar bills to pick up pennies is pretty much what they’re doing,” Kaine said.
The Senate is scheduled to vote next week on the bill, which introduces a minimum 30 percent tax rate on anyone making more than a million dollars. Republicans have called it a political stunt aimed at highlighting the low tax rate Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nomiminee, pays despite his wealth.
“What worries me is that they’re going to have a big fight about the Buffett rule, then they’ll have a big fight about some other little one-off proposal that somebody throws on the table and they’ll get to year end and they won’t have talked about the issue that’s on the table that needs a resolution,” Kaine told WINA.
Congress should instead focus on letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire for those making more than $500,000 a year, said Kaine, the lone Democrat running to replace retiring Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.
Kaine’s less-than-enthusiastic endorsement of the Buffett rule comes as Obama amped up his support of the measure in Virginia. The president enlisted high-ranking Democrats like Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia to tout the proposal this week.
The new tax rate for millionaires would save about $47 billion over the next decade, while letting the Bust tax cuts expire for high earners would save closer to $500 billion over that period, Kaine said.
Republicans jumped all over Kaine’s comments, slamming his stance on taxes and poking fun at Obama for failing to win over a close ally and good friend. Kaine previously served as Democratic National Committee chairman under Obama.
“It speaks volumes when Tim Kaine is criticizing President Obama, of all people, for not taxing and spending nearly enough,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh.
