President Obama is going to deliver a speech in Boca Raton, Florida today about what The New York Times describes as, “a tax proposal that has become a centerpiece of Mr. Obama’s campaign for re-election.” They are, of course, referring to The Buffett Rule.
But going into the speech, the White House wants to make sure everybody knows that the Buffett Rule has nothing to do with reducing the debt. According to Politico, White House National Economic Council Deputy Director Jason Furman held a conference call yesterday where he explained to reporters that Obama’s Buffett rule, “was never our plan to bring the deficit down and get the debt under control.” This is a wise admission by the White House. A Joint Committee on Taxation report released last month showed that the Buffett Rule would only raise $47 billion over 11 years. That is .7 percent of the $6.4 trillion in debt Obama’s budget would create over the same time frame.
