Wed April 11, 2012 What Would The Buffett Rule Mean For The U.S.
Economy A tax-the-rich proposal named after Warren Buffett has
little chance of passing this year, but that hasn't stopped the
debate over what impact it would have. Some economists are
skeptical that a 30 percent minimum tax on people with million-
dollar incomes — known as the "Buffett rule" — would do much to
reduce the deficit or boost the economy. But the Obama
administration says the proposal is necessary to make the tax
code more equitable. The Buffett rule would apply to wealthy
people, but not all wealthy people. Instead, it would affect the
tiny number of taxpayers — some of the nation's wealthiest — who
make most of their money from investments. Rob Williams, a
senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, says the proposed rule
would not affect many of the people we think of as "very rich."
"For high income people who get a lot of their income from wage
and salaries — the George Clooneys of the world, LeBron James,
the CEOs — those people w