Rob Horowitz: Whitehouse Gains National Prominence with Buffett Rule Legislation
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) legislation to implement the Buffett Rule -- ensuring that multimillion dollar earners pay at least a 30 percent effective tax rate -- has earned him favorable media coverage both nationally and in Rhode Island. Although GOP lawmakers were able to block the legislation in the US Senate Monday, Senator Whitehouse is still where most Senators would like to be -- smack in the middle of the national debate and with the winds of public opinion at his back
A recent Gallup Poll shows that 60 percent of Americans support this policy, while only 37 percent Are opposed. Among independents – a critical swing group – 63 percent favor it with only 33 percent in opposition. Even 43 percent of Republicans back this legislation.
A tax increase on the rich, especially when coupled with debt reduction, has polled well since President Barack Obama proposed it in the 2008 campaign. This argument is now even stronger as new data shows the wealthiest Americans have made substantial income gains while middle-class incomes have stagnated.
The Buffett rule originated with Warren Buffett’s observation in a New York Times opinion piece that as a billionaire he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary. Obama called for tax reform to be guided by the Buffett rule in his State of the Union, highlighting the issue by inviting Warren Buffett’s secretary to the speech. This set the table for Senator Whitehouse’s legislation, which, not surprisingly, is strongly supported by President Obama and Warren Buffett
The legislation is part of an effort by Obama and Senate Democrats to capitalize on an issue where they have the political high ground and where they believe the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney is particularly vulnerable. But it is also part of a broader debate about the appropriate mix of new tax revenue and spending cuts required to combat our $14 trillion national debt. This continuing broader discussion is why Whitehouse's legislation is substantively important despite the fact that it has no chance of being adopted in its current form.
Last summer, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) walked away from a so-called $4 trillion grand bargain with Obama because the House Republican caucus was balking at tax increases. But the usual Republican arguments against any tax increases, as clever as they may be, are no longer carrying the day as most voters have come to the same conclusion as the overwhelming majority of budget experts -- that a solution to our debt problem requires both tax increases and spending cuts.
With the Bush tax cuts set to expire after the election and tough and politically painful spending cuts scheduled to kick in if no broader debt agreement is reached, a significant decision point on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans is approaching.
Senator Whitehouse is now an important player in this critical policy debate whose outcome will have an enormous impact on our fiscal future.
Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.
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