American Thinker - Matt Palumbo/
Talking points of the left conjured up this year have been about as numerous as they have been wrong. Many of these talking points previously existed, but never before have they been used with such frequency, and never before have they received so much media attention.
First off, who better to call for higher taxes than a billionaire himself? Warren Buffett's claim that he was paying a lower tax rate than his secretary helped the left build a case for higher taxes. After all, even if the average person previously did not want taxes on anyone raised, Americans certainly do not want to be paying a higher rate than a billionaire is. Then came the analysis. As the center-left Brookings Institute showed, of the 237,000 millionaires filing taxes in 2009, only around 1,000 paid a smaller percentage in taxes than their secretaries (or a person earning the same salary as the average secretary). As it would later turn out, these people are the only ones on Buffett's radar. In a CNBC appearance, Buffett clarified his position, saying:
[M]y program would be on the very high incomes that are taxed very low - not just high incomes, not just some guy making $50 million playing baseball, his taxes won't change. Make $50 million appearing on TV, his income won't change. But if they make a lot of money and they pay a very low tax rate, like me, it would be changed by a minimum tax that would only bring them up to what the other people pay.
Buffett then estimated that his plan would apply to only around 50,000 people, but as the Brookings Institute estimate showed, Buffett is far-off in his estimation.
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