On Wednesday, Obama enlisted what the administration described as a group of four millionaires and their assistants, all of whom support the so-called "Buffett rule" that would require that people earning $1 million a year or more pay at least the same tax rate as middle-class families. The proposal was named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has famously complained that he pays a lower rate than does his secretary.
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The Senate will hold a vote on the plan Monday, though it has little chance of passing the divided Congress this election year. But the president’s message was live on network television for the second day, giving his "tax fairness" message the kind of exposure that money can’t buy.
Flanking Obama during his remarks at the White House on Wednesday were Abigail Disney, president of the Daphne Foundation, and her assistant, Celine Justice. Whitney Tilson, managing partner of T2 Partners LLC, appeared with her assistant, Kelli Alires; Google retiree Frank Jernigan joined with his assistant, Teresa Gardiner; and Lawrence Benenson, of Benenson Capital, appeared with his assistant, Carmen Peterson.
None of those millionaires has told him they’re excited about paying more taxes, Obama said.
But "they agree with Warren," he said. "This should be fixed."
Obama says his call for raising taxes on millionaires is not a redistribution of wealth, but a way to free up money for crucial investments in the U.S. economy. Republican Mitt Romney, campaigning in Pennsylvania, portrayed Obama on Tuesday as a weak leader who apologizes for America’s greatness and prefers European-style socialism over robust free enterprise. Obama’s allies call such claims nonsense.
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By GlobalData"The right course for America is not to divide America," Romney told a GOP dinner gathering in Mendenhall, Pa. "That’s what he’s doing," he said of Obama. "His campaign is all about finding Americans to blame and attack, and find someone to tax more, someone who isn’t giving, isn’t paying their fair share."
Tilson, 45, said in an interview at the White House on Wedneday that he and his assistant Kelli Alires, 47, were "a little shocked" after they calculated their comparable federal tax rates for 2010.
While his adjusted gross income was 39 times that of Alires, Tilson said, he paid a rate of 24.6 percent while Alires paid a rate of 33.4 percent. "It struck both of us as unfair and ridiculous," he said.
Tilson estimated the Buffett rule would increase his federal tax obligation by 40 percent. Tilson is an Obama donor, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group that tracks campaign finance. He and Disney each have given Obama at least $5,000 over the past year, according to the center’s data.
Benenson, 44, said while he paid a lower tax rate than his assistant, Carmen Peterson, he wasn’t sure what the rate was. "I’m just standing up for what I believe in," Benenson said.
All are affiliated with a group called Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength, which in 2010 began urging Obama and congressional leaders to allow Bush-era tax cuts to expire on those earning annual incomes of $1 million or more.
