Buffett Rule Expected to Fail in Senate Test Vote
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — After a big push by the White House, the Senate will hold a test vote on the Buffett rule Monday. The bill is expected to fail close to a party-line vote, falling short of the 60 votes needed to get cloture to move forward to debating the bill.
The “Paying a Fair Share Act” has been dubbed the so-called Buffett rule because of the example used by the administration that billionaire investor Warren Buffett pays a rate lower than his own secretary. The bill would ensure that the highest-earning taxpayers pay at least a 30-percent tax rate. Taxpayers earning less than $1 million would not be affected by this bill.
Republicans argue that the Buffett rule will just raise taxes on small businesses, the people who could create jobs in the economy, and is motivated rather by political purposes.
The bill was first introduced in the Senate in early February by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., after it was first proposed by President Obama in his State of the Union address.
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